1 00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:03,200 Speaker 1: M Hey, everybody, this is Chuck Welcome to Stuff you 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,760 Speaker 1: Should Know Selects. Hope you had your morning cartoons and 3 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:10,280 Speaker 1: now you're ready to listen to Narco States How Narco 4 00:00:10,360 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: States Works from December two thousand nine. I have no 5 00:00:13,400 --> 00:00:15,760 Speaker 1: idea why we saw fit to release this so close 6 00:00:15,800 --> 00:00:18,320 Speaker 1: to Christmas, way back in two thousand nine, but it's 7 00:00:18,360 --> 00:00:20,280 Speaker 1: kind of funny that we did. But I just remember, 8 00:00:20,320 --> 00:00:23,479 Speaker 1: this is a really good episode. Uh. Narco States is 9 00:00:23,480 --> 00:00:26,680 Speaker 1: a very dense topic, and it's kind of thing where 10 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:28,760 Speaker 1: if you kind of throw some of this information around 11 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,120 Speaker 1: at dinner party, everyone is going to thank you. Are 12 00:00:31,160 --> 00:00:35,560 Speaker 1: super cool. So please to enjoy How Narco States Work. 13 00:00:42,120 --> 00:00:45,600 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff you Should Know from how Stuff Works 14 00:00:45,600 --> 00:00:54,080 Speaker 1: dot com. Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh 15 00:00:54,160 --> 00:01:00,240 Speaker 1: Clark with me as always as Charles W. Zonkers Bryant's Soners. Yeah, 16 00:01:00,520 --> 00:01:02,639 Speaker 1: I'm always. I just sit here with wondering what you're 17 00:01:02,640 --> 00:01:04,960 Speaker 1: gonna call me? How's it going? Great? Sir? Are you 18 00:01:05,880 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: pretty good? He looked good. You're as good as you 19 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:11,199 Speaker 1: were ten minutes ago when he recorded that other podcast. Chuck, 20 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: have you ever been to Mexico? I have been to Mexico. 21 00:01:14,360 --> 00:01:16,600 Speaker 1: Have you been to t J. I've been to t 22 00:01:16,760 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: J've been to Warez, No just t J and like 23 00:01:19,800 --> 00:01:23,400 Speaker 1: the Baja area. Okay. Well, had you gone a little 24 00:01:23,640 --> 00:01:27,759 Speaker 1: further east along the border to Warez, okay, you would 25 00:01:27,760 --> 00:01:32,000 Speaker 1: have been in a narco state. Yes. And you know 26 00:01:32,040 --> 00:01:33,680 Speaker 1: what I'm ashamed to say, Josh, that I did not 27 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,560 Speaker 1: know what an arco state was. Really. I've heard of it, 28 00:01:36,600 --> 00:01:38,840 Speaker 1: but I didn't really know what it was. I can't 29 00:01:38,880 --> 00:01:41,040 Speaker 1: remember if I pitched this one or if Channel did, 30 00:01:41,080 --> 00:01:44,280 Speaker 1: but it's a good well done sir, Thank you very much, 31 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: thank you. Yeah. Um, well, Chuck and I are talking 32 00:01:47,760 --> 00:01:50,320 Speaker 1: about narco states, as you probably were tipped off by 33 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: the title of this podcast. And for those of you 34 00:01:53,280 --> 00:01:57,560 Speaker 1: who don't know what anarco state it is, uh, Josh, 35 00:01:57,560 --> 00:01:59,880 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna give my own definition, which is, it 36 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:05,600 Speaker 1: is a country where they sort of allow drug trafficking 37 00:02:05,680 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: and in some cases even participate in the drug trafficking. Yeah. 38 00:02:09,480 --> 00:02:14,680 Speaker 1: And it's it's very very rarely an entire country. Um. 39 00:02:14,800 --> 00:02:17,000 Speaker 1: Most of the time, it's like a real region of country, 40 00:02:17,480 --> 00:02:21,239 Speaker 1: very small area city. Although there are cases where there 41 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,919 Speaker 1: have been narco states, like fully functioning countries that are 42 00:02:25,280 --> 00:02:28,600 Speaker 1: run by drugs, Like the their gross domestic product is 43 00:02:28,639 --> 00:02:31,920 Speaker 1: almost fully funded by drugs. The government's in on it, 44 00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:35,720 Speaker 1: military is in on it. Um And right now, as 45 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,040 Speaker 1: far as I could tell, there's only one functioning narco 46 00:02:39,120 --> 00:02:43,959 Speaker 1: state in the world. Afghanistan. No, it's close though, uh Guinea, 47 00:02:44,000 --> 00:02:47,240 Speaker 1: bissauth Oh yeah sure. In Africa, yeah, West Africa. I 48 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,800 Speaker 1: can't wait to tell that story's good on so Okay. So, 49 00:02:50,840 --> 00:02:54,680 Speaker 1: a narco state, as Chuck said, is basically any area 50 00:02:54,840 --> 00:02:58,640 Speaker 1: where the government is either directly involved or turning a 51 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: blind eye to drug traffic. Yes, and Central Mexico, Central America, 52 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,320 Speaker 1: South America always known as being rife with this kind 53 00:03:06,320 --> 00:03:09,480 Speaker 1: of thing, because chances are, if you're doing drugs in 54 00:03:09,520 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: the US, chances are it did not come from inside 55 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,600 Speaker 1: the United States. No, unless it was meth or pot. Yeah, 56 00:03:16,639 --> 00:03:19,800 Speaker 1: and even then, chances are it probably didn't, although there 57 00:03:19,880 --> 00:03:22,680 Speaker 1: was a lot of domestic U meth labs and and 58 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:25,360 Speaker 1: pot farms and stuff like that. Yeah, but yeah, the 59 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,360 Speaker 1: chances are it came through Mexico. If not from Mexico, 60 00:03:28,800 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: Mexico didn't used to be nearly as violent, you know, Warez, 61 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: which we were talking about, Um had I think three 62 00:03:35,360 --> 00:03:38,520 Speaker 1: hundred murders in two thousand seven, and then all of 63 00:03:38,560 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: a sudden there was a drug war starter that's still 64 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,960 Speaker 1: going on now. And in two thousand and eight they 65 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,320 Speaker 1: had murders. Yeah, that's a heck of a stat Yeah. Yeah, 66 00:03:47,400 --> 00:03:50,360 Speaker 1: Detroit had like less than three hundred murders in two 67 00:03:50,400 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: thousand seven. To Detroit safer than someplace. This is safer 68 00:03:54,680 --> 00:03:57,040 Speaker 1: than Warez. Believe it or not, Well, thank god for that. 69 00:03:57,760 --> 00:03:59,560 Speaker 1: I didn't get the stats on temped though, so I 70 00:03:59,560 --> 00:04:03,080 Speaker 1: can't say right. Yeah, so um. One of the reasons 71 00:04:03,120 --> 00:04:07,120 Speaker 1: why uh, And we'll see that American intervention one way 72 00:04:07,200 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: or another, UH usually has an impact on the formation 