Therein lies the rub.Originally Posted by KC2UGV
We've gone after bulk purchasers of sudoephedrine and other chemical constituents of meth with such fervor that obtaining enough of them for large-scale domestic production has become very difficult; thus, it has shifted to areas south of our (open) border. The few regulations in place within Mexico on these items are difficult if not impossible to effectively enforce, and the floodgates into this country remain wide open.
"Everyone wants to be an AM Gangsta until it's time to start doing AM Gangsta shit."
I dunno where you get that data from. The "work around" is to send 10 mules to 10 different places, and purchase the largest amount allowed. Mix in some mail -order sent to a PO box. Cook it up in the rural mobile lab, then move to a new locale, and rinse, wash, and repeat.
The only thing that would need to come across the border is the Ephedrine. The remainder of the constituents are so commonly used in large quantities, there's no way to track it.
Local meth production is what Fred said. It can only be made in small quantities around here because the main ingredient is very restricted. South of the Border, it is made by the pound and more and it is very, very concentrated. Once it gets into the hands of local dealers, it is cut, packaged, etc. Mexican cartel members can sell a kilo brick for $4000 and the dealer can yeild 4 times that amount.
Cocaine on the other hand is being cut at the source depending on the market it's going to. In Europe, it arrives in an almost pure state because the euro is worth more than the dollar and that is why we've been hearing so much about the coke problem over there. The market is near saturated because the cartels sell to whoever has the most valuable currency. Coke destined for the US market is weaker by 30 to 40%, again because the dollar is not worth as much. Just before the collapse, street coke prices in 2006 ran in the $40/gr range but meth stayed stable at $100/gr.
After the collapse the coke supplies started drying up and stayed short but demand was still high so the price doubled and fluctuated locally depending on strength. Demand was so high in some areas that dealers were cutting product with table salt because they couldn't keep up with the amount of cut needed. Meth on the other hand was available and highly prized by both dealers and users. Cartels in Mexico focused on meth because it demanded a high price and was dirt cheap for them to manufacture. Once across the border, area gangs took care of distribution across the country hitting the large cities first and filter out from there. I can not tell you of all the busts made just along the northbound corridor of I-85. Pounds of coke and meth and in separate incidences, hundreds of pounds of Mexican marijuana.
Up until 3 years ago I used to hear of a meth lab bust every week somewhere in the area of Greenville, Spartanburg, Anderson and Pickens counties. Since 2007 those numbers have dropped to almost nil but the meth keeps coming in, from Mexico. Ephedrine tabs have been slowly phased out over the years. That was the main ingredient used but after the Feds mandated that they be mixed with an expectorant, pseudo-ephedrine was the new chemical of choice. Now even pseudo is near impossible to get if you need an effective decongestant. Believe me when I tell you that during a bad pollen season, all that other crap they advertise is nothing but snake oil and in my case, the other options make me damn near depressed. God forbid an OTC drug for pollen allergies should work! I got a prescription for some pollen allergy drugs, one was a nasal spray and the other was a pill and the level of depression they induced was damn near suicidal levels. God forbid that a prescription drug for pollen allergies should work properly! I guess they're so concerned about people getting high and possibly having a smile on their face that they'd rather you become depressed to the point of suicide. I told the doctor about the side effects, (BTW, didn't do shit for the allergies) and her reply was that I needed to keep taking them. That was met with a resounding "not only NO! but HELL NO!" I told her to prescribe something that would work but she said she couldn't prescribe anything else. Ah, the state of health care and professional compassion in the U.S.
So, while there may be pockets here and there of local meth production, it is done by persons who do it for personal use. Meth comes from Mexico now.
You guys know entirely too much about drug production and sales!
I've accidentally swallowed some Scrabble tiles. My next crap could spell disaster.
"Where would we be without the agitators of the world to attach the electrodes
of knowledge to the nipples of ignorance?" ~ Professor "Dick" Soloman
Hello.
Ephedrine was commonly called 'Mini-thin' as that was the most common brand, is available, the courts have ruled that since the stuff itself is not against the law it can not be regulated in this manner.
Not that it matters, ephedrine itself is easy to produce.
The only difference between a regular aircraft and a mule bird is the 1030/1090 MHz RWR and how the transponders are configured.
In a common aircraft there is but one transponder and one antenna mounted on the belly of the aircraft.
In a mule bird there are 2, a gain type mounted on the roof antenna with a transmit disable and audible receive transponder is added.
Rural America? you bet! Texas ranchers are big time involved in drug production.
Nobody steals cows anymore, why? drugs are less trouble and FAR more profitable.
Watching too much Breaking Bad.You guys know entirely too much about drug production and sales!
If it's a war on drugs, then free the POW's.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote