Drug Boat Strike

[robav8r]

There is a wide delta between what VP / HSL-HSM assets detect, track, and report these sea-borne vessels versus what USCG/USN surface assets can interdict, board, and inspect. The cartels don't care about these crews, they just want their goods delivered. Unless there is a full sea/air quarantine of every possible transit route, the drugs are gonna keep on coming.

 

[Beaker18]

The Google AI machine says Venezuela has no role in Fentanyl trafficking (but obviously huge in the cocaine biz)...and that the Mexican cartels are almost entirely responsible for the production and trafficking of fentanyl into the US.

Thanks for Googling that for me...you're a good helper! =:^>
I don't know what was on the boat...I read one report that indicated it was fentanyl...thus the term "allegedly". Regardless of whether it was fentanyl, cocaine, or Motrin headed for the nearest Naval hospital, a lot of comments on this thread have expressed support for legalization to combat illicit drug trafficking. My point was that while legalization might work for pot; heroin, fentanyl, etc do not have the same easy button. Are we winning the war on drugs? Probably not. We haven't yet successfully eliminated murder, theft, rape, and a number of other crimes either, yet still we strive for something better...even in the face of overwhelming odds.

 

[sevenhelmet]

There are days when I feel like we should flood the streets with fentanyl and let natural selection work its magic.

That's a hell of a position- I don't think unraveling our entire society is a good solution to the drug problem.

 

[Griz882]

In the “everything can be known” world it looks like the people obsessed with flight tracking found a Navy MH-60S (Outlaw 71) flying the the same area at about the time of the strike. Of course, that ship could have been doing any number of non-related things, and the commentators are careful with their “if” and “maybe” language, but it is fascinating how quickly people can dig into certain events these days.

 

[Gatordev]

You think they’re more afraid of the US judicial system than retaliation by the cartels against them and their families?

That's not how they operate.

I think the cartels would prefer they be nuked than captured.

Dead men tell no tales.

Again, nope. That's not the tack (or tact) they take. They are actually very supportive of the smugglers if captured, assuming it was a bust and not a rip-off.

They are so far down the food chain they likely don't care about them much,

To the contrary. They provide legal services for the smugglers and will even fly the families up to Tampa (or other countries, if needed) during the holding and trial process. It's not in their best interest to kill off/not "protect" their mules. If word gets out that cartels are killing off mules just for getting caught, word will spread quickly among the poor fishermen in Buena Ventura or Barranquilla and the money wouldn't be worth the risk.

What the cartels don't tolerate is large failures or informants (or both, since they're often related).

 

[taxi1]

Having supported a *lot* of drug interdiction back in the day, and having also spent a lot of time prepping and forward deploying on targeting HVIs, I am kind of wary of the legality of this shooting, of applying the rules for targeting Al Qaeda against these guys.

And tactics...I can think of only a few HVI events I was involved in where we didn't go right in and exploit what was left, if not execute a capture/kill in the first place.

 

[taxi1]

That's a hell of a position- I don't think unraveling our entire society is a good solution to the drug problem.

It's amazing and depressing how many drug users have had double digit hits of NARCAN to keep them alive.

Back to how our country manages to punch itself in the face, while we talk about fentanyl pouring over the border, the heart of the opioid crisis was American companies selling opioids to Americans.

Missile strike on the Sackler family compound anyone?

Unraveling our entire society can be highly profitable,

 

[Beaker18]

It's amazing and depressing how many drug users have had double digit hits of NARCAN to keep them alive.

Back to how our country manages to punch itself in the face, while we talk about fentanyl pouring over the border, the heart of the opioid crisis was American companies selling opioids to Americans.

Missile strike on the Sackler family compound anyone?

Unraveling our entire society can be highly profitable,

"Missile strike on the Sackler family compound anyone?"
Now there's an idea I think we can all support!

 

[sevenhelmet]

Back to how our country manages to punch itself in the face, while we talk about fentanyl pouring over the border, the heart of the opioid crisis was American companies selling opioids to Americans.

This is part of the origin of my comment on campaign finance reform and financial transparency.

The sad part is, a lot of that information is available, yet nothing seems to change.

 

[JTS11]

Thanks for Googling that for me...you're a good helper! =:^>
I don't know what was on the boat...I read one report that indicated it was fentanyl...thus the term "allegedly".

Wasn't being a dick, just clearing up an allegation you heard somewhere.

You said they allegedly had fentanyl on the boat. Where did you hear that allegation?

 

[Flash]

To the contrary. They provide legal services for the smugglers and will even fly the families up to Tampa (or other countries, if needed) during the holding and trial process. It's not in their best interest to kill off/not "protect" their mules. If word gets out that cartels are killing off mules just for getting caught, word will spread quickly among the poor fishermen in Buena Ventura or Barranquilla and the money wouldn't be worth the risk.

What the cartels don't tolerate is large failures or informants (or both, since they're often related).

Thanks for the better info, that end things was the one part I had the least visibility on and the few I knew of seemed to have been just left hanging in the wind after they were caught. I know that it is usually a long process though and I didn't see those cases through to the end. That is, except for the two that escaped from jail...using some bedsheets as a rope.

 

[Swanee]

Having supported a *lot* of drug interdiction back in the day, and having also spent a lot of time prepping and forward deploying on targeting HVIs, I am kind of wary of the legality of this shooting, of applying the rules for targeting Al Qaeda against these guys.

And tactics...I can think of only a few HVI events I was involved in where we didn't go right in and exploit what was left, if not execute a capture/kill in the first place.

I wonder about it as well, but I'd like to see more info.

Shooting in this instance is a very rare thing. We've learned a lot and refined our tactics over the last 25 years.

 

[IKE]

In the “everything can be known” world it looks like the people obsessed with flight tracking found a Navy MH-60S (Outlaw 71) flying the the same area at about the time of the strike. Of course, that ship could have been doing any number of non-related things, and the commentators are careful with their “if” and “maybe” language, but it is fascinating how quickly people can dig into certain events these days.

View attachment 43363

I have no idea who shot, but that was not Seahawk EO/IR video in the OP

 

[BigRed389]

This is part of the origin of my comment on campaign finance reform and financial transparency.

The sad part is, a lot of that information is available, yet nothing seems to change.

Available but we suck at actually doing serious objective analysis, packaging it in ways that are digestible at multiple audiences, and making it free.

One of my random post retirement jobs I’ve considered is YouTuber/podcaster to do just that. Which honestly should be the job of journalism, but that industry has also been broken by money.

One of the things I missed about Jon Stewart…though he clearly had a liberal bias, that dude could skewer absurdity like nobody else.

 

[Beaker18]

Wasn't being a dick, just clearing up an allegation you heard somewhere.

You said they allegedly had fentanyl on the boat. Where did you hear that allegation?

I read several articles the day it happened...don't recall which article

Available but we suck at actually doing serious objective analysis, packaging it in ways that are digestible at multiple audiences, and making it free.

One of my random post retirement jobs I’ve considered is YouTuber/podcaster to do just that. Which honestly should be the job of journalism, but that industry has also been broken by money.

One of the things I missed about Jon Stewart…though he clearly had a liberal bias, that dude could skewer absurdity like nobody else.

Bill Maher is doing a great job of punishing blue force errors on both sides of the aisle + he’s actually funny while doing so. I disagree with well over half of what he says, but at least he’s intellectually honest.