73 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,160 Speaker 1: of a narco state. But one of the reasons why 74 00:04:12,240 --> 00:04:15,600 Speaker 1: Warez and some of the other border towns along Mexico 75 00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:19,599 Speaker 1: have turned into narco states, UH is because the Coast 76 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: Guard in the d e A effectively shut down the 77 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:25,400 Speaker 1: Caribbean in the nineties. That was the main route from 78 00:04:25,720 --> 00:04:30,919 Speaker 1: um South America to the US for coke, and Americans 79 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: love coke. A lot of the world does. And one 80 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:37,040 Speaker 1: thing that I learned from reading this article and just 81 00:04:37,080 --> 00:04:39,760 Speaker 1: by living as a human in the world is that 82 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,239 Speaker 1: drugs will find a way to get into the country, 83 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:45,640 Speaker 1: they definitely will. Like for example, when the Caribean was 84 00:04:45,640 --> 00:04:48,640 Speaker 1: shut down, they started moving in through Central American through 85 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: Mexico came another run way or another. And the reason 86 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:54,359 Speaker 1: why is um, Well, like I said, Americans love cocaine. 87 00:04:54,480 --> 00:04:57,640 Speaker 1: We consume fort of the global supply of it every year. 88 00:04:58,640 --> 00:05:01,760 Speaker 1: Does a lot of cocaine loves the junk too? Oh? No, 89 00:05:01,880 --> 00:05:05,400 Speaker 1: Europe is the heroine. Yeah, they have eleven percent of 90 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: the global population in Europe, but they have one third 91 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:13,240 Speaker 1: of the world's heroin addict. Big deal. Yeah, it's weird 92 00:05:13,240 --> 00:05:15,159 Speaker 1: how it's localized like that. It is, But think about it. 93 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:17,159 Speaker 1: Let's think about how much closer Europe is to the 94 00:05:17,160 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: heroin producing countries of the South Asia, and think about 95 00:05:20,440 --> 00:05:23,840 Speaker 1: how close we are to the cocaine producing countries of 96 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: South America, which affects the price. Of course it definitely does. Um, 97 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,440 Speaker 1: you want to give them that stat Josh, a kilogram 98 00:05:30,440 --> 00:05:33,840 Speaker 1: of uncut cocaine, as you hear on the cop shows, 99 00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:39,720 Speaker 1: has it goes for dollars? That same kilo fetches uh 100 00:05:39,839 --> 00:05:43,080 Speaker 1: about a hundred and twenty thousand dollars in Moscow. That's 101 00:05:43,120 --> 00:05:45,919 Speaker 1: a big markup. It's a huge markup, is that street 102 00:05:46,000 --> 00:05:48,040 Speaker 1: value as they call it. And I'm sure those are 103 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: way off. I'm sure you could get a kilo for 104 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,680 Speaker 1: a lot less or pature or whatever. But um, one 105 00:05:53,680 --> 00:05:55,480 Speaker 1: of the things that FEDS like to do is pump 106 00:05:55,560 --> 00:05:57,880 Speaker 1: up their numbers. Yeah, yeah, so that they can get 107 00:05:58,080 --> 00:06:01,679 Speaker 1: more funding. But yeah, you can definitely get a kilo 108 00:06:01,720 --> 00:06:04,159 Speaker 1: of cocaine in America a lot cheaper than you can 109 00:06:04,720 --> 00:06:09,240 Speaker 1: uma in Russia. Yeah, so Chuck, Um, all of that, 110 00:06:09,400 --> 00:06:12,400 Speaker 1: all of those kilos add up pretty quickly. And the 111 00:06:12,520 --> 00:06:16,640 Speaker 1: drug trade, the global drug trade UM makes an estimated 112 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,520 Speaker 1: three hundred billion dollars a year. That's nuts. That is 113 00:06:20,560 --> 00:06:22,440 Speaker 1: a lot of casts. You could bail out two A 114 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,040 Speaker 1: I G s for that. So, Chuck, we talked about, 115 00:06:25,160 --> 00:06:29,400 Speaker 1: um the narco state being ah an area where government's 116 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,240 Speaker 1: either looking the other way, or selling drugs directly or 117 00:06:32,279 --> 00:06:35,320 Speaker 1: helping them out, maybe just hating them. Um, there's a 118 00:06:35,360 --> 00:06:38,360 Speaker 1: big problem with this, I would say so. But well, 119 00:06:38,440 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: I mean you just think about it. You're like, oh, 120 00:06:39,920 --> 00:06:41,880 Speaker 1: the government is not supposed to do that. To stop 121 00:06:41,920 --> 00:06:45,279 Speaker 1: and think why why the why the government's not supposed 122 00:06:45,279 --> 00:06:47,400 Speaker 1: to do that? Yeah, Well, because they're supposed to protect 123 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,640 Speaker 1: their citizens. Yeah, there's something that um Thomas Hobbs called 124 00:06:50,640 --> 00:06:53,799 Speaker 1: the social contract, and basically it said, like in exchange 125 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:55,880 Speaker 1: for certain freedoms, like we can't just do anything we 126 00:06:55,960 --> 00:06:58,800 Speaker 1: want to write that we give to the government, We're 127 00:06:58,800 --> 00:07:00,600 Speaker 1: going to give that power to the government. One of 128 00:07:00,640 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: those things is the state violent the state monopoly on violence, 129 00:07:04,680 --> 00:07:07,599 Speaker 1: where like the government can put you in jail, the 130 00:07:07,680 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: government can um kill you, execute you, but the government 131 00:07:11,680 --> 00:07:13,240 Speaker 1: is supposed to be the only one who does it. 132 00:07:13,320 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: So if somebody, you know, shoot your kid, you don't 133 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:18,040 Speaker 1: go shoot them in the head. You can get the 134 00:07:18,080 --> 00:07:21,480 Speaker 1: government to go after this guy and incarceraate or kill him. Right. Yeah, 135 00:07:21,520 --> 00:07:23,720 Speaker 1: And in the civilized world, the social contract is kind 136 00:07:23,720 --> 00:07:26,840 Speaker 1: of how we developed as nations of the world, and 137 00:07:26,920 --> 00:07:29,280 Speaker 1: it works pretty well for the most part, we'll say, 138 00:07:29,320 --> 00:07:31,520 Speaker 1: I mean, that's a whole other podcast right there. But 139 00:07:31,560 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: in Narco States, it's a little different because that's a 140 00:07:33,760 --> 00:07:36,320 Speaker 1: little bit of a sham. They kind of have that 141 00:07:36,400 --> 00:07:39,560 Speaker 1: contract as long as it doesn't interfere with the drug trade. Right, 142 00:07:39,600 --> 00:07:44,000 Speaker 1: the government's given it's uh, it's power to drug traffickers 143 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:46,920 Speaker 1: at the expense of the people. They're supposed to be 144 00:07:46,920 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: protecting and representing, So that's number one. Right, So how 145 00:07:50,720 --> 00:07:54,960 Speaker 1: does this happen? Right? Well, one reason why that might happen. 