Blog dedicated to reporting on Mexican drug cartels
on the border line between the US and Mexico
.

Monday, October 14, 2013

541 Syndicate Part 2

An excerpt from a story written by Adán Germán for Borderland Beat
 
In 1996, California became the first state to legalize the possession and consumption of marijuana for medical use, with a doctor's recommendation. By 2012, sixteen US states had legalized the medical use of marijuana for certain physical ailments, and in some states, specific mental issues.

However, marijuana was still considered illegal under federal law, and according to the Controlled Substances Act of 1970, marijuana is classified as a Schedule I drug, claiming it has a high potential for abuse and has no acceptable medical use.
By 2012, every state on the US West Coast had legalized the medical use of marijuana, and the states of Washington and Colorado had legalized recreational use for anyone over the age of 21. Legalization was coincided by precipitous declines in the wholesale price, as well as demand in general. Young people in Seattle and San Francisco were no longer willing to pay $100 for a quarter ounce of green bud, when it was readily available by the pound through just about any college kid from a rural county. Legalization clearly had it's advantages, but also forced the Díaz family to reevaluate their business model.
Fortunately a few cousins from Chicago had connections on the streets of Pilsen and Little Village who would take as much high-grade "kush" as possible, as long as it was on a front [on credit]. Early on they tried boxing up 10-20 pounds at a time and sending it by Fedex or UPS, but this was quickly found to be an indiscreet method with severe limitations on the amount of product that could be moved every month. This problem was exemplified when a package containing 2.5 pounds of marijuana was tracked from Northern California to the home of a Cincinnati Bengals player in suburban northern Kentucky in 2011.

By 2006 SUV's with out of state license plates were rolling into the South Side with 200 pounds of high-grade marijuana carefully packaged and boxed for transport at $500,000 a load. However, this method also proved troublesome, because a dozen 16 pound boxes in the back of an SUV were raised immediate suspicion if any law enforcement contact was made, no matter how carefully the smell was covered up.
The group lacked the resources to start their own commercial tractor-trailer trucking company, especially since there was little demand for this service in the rural mountains. So, they rented and purchased box vans or covered pickups that could easily carry up to a ton of product, while remaining fairly inconspicuous.
As marijuana became legal, grower shifted from rugged and shady mountain canyons, to verdant farmland
However, the Northern routes on Interstates 80 and 90 proved perilous. In 2009 a woman was pulled over 100 miles east of Salt Lake City on Interstate 80 with 400 pounds in the back of pickup covered by a fiberglass canopy. The fact that the search was conducted without probable cause allowed her to avoid a lengthy jail sentence after pleading guilty. Continues next page
One driver made it all the way to Joliet in a box van, when he realized he needed gas. He supposedly failed to signal, and Joliet city police made a large seizure. In 2011 a Diaz cousin was detained on Interstate 90 in South Dakota with more than 300 pounds in the back of a U Hall truck. He faced up to 25 years in state prison, but was able to cut a deal for 6 months in county lockup in exchange for a guilty plea. The lawyer charged $50,000 for his services.
 
In 2009, some relatives uninvolved in the family business were arrested in Boise, Idaho with 15 pounds of Marijuana from Southern Oregon. They received 3-5 years, and their children remained in Idaho state foster care for a year before the grandparents in California regained custody.

The next year, Adán Díaz's brother-in-law was arrested in Northern Idaho on Interstate 90, literally pulled over as he crossed the Washington state line. The back seat and trunk divider had been removed from the rented car, and police found close to 100 pounds of high-grade marijuana when they searched the car. His bail was set at $1 million, while those accused of violent crimes, such as child rape, in the same jail had their bail set at $250,000.

No bail bondsman was willing to post a bond without 100% collateral, preferably real estate. When DEA agents arrived at the home he and his girlfriend shared, she was shocked that this accomplished professional chef, who had never even had a speeding ticket, was accused of being a drug runner.
While the supply of people able to run loads began to dwindle, the Díaz family faced another problem. The DEA and state narcotics agents had begun to find ways to raid their farms, even when they had less than 100 plants. State law allowed a grower with 96 plants to possess up to 24 pounds of "usable marijuana", and for years the feds had been unable to prove how much a plant actually weighed, until they raided a farm, seized the plants, dried them, and then weighed the processed marijuana.

