BajaNomad

La Paz: tourist destination for the cartel???

latina - 5-12-2012 at 07:55 AM

Brother, turns out the guy shot 9 times at the jam-packed Bismarkcito restaurant on the malecon of La Paz on Mother's Day was using an alias and was actually the nephew of Hector Beltran Leyva, drug lord of the Sinaloa Cartel.....I'm losing track of how many of these guys have been caught lurking in our midst...at least we won't worry about him anymore...

DavidE - 5-12-2012 at 09:02 AM

latina,

I think of it this way.
If I were a jefe a plaza boss, or a noted teniente, or sicario
I would know that I was being hunted 24/7
And would prefer to go relax where I thought it to be safest
As it turns out, La Paz is not totally safe.
But neither is Cuernavaca, Acapulco, Veracruz ni Cancun o Cozumel.
I want these bastards to burn in their personally made hell while still alive. Let them live in fear. It is an appropriate reward for their labors.

[Edited on 5-12-2012 by DavidE]

latina - 5-12-2012 at 10:56 AM

True enough...but do they have to take someone out in a restaurant packed with families celebrating Mother's Day???? They obviously had been following him to know where he would be at that exact moment...wouldn't a quiet street or his own residence been a better choice? Guess they wanted to get everyone's attention....and they succeeded :(

Bajatripper - 5-12-2012 at 11:27 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by DavidE
latina,

I think of it this way.
If I were a jefe a plaza boss, or a noted teniente, or sicario
I would know that I was being hunted 24/7
And would prefer to go relax where I thought it to be safest
As it turns out, La Paz is not totally safe.
But neither is Cuernavaca, Acapulco, Veracruz ni Cancun o Cozumel.
I want these bastards to burn in their personally made hell while still alive. Let them live in fear. It is an appropriate reward for their labors.

[Edited on 5-12-2012 by DavidE]

I've thought for some time that these cartel folks have been doing more than visiting us, but rather, have been living among us. Little else (can't think of anything) explains the economic growth that the city exhibits in spite of the economic downturn. We've had many new theaters, boutique shops, shopping malls, department stores, etc. open in our fair city in the last three-four years. While I don't kid myself and pretend that the "profits" they must be reporting are from all of the customers they have, they likely pay IVA and local taxes as they legitimize their earnings, and they do provide local jobs--even businesses with hardly any customers need workers.

I say--if they could just leave their guns at home--they do bring a helpful “silver lining” with them. A close friend who works in a hair salon says that some of their best clients are likely the girl friends of people in the industry. As a guy, you'd probably be surprised at how much money a woman can spend in a beauty parlor, even in Mexico. If someone cared to take the risk, I'd guess that an inquiry into other sectors of the local economy (construction, furniture sales, etc.) would support that theory.

From a strictly analytical perspective, the trade is one of the few international businesses that leaves a decent amount of money in Third World economies. Nothing else that can be planted in Afghanistan, Bolivia, Colombia, Mexico, etc. is nearly as profitable as drug crops. That's the reason why it can't be eradicated; governments tell their people not to plant the stuff, but don't tell them what they should plant instead that leaves the family as well off. All along the route taken to reach the markets in the Developed World, the trade leaves money in its wake.

And it is only profitable because it is illegal. The instant that international accords are reached that legalizes them so as to tax and control the flow, transnational agricultural corporations will swoop down, buy or lease all the best lands, and take over the industry, mechanizing it in the process so as to rely on less workers. The present system (illegal status) works far better for the uneducated masses of the world who, like the rest of us, are just trying to find the niche in the world economy that works best for them.

Given the industrialized nations’ attitude of “anything goes” in pursuit of profits, about the only reason I can come up with that keeps many drugs illegal today is that there must be even more money being made under the present system. I'm sure tax-payer money for law and military enforcement and our grotesque prison-industry-for-profit system is all taken into consideration when deciding what the nation's drug policy should be. And of course, there's no reason to think that our own government officials and their friends are immune to corruption.

LaPazGringo - 5-12-2012 at 11:50 AM

Are you sure you have your facts straight? The newspaper reported five shots at close range, thus a carefully planned assassination, not spraying bullets into families as you're suggesting.

DENNIS - 5-12-2012 at 11:55 AM

It's a nasty, filthy business. I'm just finishing "The Power Of The Dog" and when I'm done, I'm going to burn the clothes I wore when I read it.

latina - 5-12-2012 at 01:39 PM

LaPazGringo, I did not say they sprayed bullets...thank God they didn't. There was a correction in the paper this morning, saying he was shot 9 times, not 5...Of course it was a carefully planned assassination, but how would you be affected by witnessing that whilst celebrating Mother's Day with your family?? Geez...

DavidE - 5-12-2012 at 02:22 PM

The figure of "Louie The Louse" strolling into a Chicago eatery with his Thompson .45 machine gun to kill Don Giuseppe Boni Maroni comes to mind.

Mexican banks not up to their hip in drug loot?

Mexican Joke

"Commandante! Commandante! come quick we found $500,000 I mean, er, forty hundred fifty thousand dollars"

"Jefe! Your loyal commandante found three hundred thousand american dollars".

"Don Secretaria, we found nothing but money wrappers".

Skeet/Loreto - 5-12-2012 at 02:49 PM

Sorry to hear of this Shooting.
I first ate at the Bismark 2 many years ago when they were still serving Turtle! Still a great place to eat.
Started eating Tacos at the Bismarkcieto on the malacon when they first opened. Always a line

La Paz is a very different place Politically, I hope something can be done to keep the Scum out!

skeet.

Bajahowodd - 5-12-2012 at 04:22 PM

Both La Paz and Cabo have been determined to be refuge to the ultra-top cartel guys simply because they do not wish to be anywhere close to where the ugly stuff is occurring.

This may be a very isolated situation, simply because the "BIG GUYS" don't want violence anywhere near them.

Kgryfon - 5-14-2012 at 08:58 PM

So, as I read the articles about this, the shot guy was the nephew of a Cartel member. He also owned & operated a local bar, at which an attorney was shot in the neck last year. He was out to dinner with his family for Mother's day. I'm guessing he lived in La Paz?

Also, they have recently caught two major drug shipments in the La Paz area.

No, this is not good. I thought La Paz was one of the "safe" areas. It sounds like they are moving in. Or am I naive and they have been there all along?

baron - 5-15-2012 at 10:00 PM

I expect they have been hanging around here for a while. There is definitely more police activity in La Paz and it is not the "safe" carefree place it used to be.

DavidE - 5-16-2012 at 09:47 AM

Nowhere at all as far as cities and towns are concerned, is it "as safe and carefree as it used to be".

Because of the greed and selfishness of the few, the innocent "many" are being forced to carry misery and fear on their back.