146 00:07:55,280 --> 00:07:57,280 Speaker 1: There's a bunch of different ways that could happen. But 147 00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:02,040 Speaker 1: one reason is if, um, say, you're in Colombia and 148 00:08:02,040 --> 00:08:05,120 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you've heard the term Columbian necktie, 149 00:08:05,520 --> 00:08:07,720 Speaker 1: I have. Yeah, all of a sudden, your judges in 150 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: your council people, and your and your politicians are getting 151 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,920 Speaker 1: knifed and executed in back alleys by the dozens. All 152 00:08:15,920 --> 00:08:18,440 Speaker 1: of a sudden, the government might say, wait a minute, 153 00:08:18,440 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: we might want to not go after these drug traffickers, 154 00:08:21,520 --> 00:08:24,320 Speaker 1: right because if the state is doesn't have a monopoly 155 00:08:24,360 --> 00:08:27,760 Speaker 1: on violence any longer, if you know, paramilitary groups affiliated 156 00:08:27,760 --> 00:08:31,080 Speaker 1: with drug traffickers do, yeah, then yeah. Apparently in Colombia 157 00:08:31,360 --> 00:08:34,920 Speaker 1: they came at the justice building with tanks. Yeah. This 158 00:08:35,040 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: wasn't the military, This was a rebel faction. Yeah. I 159 00:08:38,600 --> 00:08:40,960 Speaker 1: think it was Fark that did it, right, Josh Fark. 160 00:08:41,120 --> 00:08:43,040 Speaker 1: That is f a r C. That stands for the 161 00:08:43,080 --> 00:08:48,360 Speaker 1: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia translated into English. Uh. And 162 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:52,839 Speaker 1: they're actually a communist guerrilla group, an army. They are 163 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,559 Speaker 1: and um, they actually got into drug trafficking in the eighties, 164 00:08:57,600 --> 00:09:01,839 Speaker 1: I think indeed. Um, So okay, So you have a huge, armed, 165 00:09:01,920 --> 00:09:07,800 Speaker 1: guerrilla army attacking your justice department in the country's capital. 166 00:09:08,240 --> 00:09:10,440 Speaker 1: That's a good way to get a narco state started, right. 167 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: Sometimes you're bribed into it. That's another one too. All 168 00:09:14,240 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: of a sudden, if your coffers are being filled, a 169 00:09:17,080 --> 00:09:19,920 Speaker 1: lot of politicians are willing to look the other way. Um. 170 00:09:19,960 --> 00:09:26,680 Speaker 1: And also, if your intelligence services become compromised by drug traffickers, 171 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: you're in big trouble. Yea. If those are corrupted, you're finished. Yeah, 172 00:09:29,360 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 1: because the intelligence services are usually towards the top of 173 00:09:32,360 --> 00:09:35,800 Speaker 1: the military hierarchy, and if they're corrupted, they can turn 174 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:40,199 Speaker 1: the entire military against you know, the government, which there 175 00:09:40,240 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 1: is a division. Um. And after that happens again, you're 176 00:09:45,240 --> 00:09:47,880 Speaker 1: in big trouble in a narco state. Conform Yeah, plus state. 177 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:51,840 Speaker 1: They know a lot about smuggling, the intelligence community, and 178 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:53,839 Speaker 1: if all of a sudden they're on your side, then 179 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:56,560 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, you know a lot about smuggling, right, Yeah, 180 00:09:56,640 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: it's it's uh. You have to know how to get 181 00:09:59,120 --> 00:10:01,800 Speaker 1: people or arms or something in and out of countries 182 00:10:01,880 --> 00:10:04,679 Speaker 1: about being detected. So you know where all the airfields are, 183 00:10:04,960 --> 00:10:06,960 Speaker 1: you have access to planes and boats and stuff. You 184 00:10:07,080 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 1: just start throwing kilos a coke in there, and all 185 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:12,840 Speaker 1: of a sudden, you're a drug smuggler. Yeah. Um. And 186 00:10:12,880 --> 00:10:14,520 Speaker 1: it's kind of tough for us to think about this 187 00:10:14,559 --> 00:10:17,600 Speaker 1: in the United States because we've had a pretty stable 188 00:10:17,720 --> 00:10:21,600 Speaker 1: government for the last couple of hundred years. But uh, 189 00:10:21,679 --> 00:10:25,000 Speaker 1: in in areas, in countries where there's been high government 190 00:10:25,000 --> 00:10:30,800 Speaker 1: turnover and lots of internal conflict. Um, let's say, infrastructure 191 00:10:30,840 --> 00:10:34,640 Speaker 1: like roads, bridges, water, electricity, these things have been cut 192 00:10:34,679 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: throughout these civil wars and the government's too poor to 193 00:10:37,960 --> 00:10:41,400 Speaker 1: fix them. All of a sudden, the government's delegitimized, and 194 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:45,959 Speaker 1: another like a rebel faction can step in and say, hey, 195 00:10:46,280 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: we're taken over, and by the way, we love drug traffic. 196 00:11:20,160 --> 00:11:22,360 Speaker 1: I got a couple of stats for you along those lines. 197 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:27,240 Speaker 1: Guatemala endured a thirty six year long civil war, El 198 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:30,800 Speaker 1: Salvador in a twelve year long civil war. In Nicaragua 199 00:11:30,840 --> 00:11:33,480 Speaker 1: had one that lasted nineteen years. And so what this 200 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:37,760 Speaker 1: means is it's a very unstable region, easily swayed by 201 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,280 Speaker 1: whoever has the power drug traffickers or the government. And 202 00:11:41,320 --> 00:11:44,600 Speaker 1: it also means there's a lot of guns. Yeah, and 203 00:11:44,679 --> 00:11:47,920 Speaker 1: a lot of former veterans that are out of work, 204 00:11:48,000 --> 00:11:50,800 Speaker 1: but you know how to use those guns and can 205 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:52,920 Speaker 1: serve as a guerrilla army. Yeah. And a lot of 206 00:11:52,920 --> 00:11:55,000 Speaker 1: times these are poor countries too. So in fact, I 207 00:11:55,040 --> 00:11:57,959 Speaker 1: would say almost every time it's a poor country, and 208 00:11:58,040 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: it's it's you don't have to be genius to figure 209 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:02,880 Speaker 1: out you got guns, you got these former military guys, 210 00:12:02,920 --> 00:12:05,160 Speaker 1: you've got really poor people, and you have loads of drugs. 211 00:12:05,240 --> 00:12:07,520 Speaker 1: It's worth a lot of money. It's really not too 212 00:12:07,520 --> 00:12:10,400 Speaker 1: hard to devolve into a narco state. No, it's not. Uh, 213 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:13,600 Speaker 1: And of course the root of all narco states is money, 214 00:12:14,120 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: either like Chuck said, bribes that kind of thing, or 215 00:12:17,760 --> 00:12:22,680 Speaker 1: um the GDP Afghanistan um, apparently their g d P 216 00:12:22,880 --> 00:12:26,840 Speaker 1: is like six billion annually, which what's the United States? 