After several such raids, federal authorities were confident that any farm with a high number of large plants would be found out of compliance. The feds began to raid Díaz satellite farms, and found 400 pounds, 600 pounds, or even 1,000 pounds was not an unusual yield for 96 plants. To make matters worse, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division subpoenaed bank records, and found that these farms were grossing well over $1 million a year, EACH. The feds were particularly quick to point out that this was just the cash deposited into bank accounts.
With their pool of drivers being whittled down to local college girls, who may or may not be trusted to keep their mouth shut, and their pool of growers ending up under indictment, the Díaz family slowly found themselves with nobody to turn to, except the local rednecks and hippies they

41 comments:

  1. Diaz cousin was detained on Interstate 90 in South Dakota with more than 300 pounds in the back of a U Hall truck. He faced up to 25 years in state prison, but was able to cut a deal for 6 months in county lockup in exchange for a guilty plea. The lawyer charged $50,000 for his services.

    Wait What

    ReplyDelete
  2. Out staters BEWARE!!! You will be popped only Westerners knows which way the the river flows.mountain highways greedy and corrupt troopers and possible robbery in the middle of nowhere. East coasters and southerners think its easy till they find their skull in a wooded area near the interstate 20 years later!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. You grow pot for the money
    and your greed got you in trouble,who cares...

    ReplyDelete
  4. Were these guys related to the herrera family from los herreras durango? From don juan herrera?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I am glad I don't like that stuff, I will stick to just plain farming corn. Less $$$$$$$$$$$$$$, but sleep better, after I drink a jar of Vino De Sierra.
    Good Night. It any worth it to pay lawyers and go to jail

    ReplyDelete
  6. It's a grave mistake to legalise marijuana in the first place.
    In fact, this "drug" has been called the introductory drug to hard drugs.
    It's the gate to hard drugs because it can initiate users to hard drugs.
    In fact, the US must make the country as drug free as possible because it brings with it all sorts of social ills.
    Although at the lower end of the scale, drugs like marijuana are comparatively cheap, but once hooked the users may go for hard drugs like cocaine, methamphetamines etc which are very expensive and very addictive.
    If the users are unable to find legal sources of income to support their addiction, they may turn to crime.
    This will open a pandora's box.
    So, why not make the US a drug free country by educating its citizens from young to stay far away from any form of addictive drugs.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Seriously this might be the stupidest comment ever. What a moron. Alcohol is what makes you do stupid shit, have seen numerous people get all fucked up and then do lines of coke they would never do sober. "Why not make the us a drug free country" what a lame ass comment! That would never EVER happen! It's in our nature to do devious and self inflicting behaviors (survival of the fittest) and many of us will always seek bad shit!!!

      Delete
    2. Caffiene ,alcohol ,and nicotine are the gateway drugs buddy

      Delete
    3. Stfuuuu im a stoner and I wouldnt want to do cocaine or meth. Ive tried em, yes. But am I hooked? Hellno only "drug" I do every day is cannabis fuck everything else

      Delete
    4. Oh, look another ignorant sheep that only listens to big brother and can't think for themselves. If your comment was a tiny bit true the WAR ON DRUGS would of already been won. The only reason the govt. Keeps drugs illegal is to make tons of untraceable cash to fund their personal wars. E.I Iram-contra affair.

      Delete
  7. Wow, the bullshit of marijuana being a gateway drug is nothing but bull. I've been surrounded by potheads and that's all they do. Now if they want a bigger high then that my friend is not a pothead, that's a junkie. Most potheads i know steer away from pharmaceuticals. I think that speaks for itself.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Anonymous wrote @ October 15, 2013 at 3:42 AM"

    "It's a grave mistake to legalise marijuana in the first place.
    In fact, this "drug" has been called the introductory drug to hard drugs."

    BULLSHI+.
    Stop drinking the government Kool-Aide. Mas idiota de la chingada. NO HAY.

    Hasta luego,
    AmigoAnónimo

    ReplyDelete
  9. chivis look into central cal michoacanaos started all this growing out here in the mountains an can u look up about alfredo mendez my family tells me he ran michoacan an faked his death

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Relax im from cen cal and the michoacanos werent the first to grow in the sierras, theres people from all states even oaxacas up in ukiah so stop ur state bangin

      Delete
    2. Cen cal you mean the 559 area? I agree. Every fucking state from Mexico who's cali is involved with drugs somehow. Here in Salinas 831 lots of paisas from GTO were growing too. Also some paisas from Guerrero.

      Delete
  10. @3:42AM
    Which country are you in? Europe? Just curious

    I was a teen in the 60's..went thru the "free everything" of the 70's and the cocaine disco years of the 80's.

