The complexity of drug cartels' internal structures, their strategies of "marketing and customer service" and the way they operate increasingly resemble those of large global corporations.
Thursday, March 10, 2016
How are the Coca-Cola and McDonald's corporations similar to drugs cartels? Of course the products they sell are completely different, but the way the three try to position their products and brands, increase their market share and increase profits to generate more dividends to their shareholders, is almost the same.
This is the conclusion reached by the editor of The Economist, Tom Wainwright, in his book "Narconomics: How to Run a Drug Cartel".
"... Criminals control the market of raw materials, as Wal-Mart does. They set drug prices and keep prices stable because they supress producers of these raw materials, as does Wal-Mart or McDonald's. They have personnel management and -the best example is Los Zetas - who also hand over franchises to "Local Entrepreneurs" to whom their give their logo, weapons and drugs in exchange for profits. Just like Coca-Cola. "
In an interview with the website Sinembargo.com.mx Wainwright explains that the cartels have grown and improved the way they operate "... 'Learning from the best, of course. The people who run the cartels have been attentive students of the strategy and tactics used by companies such as Wal-Mart, McDonald's and Coca-Cola, creating brand value and adjusting their customer service. ' "
"... 'What can the government learn from this in order to combat this scourge? By analyzing cartels as companies law officers can better understand how they work and stop throwing 100 billion dollars a year into futile attempts to win the "war" against this global business which is highly organized," says the presentation of Amazon Great Britain."
The growing presence of drug cartels in Central America is an example of the precision with which they operate. In the region, although the rulers deny it, Central American countries are losing the war against drug traffickers. In some it is happening faster than in others, and in all of the nations on the isthmus violence associated with drug trafficking is growing, and it is becoming increasingly apparent that mafia power has infiltrated public institutions and private organizations, through bribery, and also through of use of terror.
The unprecedented increase in violence in Costa Rica, once an oasis of peace in the region, is another sign of the failure of the traditional methods of fighting drugs.
EDITORIAL
More powerful than the Central American states, drug trafficking is on the rise not only in terms of an increased supply of drugs in the countries in the region, but through its permeation of institutions using the power of money and generating a growing culture of violence that is making Central America´s lack of a death penalty seem risible. Yes it does exist, but the worst part about it is that it is not institutionalized justice systems that implement it, but the mob bosses, pointing out -to ever younger executioners- the people who should be executed.
Sooner or later, the growing momentum in all of the States of the Union to legalize marijuana will motivate the federal government to remove the ban on its use.
EDITORIAL
As noted by Juan Carlos Hidalgo on his blog on Elfinancierocr.com "... Today, after more than 40 years of continuous failures, we are witnessing the collapse of the international drug war, which has cost the continent hundreds of billions of dollars and tens of thousands of lives."
Guatemala's foreign minister in Europe has proposed a transition to the regulation of drugs in order to control their health effects, and to take away economic power from the drug cartels.
An article in Prensalibre.com reports that "The Chancellor took part in a seminar yesterday run by British Group of the IPU in which MPs from 30 countries discussed "the reform of drug policy" and the experiences of each nation over the last 18 months, particularly in the framework of the OAS (Organization of American States) . "
In the U.S. the number of people over 12 years old who use drugs increased from 5.8% in 1991-93 to 8.9% in 2008. In Mexico the war on drugs has killed over 50,000 people over the past 5 years.
Juan Carlos Hidalgo wrote an article for Nacion.com in February 2012. His approach, denouncing the harmful effects of drug prohibition, was based on a proposal by the President of Guatemala, Otto Perez Molina, to legalize drugs as a means to combat drug trafficking.
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