217 00:12:26,880 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: I think has fourteen trillion GDP? That um, So it's 218 00:12:30,960 --> 00:12:32,880 Speaker 1: kind of like, holy cow, how do you live like that? 219 00:12:32,920 --> 00:12:36,080 Speaker 1: They've been doing pretty good, but half of that has 220 00:12:36,120 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: been through heroin. So cars I hummed cars, I who 221 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:45,800 Speaker 1: was Um, I'm gonna make air quotes elected president of 222 00:12:45,840 --> 00:12:53,000 Speaker 1: Afghanistan twice. I made air quotes again, right, yeah, re elected. Um. 223 00:12:53,120 --> 00:12:55,920 Speaker 1: He has is well known for turning a blind eye 224 00:12:55,920 --> 00:12:58,800 Speaker 1: while saying we need to get rid of these poppies. Um. 225 00:12:58,840 --> 00:13:00,760 Speaker 1: And the US is like, Okay, we'll let us spray, 226 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:02,000 Speaker 1: and he's like, non't no, we have to do it 227 00:13:02,040 --> 00:13:08,719 Speaker 1: all by hand. Um. And apparently the American forces over there, Um, 228 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: I have to well, the d e as over there 229 00:13:11,320 --> 00:13:15,400 Speaker 1: as well, but the American commanders of the armed forces 230 00:13:15,440 --> 00:13:18,520 Speaker 1: in Afghanistan don't let the d e A in at all. 231 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:21,720 Speaker 1: And they're frustrated pulling their hair out because they're not 232 00:13:21,760 --> 00:13:26,040 Speaker 1: getting any support whatsoever. And it's kind of one of 233 00:13:26,040 --> 00:13:29,040 Speaker 1: those things, like everybody knows that Afghanistan produces poppies. As 234 00:13:28,960 --> 00:13:32,480 Speaker 1: a matter of fact, in two thousand and six, they 235 00:13:32,559 --> 00:13:38,599 Speaker 1: produced the highest poppy harvest in recorded human history just 236 00:13:38,640 --> 00:13:41,280 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. It was double what it 237 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:44,200 Speaker 1: had been the year before. So clearly they're not pulling 238 00:13:44,280 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: enough by hand. No, because cars I won't let them 239 00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:50,000 Speaker 1: spray overhead. Yeah, which is I should explain that that's 240 00:13:50,000 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: a common method to uh, like you crop dust fields 241 00:13:52,840 --> 00:13:55,040 Speaker 1: to to put chemicals on them. You do the same 242 00:13:55,040 --> 00:13:56,920 Speaker 1: thing if you want to eradicate and kill them, right, 243 00:13:57,080 --> 00:14:00,400 Speaker 1: and it is very effective. It's worked in Colombia. Lumbia, 244 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,560 Speaker 1: Uh finally has a president. I shouldn't say finally, but 245 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:06,520 Speaker 1: Columbia as a president is very sympathetic and friendly to 246 00:14:06,559 --> 00:14:08,240 Speaker 1: the US and he's let the d e A in 247 00:14:08,280 --> 00:14:11,920 Speaker 1: there and they have eradicated a lot of um cocoa 248 00:14:12,080 --> 00:14:16,080 Speaker 1: fields using that that method. Yeah, so it does work. 249 00:14:16,120 --> 00:14:18,240 Speaker 1: But cards I was like no, And apparently there's been 250 00:14:18,280 --> 00:14:21,520 Speaker 1: more and more and more reports of the people who 251 00:14:21,560 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: are involved in the central government are all drug lords 252 00:14:24,960 --> 00:14:27,080 Speaker 1: or most of them are drug lords too. So Afghanistan 253 00:14:27,160 --> 00:14:30,359 Speaker 1: is teetering right on the edge of being a narcostate, 254 00:14:30,480 --> 00:14:34,760 Speaker 1: if it's not already so contributing to half of your GDP. 255 00:14:34,960 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: That's another reason for a narco state to develop. Yeah, 256 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:39,680 Speaker 1: and well, since we're on money, another thing that money 257 00:14:39,760 --> 00:14:43,040 Speaker 1: brings is uh, bribes and corruption like we were talking about. 258 00:14:43,440 --> 00:14:45,600 Speaker 1: And I have to mention this because you uncovered this 259 00:14:45,640 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: great fact from Guatemala. The federal judge that's just hard 260 00:14:50,200 --> 00:14:53,920 Speaker 1: to believe. The federal judge was accused of accepting thousands 261 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:57,480 Speaker 1: of dollars in bribes to dismiss a drug trafficking case 262 00:14:58,080 --> 00:15:00,320 Speaker 1: and at the end of the SEED dismissed the case. 263 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:02,400 Speaker 1: At the end of this trial, Uh, this judge was 264 00:15:02,440 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: seen driving the defendant from court. Yeah, so it goes 265 00:15:06,120 --> 00:15:09,960 Speaker 1: pretty deep. Yeah, And Guatemala UM is a de facto 266 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:14,200 Speaker 1: narco state right now, UM and in Central America itself, 267 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:17,400 Speaker 1: which is, like we said, since the UM, since the 268 00:15:17,440 --> 00:15:20,000 Speaker 1: Caribbean has been shut down, Central America started play a 269 00:15:20,040 --> 00:15:23,360 Speaker 1: really key role as a as a supply line between 270 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:28,240 Speaker 1: South America and North America. UM. And actually, because of 271 00:15:28,240 --> 00:15:31,640 Speaker 1: all those conflicts that you mentioned earlier, there's now a 272 00:15:31,960 --> 00:15:37,160 Speaker 1: ratio of five to one illegal unregistered guns to guns 273 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:41,920 Speaker 1: held by UM legitimate police and armed forces. So let's 274 00:15:42,000 --> 00:15:45,000 Speaker 1: keep an eye on Central America. That means trouble is coming. Okay, 275 00:15:45,000 --> 00:15:48,680 Speaker 1: So Central America UM again we talked about how it's 276 00:15:48,720 --> 00:15:54,120 Speaker 1: been destabilized by conflict. There's tons of guns, there's terrible infrastructure, 277 00:15:54,600 --> 00:15:58,000 Speaker 1: there's plenty of drugs and narco states and you know 278 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: what else did in Guatemala. They have corrupt government officials 279 00:16:02,680 --> 00:16:07,120 Speaker 1: there have drafted legislation that prevents UM extradition, and as 280 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: we know, extradition is a really valuable tool for us 281 00:16:10,440 --> 00:16:13,760 Speaker 1: when we're trying to prosecute these drug lords and they 282 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,440 Speaker 1: said he can't do it. So that kind of says, 283 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:20,320 Speaker 1: right there, let us make our money. Yeah, us stay 284 00:16:20,320 --> 00:16:22,240 Speaker 1: out of her hair. Once you have the Congress, in 285 00:16:22,280 --> 00:16:25,560 Speaker 1: the