Fascinating. These guys have definitely tapped into a drug dealing business model that is far more superior than the major cartels. Small de-centralized businesses, all getting their heroin from one region in Mexico, and distributing it ‘pizza delivery style’. lol And get this, they are focused on customer service and satisfaction. Did the Xalisco Boys read the Toyota Way or something?
So how do you defeat this is my question? You could create doubt about the product they sell, kind of like how the fuel peddle issue is really tweaking Toyota right now. But eventually the product issues will be hashed out, and rumors squashed and business would crank up again.
Another way, is to decentralize the drug war. If you want to eradicate small groups, you need small groups who have the incentive to go after them. A team of bounty hunters, if given sufficient authority necessary to go after these folks, could do the job just fine. And if you attach a sizable bounty that makes this profitable for the hunters, or implement an awards system based on seized assets, then you could create an industry out of capturing these small time thugs. To really amp up the effectiveness of bounty hunters, they need to be able cross state lines. Issuing Letters of Marque could be one way to give them that authority, or having some federal agency deputize these hunters. Perhaps some federal and state laws could be modified in order to make bounty hunting more effective? In either case, you need to give bounty hunters protections that will give them sufficient authority to really go after these dealers.
Like with the military and issuing Letters of Marque to individuals, law enforcement can have problems relinquishing authority to bounty hunters. It’s one part Max Webber, and one part ego. I happen to think that both groups can exist just fine, much like the Post Office and Fedex exist in the same market, and I think it is an excellent idea to create industries out of killing or capturing terrorists and pirates, or create industry out of capturing drug dealers. What bothers me about what the Xaliscos are doing, is they have decentralized the drug trade and have a business model that is scary efficient. Decentralizing the drug war against these folks is something that should be looked at if we want to keep pace with this business model. –Matt
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THE HEROIN ROAD
A lethal business model targets Middle America
Sugar cane farmers from a tiny Mexican county use savvy marketing and low prices to push black-tar heroin in the United States.
By Sam Quinones
First Of Three Parts
February 14, 2010
Immigrants from an obscure corner of Mexico are changing heroin use in many parts of America.Farm boys from a tiny county that once depended on sugar cane have perfected an ingenious business model for selling a semi-processed form of Mexican heroin known as black tar.Using convenient delivery by car and aggressive marketing, they have moved into cities and small towns across the United States, often creating demand for heroin where there was little or none. In many of those places, authorities report increases in overdoses and deaths.Immigrants from Xalisco in the Pacific Coast state of Nayarit, Mexico, they have brought an audacious entrepreneurial spirit to the heroin trade. Their success stems from both their product, which is cheaper and more potent than Colombian heroin, and their business model, which places a premium on customer convenience and satisfaction.Users need not venture into dangerous neighborhoods for their fix. Instead, they phone in their orders and drivers take the drug to them. Crew bosses sometimes call users after a delivery to check on the quality of service. They encourage users to bring in new customers, rewarding them with free heroin if they do. (more…)