    Yet I have never even once experimented with any street drugs, including pot. It was a personal choice, for personal reasons that have nothing to do with the danger of pot. I am a strong advocate of legalization of marijuana outright. and I support decriminalization of all drugs in personal use quantities.

    My brother became a heroin addict in his teens. He was murdered in his early 20's. He began using pot at 14, and then heroin. But if one takes his account as evidence to support the claim that pot is a gateway drug to stronger drugs or heroin specifically, that would be shallow thinking.

    I can tell you that every friend I had in HS at least experimented with pot. Of that large group of friends, only 2 went on to have a drug issue, both with heroin. Amazingly both are alive today. One is now clean for 9 years and received his masters 4 years ago.

    My group of friends were largely successful, good people.

    So, though a couple went on to other drugs, for the most part pot smoking never led to other drugs, though a few still enjoy a toke.

    If you would like additional information, email me. Paz, Chivis

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If you don't smoke dope, you don't commit the crime, AND you won't come in business contact with a dope dealer, a dope dealer who is in contact with, perhaps, a smuggler. A smuggler who hands money to a man who may very well have murdered to protect his business. You, of all people, should know the death and mayhem that ensues from the "intellegent,

      Delete
    2. @ 3:01 pm. What r u trying to say?
      I kind of sounds like a rant that makes no sense.
      " You, of all people, should know the death and mayhem that ensues from the intellegent" Do u mean the intelligent choices our government makes in continuing this War on Drugs. That kills and imprisons innocent human beings.

      Delete
    3. Ur cool. Reading this after 2 hits. I smoke, I rather do this then drink alcohol and I don't like cigarettes. Reading Borderland Beat. SA TX

      Delete
    4. I've seen people get crazy on second hand smoke,and I have seen people cry no mo'during heavy "indoctrination"session, and they were cronic users already,I never went back for more,my bodies went on to become spaced out drug addicted pillpoppers,its the environment maybe,I pass.nowadays you take a free toke, you are expected to keep buying for life or else,and the "friends"that gave you that first toke may charge you for the whole party,nobody fucks with me like that,but I have seen it around,pushers run it like cellblock bulls,nothing innocent about trafficking or just hanging with those muthaphacas,not even with "just grifa"...

      Delete
  11. What's wrong with reality? Anyone who needs an outside substance, no matter what, to live life, is in need of a different life plan. Why do they call it dope? Weed heads making stupid decisions, drunks making stupid decisions, same same. Justifications such as "well, alcohol is worse" yeah, a .44magnum is worse than a .38 special, but either one still kills you. Try reality...for a refreshing change.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Wrong, your comment is so stupid n narrow minded. I'm a stoner which gets high everyday right before work. I can still do my work, as a CPA, correctly and without any mistakes. I was also stoned to the gore during my SAT's and scored 1400 on them. FYI BILL GATES SMOKES WEED N WE KNO ALL the POOR CHOICES HE HAS DONE THROUGHOUT HIS LIFE right? Always remember that stupid choices aren't done by people on drugs they are done by stupid people like you. sober or not

      Delete
    2. @2:49 p.m u must not have many facts.i dont smoke weed but i used to and never went on to any other drugs.theres not one single documented case of a person dying from just marijuana NOT ONE!! All a stoner wants is a bag of cheetos and a box of doughnuts and take a nap! Its the criminalization of it that bring the dealers and that brings the crime cause of the black market.when alcohol was illegal in the u.s all u got was bootleggers and al capone and hence the crime not because of the drug but because of the black market shady dealers!!!

      Delete
    3. your pusher will kill the competition over your business,grow up little boy,not everybody becomes bill gates or bill clinton or Barack Obama,maybe not all become junkies or jail bitches,but too many just lose their only chance they had at self-respect,whatever shred of dignity they could have had or attained is gone, too late discover the shit was not worth the trouble,and that their friends and expert counselors were not really...

      Delete
  12. So...somebody got caught breaking the law and went to prison. Wow, what news. Don't whine about that when there are innocent people being murdered by drug traffickers by the thousands. I cannot believe this is even on this news site. It's some nonsense that ought to be on a grateful dead fan website.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Help the addicted,shot the pushers!