judiciary in your pocket, that's even more valuable in 286 00:16:25,640 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: the military, although the military is a really good first step. Yeah, 287 00:16:29,080 --> 00:16:31,960 Speaker 1: that's true. Um all right, so Chuck. One of the 288 00:16:32,000 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: reasons why you might notice that UM Central and South 289 00:16:35,440 --> 00:16:38,280 Speaker 1: America keep popping up. One of the reasons why is 290 00:16:38,320 --> 00:16:44,040 Speaker 1: because UM Central America specifically was a Cold War battleground 291 00:16:44,360 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: where the U S and the U s SR fought 292 00:16:46,360 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: one another in proxy wars UM through throughout the Cold War. Basically, 293 00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:55,640 Speaker 1: both countries just completely used nations in Central and South 294 00:16:55,680 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: America to fight, fight one another, try to bleed one 295 00:16:58,560 --> 00:17:01,480 Speaker 1: another out. You know what that means. What that means 296 00:17:01,560 --> 00:17:04,600 Speaker 1: that these people that live there being trained by either 297 00:17:05,000 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: Russian or American military. They're being supplied with guns and 298 00:17:09,520 --> 00:17:12,719 Speaker 1: ammunition and all the things that you need. Once you 299 00:17:12,840 --> 00:17:15,800 Speaker 1: stop and say could wars over all those guns and 300 00:17:15,800 --> 00:17:18,200 Speaker 1: trained dudes are still there, right, and they're like, well, 301 00:17:18,240 --> 00:17:20,960 Speaker 1: what should we do with all this stuff. Yeah, and 302 00:17:20,960 --> 00:17:23,199 Speaker 1: not only that, we are not getting funding from the 303 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:26,960 Speaker 1: Soviets of the Americans anymore, but we still the war 304 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:29,679 Speaker 1: didn't end for them. The conflict didn't end for them, 305 00:17:29,680 --> 00:17:31,720 Speaker 1: The power struggle didn't end for them, just because the 306 00:17:31,720 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 1: Americans and the Soviets suddenly lost interest. It's still going 307 00:17:34,800 --> 00:17:38,040 Speaker 1: on and there they are funding it through drugs right 308 00:17:38,640 --> 00:17:43,200 Speaker 1: um and also uh, the US backed right wing paramilitary 309 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:47,520 Speaker 1: groups or right wing um dictatorships, and the Soviets of 310 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:51,200 Speaker 1: course backed left wing groups like farc Um. And farc 311 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:55,840 Speaker 1: has a reputation for being extremely brutal. They use child soldiers, 312 00:17:55,880 --> 00:17:59,920 Speaker 1: they engage in kidnappings, bombings, um kill their own people. Sure, 313 00:18:00,320 --> 00:18:04,159 Speaker 1: at one point, um they offered a thousand dollars to 314 00:18:04,240 --> 00:18:07,199 Speaker 1: anybody who killed the government official. So they were outsourcing 315 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:09,919 Speaker 1: their terrorism and their communists, and they were supported by 316 00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:12,720 Speaker 1: the Soviet So of course they're horrible. The US supported 317 00:18:12,800 --> 00:18:17,720 Speaker 1: equally brutal regimes and groups like Lack of Frida. You 318 00:18:17,720 --> 00:18:21,679 Speaker 1: know about them there Guatemala. Yes, they were very much 319 00:18:21,720 --> 00:18:24,640 Speaker 1: supported by the US and they helped kill as many 320 00:18:24,680 --> 00:18:27,119 Speaker 1: as two hundred thousand of their own people during that 321 00:18:27,359 --> 00:18:31,080 Speaker 1: civil war. Josh Lacka Frida wasn't the only one, right. 322 00:18:31,400 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: Remember the nineteen eighties when President Reagan launched the War 323 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:36,840 Speaker 1: on drugs? You know what was going on. At the 324 00:18:36,840 --> 00:18:40,359 Speaker 1: same time, we were providing funding and weapons for the 325 00:18:40,400 --> 00:18:45,800 Speaker 1: same anti communist paramilitary groups that were producing and distributing 326 00:18:45,840 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: this cocaine. Yeah right, at the same time. Yea, Yet 327 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:51,000 Speaker 1: we were fighting a war on drugs. Ye doesn't add up, 328 00:18:51,040 --> 00:18:54,040 Speaker 1: doesn't Not only that, you remember Manuel Noriega and we 329 00:18:54,080 --> 00:18:57,600 Speaker 1: went down to Panama in nine nine. Delta Force was 330 00:18:57,720 --> 00:19:02,360 Speaker 1: their special forces was there, um, and we captured him 331 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,399 Speaker 1: and then put him in prison in Miami for a 332 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:08,320 Speaker 1: couple of decades. He was a CIA asset for eight years. Yeah, 333 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:11,960 Speaker 1: he was operating a narco state under our supervision. Yeah, 334 00:19:12,000 --> 00:19:15,000 Speaker 1: you could say. Uh. And then once news leaked out 335 00:19:15,040 --> 00:19:18,280 Speaker 1: to the general public that he was a drug dealer, Um, 336 00:19:18,359 --> 00:19:20,719 Speaker 1: we went down and reroved him from power, right and 337 00:19:20,760 --> 00:19:22,920 Speaker 1: gave I believe he's still in prison, right, No, he 338 00:19:23,080 --> 00:19:25,480 Speaker 1: just got out really yeah, okay, like a year ago 339 00:19:25,560 --> 00:19:27,760 Speaker 1: or something like that. Good for him. And again, this 340 00:19:27,840 --> 00:19:31,200 Speaker 1: is the same thing that's going on right now in Afghanistan. Um, 341 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:34,280 Speaker 1: we're well aware that cars I is totally cool. With 342 00:19:34,320 --> 00:19:37,800 Speaker 1: the heroin production in that nation, which by the way, 343 00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,840 Speaker 1: is far and away the largest producer of heroin or 344 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:46,240 Speaker 1: opium poppies um in the world. So it's still going on. Yeah, 345 00:19:46,359 --> 00:19:48,520 Speaker 1: although we we donated a lot of are donated, I 346 00:19:48,520 --> 00:19:50,280 Speaker 1: guess that's not the right word, but we gave them 347 00:19:50,359 --> 00:19:54,320 Speaker 1: close to eight hundred million dollars for counter narcotics operations 348 00:19:54,320 --> 00:19:57,760 Speaker 1: and measures. I'm sure every penny went to that scene. Um. 349 00:19:57,840 --> 00:20:01,400 Speaker 1: So it's still going on, but we The reason why 350 00:20:01,520 --> 00:20:04,040 Speaker 1: it's really disturbing that this is still going on is 351 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:06,760 Speaker 1: because we haven't learned a very clear lesson from this, 352 00:20:06,840 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: and that's when we support groups that engage in drug trafficking, 353 00:20:10,960 --> 00:20:15,280 Speaker 1: it invariably comes back to bite us in the ass um. 354 00:20:15,480 --> 00:20:20,840 Speaker 1: Like I mentioned Laco Frida in Guatemala. The two guys 355 00:20:20,880 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 1: who are running that show, running Guatemala as a narco state, 356 00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,320 Speaker 1: we're both trained by the United States at the School 357 00:20:28,320 --> 00:20:31,480 Speaker 1: of the America's Fort Benning, I think, yeah, right here 358 00:20:31,480 --> 00:20:36,000 Speaker 1: in Georgia. Yeah, it's where they trained foreign people, no 359 00:20:36,160 --> 00:20:40,600 Speaker 1: specifically South Latin America, Latin Americans specifically to train them. 360 00:20:40,920 --> 00:20:45,600 Speaker 1: Pretty controversial, Yeah, because they trained them in assassination in 361 00:20:45,600 --> 00:20:49,520 Speaker 1: assembling guerilla armies and destabilizing central governments, that kind of stuff. 362 00:20:49,640 --> 00:20:51,439 Speaker 1: So we're training these guys to go fight the serviews. 363 00:20:51,480 --> 00:20:53,760 Speaker 1: But then again, after the Cold Wars over, these guys 364 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,600 Speaker 1: are still going. They're still around. Um. The Mexican Gulf Cartel, 365 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:02,720 Speaker 1: which has become hugely violent and kind of big UM 366 00:21:03,200 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: is run by a couple of guys who were also 367 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:07,960 Speaker 1: trained at the School of the America's So basically the 368 00:21:08,000 --> 00:21:12,159 Speaker 1: world's biggest drug dealers were trained by the United States 369 00:21:12,160 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: and the art of smuggling and all sorts of other stuff. 370 00:21:14,760 --> 00:21:16,879 Speaker 1: They were trained in their craft. And I think the 371 00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:22,120 Speaker 1: Russians used Escobar, right yeah, to to help guard their 372 00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:25,640 Speaker 1: poppy fields, is that right? Yeah. Farc actually started out 373 00:21:25,720 --> 00:21:31,040 Speaker 1: um guarding Escobar's cocoa fields in Colombia for the Median cartel, 374 00:21:31,119 --> 00:21:33,840 Speaker 1: right yeah. And then apparently they're like, Wow, this guy 375 00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:35,560 Speaker 1: is making a bunch of money. We're gonna go out 376 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:38,879 Speaker 1: on our own, and they became rivals. And then again 377 00:21:38,960 --> 00:21:44,920 Speaker 1: Delta Force goes down there and oversees the assassination of Umar, 378 00:21:45,359 --> 00:21:47,399 Speaker 1: which I don't mean to sound paranoid, like I really 379 00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: researched this article and all this is fact. Everything that 380 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 1: is in fact. I've made like verbal air quotes with 381 00:21:55,000 --> 00:21:57,600 Speaker 1: like this is this is documented stuff and so much 382 00:21:57,640 --> 00:22:01,600 Speaker 1: money and legitimate publications. You know, it's all about the greenbacks. 383 00:22:02,240 --> 00:22:04,800 Speaker 1: So much money at stake. So let's talk about Africa, man, 384 00:22:04,880 --> 00:22:07,640 Speaker 1: that's the place to be these days. Well, if you're 385 00:22:07,640 --> 00:22:10,880 Speaker 1: in the narco state. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, Africa has really 386 00:22:10,920 --> 00:22:13,560 Speaker 1: risen since the mid eighties. That was the first sign 387 00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:17,480 Speaker 1: of a drug presence in Africa and Zombia, although it 388 00:22:17,560 --> 00:22:20,600 Speaker 1: was marijuana in uh in Zombia at the time. That's 389 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,400 Speaker 1: how it started out, at least the gateway drug. Even 390 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,440 Speaker 1: when you're talking narco states. Sure, yeah, it's funny. So 391 00:22:26,800 --> 00:22:31,359 Speaker 1: Zambia goes um Is exposes a narco state. Apparently the 392 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:33,679 Speaker 1: government wasn't aware of this one, but a group of 393 00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:37,840 Speaker 1: prominent citizens were operating like a sub state. Yeah, sub 394 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:41,159 Speaker 1: narco state, just under the noses of the functioning government. 395 00:22:41,280 --> 00:22:44,600 Speaker 1: And again very poor people, which is key. That's Yeah. 396 00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: If people don't have any money and all of a 397 00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,400 Speaker 1: sudden people come and give them gobs of money, they'll 398 00:22:48,640 --> 00:22:51,040 Speaker 1: you know, you want to be a drug mule, We'll 399 00:22:51,080 --> 00:23:16,480 Speaker 1: give you this much money. Problem um so Zambia was 400 00:23:16,480 --> 00:23:19,879 Speaker 1: the first to start in Africa and then the nineties. UM. 401 00:23:20,240 --> 00:23:22,879 Speaker 1: The reason why it picked up speed in the nineties 402 00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:25,479 Speaker 1: was because it was the end of colonialism and just 403 00:23:25,640 --> 00:23:28,800 Speaker 1: ended within the last decade or so. UM. And this 404 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:33,720 Speaker 1: European influence and influx of money and exploitation UM left 405 00:23:33,720 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: a vacuum economically, financially, uh. And oftentimes with central governments 406 00:23:39,040 --> 00:23:41,960 Speaker 1: there's just a vacuum and nobody's doing any there's no 407 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:44,080 Speaker 1: way to make any money or anything. So narco states 408 00:23:44,080 --> 00:23:47,080 Speaker 1: are setting up. Senegal was another one. In the nineties. 409 00:23:47,119 --> 00:23:49,800 Speaker 1: I believe heroin and cocaine really were on the rise. 410 00:23:50,280 --> 00:23:51,919 Speaker 1: And here's the stat that you you dug up. It 411 00:23:51,960 --> 00:23:55,480 Speaker 1: was pretty good. In two thousand and eight, the Telegraph 412 00:23:55,560 --> 00:23:58,360 Speaker 1: newspaper in England reported that the cost of a bribe 413 00:23:58,920 --> 00:24:01,360 Speaker 1: to look the other a at the airport when you're 414 00:24:01,359 --> 00:24:04,439 Speaker 1: flying in at into car with drugs nine grand per 415 00:24:04,560 --> 00:24:07,560 Speaker 1: kilo of cocaine. Right, and Chuck just mentioned a little 416 00:24:07,640 --> 00:24:11,399 Speaker 1: funny little word and it was cocaine. You know, associate 417 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:14,240 Speaker 1: Africa with cocaine normally, Well, yeah, that's true. You do 418 00:24:14,359 --> 00:24:16,760 Speaker 1: now though, yeah, big time. And one of the reasons 419 00:24:16,760 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: why UM, it's popped up in Africa's because West Africa 420 00:24:20,640 --> 00:24:25,159 Speaker 1: is a perfect stop for cocaine en route to Europe. 421 00:24:25,320 --> 00:24:28,600 Speaker 1: Right we talked about Europe having a huge problem with heroin. 