      Delete
  13. Let's keep wasting tax dollars fighting drugs, since the decade of prohibition worked so well. Not!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  14. To the person addressing me as a f_____ wetback welfare beaner, etc etc etc seems I upset you, as you accused me for "blaming whites" for "everything" Just curious WTF are you talking about? I laughed at your colorful albeit vile rant, because it made no sense. You silly person.

    Hey, you may be right though, in a sense, because I have blamed my white husband and half white children for things now and then.

    You win

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That is funny Chivis someone said you blame whites. Cause if it were true it would mean you blame yourself too. Being there is only 3 races white, black, and asian.

      Delete
    2. There is only one race the human race and weve got to stop teaching that garbage to our children! Pay that guy no mind as he is probably wearing a sheet whacked out on meth lol!!

      Delete
  15. I didn't really get the gist of this article. What that people grow marijuana and then although it has been decriminalized they still sell the high grade buds on the black market. And to you retards that think smkong weed makes you stupid, on the contrary on test after test people who smoke regularly place higher in just about any test you can think of, math, cognitive skills are far higher,plus the true test of ones intelligence is their creativity, pot smokers create the best art, music, sculpture, dance just about anything I can think of has been enhanced by the use of cannibus in some way. You are coming from the old way of thinking in that you must be a pillar of salt in order for "society" to take you seriously, you pretentious dorks need to smoke a joint and shut the hell up about your dumb ass judgements. There is none whatsoever evidence that proves good old mj is bad for you, it is now being proven to help fight cancer in adults as well as children, no before you go there the children do not smoke it they are usually given a tincture. So stop trying to beat the white people at being more white, we aren't the people you think we are.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. 9:17 ???so some homosexuals explain their creativity as a consequence of their...so help yourself...

      Delete
  16. ?? Whats wrong with reality?? I don't know, maybe because it sucks.. if you are so down to keep it real why arent you living in the woods, wearing no clothes or shoes, if you want it real, so bad why dont you start not paying for entertainment. Reality is what we think it should be, evrything can change in the blink of an eye that is why we have created the rat race, to have things that don't exist in nature so we don't really have to live in reality, stop sending your kids to school so they wont be exposed to drugs and education and other things that really arent real..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. When pushers started peddling cocaine real heavy in the 80s,they tell me "it is better than heroin,not addictive,no needles,you lose weight,then they started killing each other,if I had 50 friends,40 are dead,all for gangs and drugs or drugs and gangs,so sorry to pop your bubble,but it is what it is,a criminal enterprise for criminal entrepreneurs that do multiply needlessly and need to be ostracized and exterminated but help for the addicted?i agree with that


      Delete
    2. Mariguana is the weapon of choice to separate many a fool from their money,as much of it as possible,as quick as possible,when you expect some change,it will be in grifa,they will advance it to you to pay later...it is an expensive proposition,maybe not for everybody,but there are more losers than winners.let's answer:how much of your paycheck do you spend on grifa every paycheck?
      far as I can see it resembles a voluntary submission to the pimp/pusher

      Delete
  17. So what if a person desires to do the drugs that are called "hard". I guarantee you, there is no drug "harder" than alcohol. In fact it is the only drug that withdrawing from can kill you. It will consume you and cause you and everyone that cares about you grief if you allow it to. But who am I to tell you what substance you must or cannot put in your body. Each drug has its own benefits and downfalls and they are not the same for every person. Much more harm is caused by the laws to stop drug use than the drugs. From the killings being done by those to protect their very profitable business to the theft committed by the addict to get his next overpriced fix is a direct result of these laws. People refusing to think for themselves and following the agenda of others who have only their own success and happiness in mind.

    ReplyDelete
  18. Alcohol and barbituates, those are the two that will fuck you up if you abruptly stop them if you have a habit

    ReplyDelete
  19. Second hand smoke is a myth, you have to directly be taking a hit or in a totally sealed environment and I still am really
    skeptical about that, maybe what you were seeing was a lack of oxygen,

    ReplyDelete
  20. Of 5 guys in a car,the one that did not smoke, pulled his 12 inch knife and cut all the leather upholstery of a brand new Chrysler,i blame that on second hand smoke,from a full store paper bag,I don't want to investigate or witness anymore,never again,beware of "friends"...

    ReplyDelete
  21. Marihuanna is goood,the only reason pushers trade it away for money,is because money is sooo
    much better,so who ends up holding the shitty end of the stick?

    ReplyDelete

Comments are moderated, refer to policy for more information.
Envía fotos, vídeos, notas, enlaces o información
Todo 100% Anónimo;

borderlandbeat@gmail.com