422 00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:30,520 Speaker 1: One of the reasons they didn't have a big problem 423 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:33,720 Speaker 1: with cocaine's because the Colombians and other South Americans hadn't 424 00:24:33,720 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: figured out how to get it to them. Now, all 425 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,000 Speaker 1: of a sudden, West Africa's devolving into narco states because 426 00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:42,280 Speaker 1: they finally figured out we need a port and West 427 00:24:42,320 --> 00:24:48,320 Speaker 1: Africa's right, specifically Guinea Bissaal. This is this is, like 428 00:24:48,359 --> 00:24:52,360 Speaker 1: we said earlier, the one true functioning narco state right now. Yeah, 429 00:24:52,400 --> 00:24:55,840 Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty million dollars worth of cocaine passes 430 00:24:55,880 --> 00:24:58,800 Speaker 1: through the borders of Guinea Bissau each month, and that 431 00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:00,720 Speaker 1: was in two thousand seven. And what is a hundred 432 00:25:00,720 --> 00:25:03,560 Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars times two to them? Uh, they're 433 00:25:03,720 --> 00:25:07,639 Speaker 1: gross domestic product. It's half of the gross domestic product. 434 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:11,680 Speaker 1: So the entire nation, all of the goods and services 435 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:16,080 Speaker 1: produced in Guinea Bissau and above the boards, equals three 436 00:25:16,119 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: hundred million dollars a year and they have half of 437 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:25,320 Speaker 1: that coming through their country. In cocaine a month. Tell 438 00:25:25,359 --> 00:25:29,159 Speaker 1: the story of how this started there so interesting. Uh 439 00:25:29,520 --> 00:25:32,760 Speaker 1: what year was it? Chuck two thousand five? There are 440 00:25:32,760 --> 00:25:36,000 Speaker 1: a group of Guinea Bissau and fishermen who were out 441 00:25:36,200 --> 00:25:39,160 Speaker 1: um in their boats and there was a big old 442 00:25:39,240 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: package floating or maybe several smaller packages is floating there. 443 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:44,600 Speaker 1: So they hauled them in with their nets and they 444 00:25:44,600 --> 00:25:46,439 Speaker 1: took them back to land. They opened them up and 445 00:25:46,480 --> 00:25:48,880 Speaker 1: there was this white powder inside that they had never 446 00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,199 Speaker 1: seen before. They didn't know what to do with it, 447 00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,720 Speaker 1: so they actually used it as fertilizer on their crops, 448 00:25:53,760 --> 00:25:56,680 Speaker 1: which it killed their crops first. Really yeah, I know that. 449 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:59,280 Speaker 1: And then finally, one day, while they're still puzzling over 450 00:25:59,320 --> 00:26:01,160 Speaker 1: this stuff, gotten knows what else they did with it, 451 00:26:02,280 --> 00:26:07,240 Speaker 1: a man, a South American man shows up and says, hey, um, 452 00:26:07,359 --> 00:26:09,840 Speaker 1: I believe you have something that belongs to us. Yeah, 453 00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:12,600 Speaker 1: and uh, that's cocaine. That's our cocaine. I'll give you 454 00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: a million dollars for it, which is one of the 455 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: entire gross domestic product, remember of Guinea Bissau. And so 456 00:26:20,560 --> 00:26:23,040 Speaker 1: they say okay, and by the way, can we do 457 00:26:23,080 --> 00:26:26,200 Speaker 1: this again? And that was the birth of the Guinea 458 00:26:26,240 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 1: Bissau and narcos. It completely happened by accident, it did, 459 00:26:29,560 --> 00:26:31,639 Speaker 1: I mean, can you imagine that? And Guinea Bissau is 460 00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:36,600 Speaker 1: a perfect narco state. The cops literally in this in 461 00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,360 Speaker 1: the capital um Bissau, it's the capital city of the country. 462 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:43,640 Speaker 1: The cops have five cop cars and they almost never 463 00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,320 Speaker 1: have gasoline to fuel them. And they have a hundred 464 00:26:46,320 --> 00:26:48,600 Speaker 1: and fifty million dollars worth of cocaine going through the 465 00:26:48,640 --> 00:26:50,879 Speaker 1: borders with five cop cars. Right, it was a former 466 00:26:51,000 --> 00:26:55,720 Speaker 1: Portuguese colony. The Portuguese left Um and Guinea Sau. There's 467 00:26:55,720 --> 00:26:58,720 Speaker 1: not an airplane associated with that country, but they have 468 00:26:58,840 --> 00:27:02,119 Speaker 1: air fields out on like barrier islands that are just 469 00:27:02,160 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: totally unused, unpatrolled UM. And what's more, the military is 470 00:27:07,000 --> 00:27:11,120 Speaker 1: completely in the pockets of the UM. I think they're 471 00:27:11,119 --> 00:27:15,000 Speaker 1: mostly Colombians that took the place. Over built stucco mansions. 472 00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:18,520 Speaker 1: They have UM Direct TV antennas on the roofs. In 473 00:27:18,560 --> 00:27:22,240 Speaker 1: this incredibly poverty stricken country. They stick out like sore thumbs. 474 00:27:22,440 --> 00:27:24,439 Speaker 1: They don't care. One of the reasons why is, like 475 00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,800 Speaker 1: I said, the military is on their side. How did 476 00:27:27,200 --> 00:27:30,520 Speaker 1: how do we know that? Chuck josh In September of 477 00:27:30,520 --> 00:27:34,800 Speaker 1: two thousand six. Uh, cops, they're arrested to Colombian guys 478 00:27:34,800 --> 00:27:39,160 Speaker 1: in a house with seven hundred keyloads of cocaine, and 479 00:27:39,400 --> 00:27:41,800 Speaker 1: the soldiers came. They showed up at the police station, 480 00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:45,320 Speaker 1: surrounded it and said give me the cocaine and the 481 00:27:45,359 --> 00:27:48,199 Speaker 1: man and uh they did so, and they got in 482 00:27:48,240 --> 00:27:50,320 Speaker 1: their cars, loaded up the coke and drove away. The 483 00:27:50,359 --> 00:27:54,119 Speaker 1: cops watched the military load up the coke and just 484 00:27:54,440 --> 00:27:56,600 Speaker 1: leave with the guys, said thank you for your time. Yeah, 485 00:27:56,640 --> 00:27:59,199 Speaker 1: and that was it. That was um, that was the 486 00:27:59,240 --> 00:28:02,240 Speaker 1: beginning of the and the military engaged in an all 487 00:28:02,280 --> 00:28:05,639 Speaker 1: out war with the government and ended up assassinating the 488 00:28:05,680 --> 00:28:09,160 Speaker 1: president after laying siege to his mansion for several hours. Yeah. 489 00:28:09,200 --> 00:28:11,159 Speaker 1: Just this year, right March. Huh he was, he was 490 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,960 Speaker 1: assassinated in March. Yea. So there's no central government in 491 00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:19,440 Speaker 1: getting Bissau. The Colombians are they're selling drugs, uh, using 492 00:28:19,440 --> 00:28:21,520 Speaker 1: it as Actually they're not selling it in getting Bissau 493 00:28:21,520 --> 00:28:23,680 Speaker 1: as far as I know. They're using getting bessions as mules. 494 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,719 Speaker 1: Who they're even more perfect because it was a Portuguese colony. 495 00:28:28,760 --> 00:28:31,320 Speaker 1: They don't have to have visas to get into Europe. Yeah, 496 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:34,960 Speaker 1: I mean it's like it's like Pablo Escobar went, God, 497 00:28:35,520 --> 00:28:37,560 Speaker 1: I need you to do me a favorite. I got 498 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:39,920 Speaker 1: some friends back there on Earth and they need a 499 00:28:39,960 --> 00:28:42,640 Speaker 1: place in West Africa, need a perfect arcot Us, a 500 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:46,120 Speaker 1: perfect Narco state, And God's like getting Bissau. And I 501 00:28:46,120 --> 00:28:48,440 Speaker 1: think you said the average annual income there is like 502 00:28:48,480 --> 00:28:51,240 Speaker 1: five bucks a year for a civil servants job. Yeah, 503 00:28:51,280 --> 00:28:54,120 Speaker 1: so it's clear that if you start waving just small 504 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:55,960 Speaker 1: amounts of money under their nose that they're gonna be 505 00:28:55,960 --> 00:28:59,760 Speaker 1: a trabec and call so getting Missau one watch. I mean, 506 00:28:59,760 --> 00:29:01,720 Speaker 1: it's just insane right There'm sure it's not a safe 507 00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,920 Speaker 1: place to me. No, nope. So that's Narco States. Um, 508 00:29:05,960 --> 00:29:07,680 Speaker 1: I have a headache just from talking about it. How 509 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:10,800 Speaker 1: about you, Chuck, I do kind of dance and it is. 510 00:29:10,880 --> 00:29:13,120 Speaker 1: It was really good article. Now thanks man. If you 511 00:29:13,120 --> 00:29:15,840 Speaker 1: want to read the article that I wrote, um and 512 00:29:15,960 --> 00:29:19,880 Speaker 1: pour my blood, sweat and tears into you can type 513 00:29:20,000 --> 00:29:22,800 Speaker 1: Narco States. That's two words in the handy search bar 514 00:29:22,840 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 1: at how stuff Works dot com. And uh that means 515 00:29:26,160 --> 00:29:31,280 Speaker 1: it's time for listener mail. Yeah, you know it's funny, 516 00:29:31,320 --> 00:29:34,040 Speaker 1: is this morning? Emily asked me while we were getting 517 00:29:34,080 --> 00:29:36,720 Speaker 1: ready for a day. What we're gonna podcast on it? 518 00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:38,800 Speaker 1: Said Narco state? She said, what's a narco state? Not 519 00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:43,080 Speaker 1: I don't know, And here, like eight hours later, my 520 00:29:43,120 --> 00:29:46,000 Speaker 1: mind is about arco or at least enough to talk 521 00:29:46,000 --> 00:29:49,040 Speaker 1: about it for twenty five minutes? Has it only been 522 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:53,080 Speaker 1: twenty five minutes? Thirty five minutes? Cherry's thirty five? Josh, 523 00:29:53,120 --> 00:29:59,680 Speaker 1: I'm gonna call this um DNA database London. Email. Hello, 524 00:29:59,800 --> 00:30:01,400 Speaker 1: John and Chuck love your show. I thought you may 525 00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,120 Speaker 1: be interested in little story in regards to the podcast 526 00:30:04,160 --> 00:30:07,760 Speaker 1: about crime databases. I am from Yakima, Washington, but I've 527 00:30:07,840 --> 00:30:10,120 Speaker 1: lived in the UK for the last decade. I mean 528 00:30:10,240 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: train driver engineer. Lisa is thirty. She's an American train 529 00:30:15,080 --> 00:30:20,200 Speaker 1: engineer living in England. Met interesting. So a friend of mine, 530 00:30:20,240 --> 00:30:22,440 Speaker 1: who was also a conductor, had a recent experience with 531 00:30:22,480 --> 00:30:25,560 Speaker 1: the British Transport Police. In regards to this, he was 532 00:30:25,680 --> 00:30:28,160 Speaker 1: spat on by a member of the public who was 533 00:30:28,160 --> 00:30:31,320 Speaker 1: abusive while carrying out ticket duties, so the police were 534 00:30:31,360 --> 00:30:34,400 Speaker 1: called on the day and for weeks after, my friend 535 00:30:34,480 --> 00:30:37,320 Speaker 1: was pretty much harassed by the police because they wanted 536 00:30:37,360 --> 00:30:41,960 Speaker 1: a DNA sample from him for quote exclusion purposes. He 537 00:30:42,080 --> 00:30:45,320 Speaker 1: steadfastly declined each request to the point where he put 538 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,640 Speaker 1: it in writing to the police he would get a 539 00:30:47,720 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: solicitor involved to ensure he never had to submit a sample. 540 00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:54,080 Speaker 1: The outcome is basically that he the offender, went unpunished 541 00:30:54,680 --> 00:30:57,400 Speaker 1: because the police won't follow it up anymore because the 542 00:30:57,680 --> 00:31:00,560 Speaker 1: guy who was attacked and spit upon won't surrender his 543 00:31:00,680 --> 00:31:03,640 Speaker 1: d n A for exclusion purposes. So I just thought 544 00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,280 Speaker 1: you may want to know here in England, even victims 545 00:31:06,320 --> 00:31:09,560 Speaker 1: of crime are being coerced into giving samples. Keep up 546 00:31:09,600 --> 00:31:13,920 Speaker 1: the great work from Lisa x x X from Lisa. Wow, 547 00:31:14,320 --> 00:31:17,600 Speaker 1: not an x O buddy triple x. That's from Lisa 548 00:31:17,760 --> 00:31:22,960 Speaker 1: and Stoke, Hammond, Buckinghamshire. And I guess that's a place, Yeah, 549 00:31:24,040 --> 00:31:26,000 Speaker 1: you know I can spit on before and spit back. 550 00:31:26,880 --> 00:31:29,560 Speaker 1: Did you get spit on by a cab driver? And 551 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:32,360 Speaker 1: nice really such a jerk and tried to charge me 552 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:35,400 Speaker 1: twenty bucks for like an eight block cab ride. I 553 00:31:35,520 --> 00:31:38,360 Speaker 1: was like, I'm not giving you that much, and he 554 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: was like, yes you will, and I I just like 555 00:31:42,400 --> 00:31:44,440 Speaker 1: blinked and like put my hand in my face and 556 00:31:44,560 --> 00:31:46,520 Speaker 1: sure enough there was a spit and I just spit 557 00:31:46,680 --> 00:31:48,560 Speaker 1: right back into place. This in France. I thought he 558 00:31:48,680 --> 00:31:51,080 Speaker 1: was going to explode, not even in a narco state. 559 00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:53,640 Speaker 1: It was in Nice. Did you pay him? I paid him, 560 00:31:53,680 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 1: so I didn't pay him twenty bucks? What a jerk? 561 00:31:56,560 --> 00:32:00,280 Speaker 1: Spit on, Josh, no doubt. Yeah, he's got a meeting 562 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,360 Speaker 1: with me scheduled. Thanks, buddy, I'm gonna go find this guy. Yeah, 563 00:32:03,440 --> 00:32:05,479 Speaker 1: let's go to Nice, all right? All right? Well, if 564 00:32:05,520 --> 00:32:09,160 Speaker 1: you have any stories about spitting on or being spit upon, um, 565 00:32:09,320 --> 00:32:13,560 Speaker 1: you can send an email to stuff Podcast at how 566 00:32:13,680 --> 00:32:20,520 Speaker 1: stuff works dot com. For more on this and thousands 567 00:32:20,560 --> 00:32:23,960 Speaker 1: of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com. Want 568 00:32:24,080 --> 00:32:26,640 Speaker 1: more how stuff works, check out our blogs on the 569 00:32:26,720 --> 00:32:28,360 Speaker 1: house stuff works dot com home page