ShareThisThe U.S. boss of a violent Mexican drug cartel who admitted ordering a hit on someone who ran afoul of him has been a busy man since authorities nabbed him and 34 kilograms of his cocaine at the border.
He's traveled to Williamsport, Pa., to accompany his son on a Little League baseball trip. He's attended his sister's graduation from Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas. He's vacationed with his family in Panama City, Fla. He's trekked to Las Vegas twice, once for a builders' association meeting and again for a trade show.
And he's done it all with the blessing of the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Texas.
Even now, Josue Correa is a free man, running a construction business in Dallas. He still owns it and his house, despite confessing he funded both with drug money.
Why? The feds in Texas aren't saying. But in the drug war, insider information is a nuclear bomb, and Correa has lots of it.
Correa and a string of underlings have testified in the past two weeks in U.S. District Court in Knoxville in the trial of Donald Ray Reynolds Jr., a West Knoxville resident accused of buying hundreds of kilos straight from the Placido Benitez drug cartel.
Although Correa confessed peddling 1,300 kilos, he has been allowed to plead guilty to a much lower volume -- a mere five kilos or more. So have his underlings, although they arrived in court in chains. Correa walked into U.S. District Judge Tom Varlan's courtroom through the front door and walked out the same way.
Correa subordinate and brother Jonathan Correa told jurors just how the organization managed to move undetected all that cocaine and the cash it generated.
They bought high-end vehicles -- Range Rovers mainly -- and shipped them to Los Angeles to be outfitted with secret compartments known as "traps." The process involved creating storage space in the undercarriage using fake bottoms. Jonathan Correa said he came up with a method to make it easier to pull the bricks of cocaine out of the "traps" through ropes, something Assistant U.S. Attorney David Lewen dubbed "dope on a rope."
But in October 2007, authorities in Georgia took a huge chunk of cash from the organization after stopping a Range Rover the group dubbed the "gray horse" and discovering the trap.
"Since the gray horse fell, it was not wise to use that type of vehicle in this part of the country," Jonathan Correa testified. "We began using buses -- the Greyhound-type (charter) buses."
When authorities raided Reynolds' Alameda Drive home in West Knoxville they found an arsenal of weapons, including a machine gun on a tripod. Where did Reynolds get those guns? Coal Creek Armory Inc. in Knoxville.
"I'd say Mr. Reynolds was in the top 10 (of customers)," General Manager Eric Parish testified.
In all, Reynolds bought $67,601 worth of guns, bullets and accessories, Parish said.
Reynolds had a handgun carry permit and even jumped through the legal hoops to get approval to buy assault weapons and the machine gun that Parish called "a rare jewel."
Reynolds' fate is now in a jury's hands.
(Jamie Satterfield is a reporter for The Knoxville News Sentinel in Tennessee. For other stories, go to www.scrippsnews.com.)
Who supports the prohibition?
7,000 people were murdered by the Mexican drug cartels last year because we in the US kept marijuana illegal. This year they're on track to kill at least 9,000. Who supports keeping it illegal?
The cartels have shown they
The cartels have shown they are willing to branch into any illegal activity that is profitable. With legalization, I'm sure kidnappings at the least would increase, and eventually, crimes that would seriously destabilize the already troubled Mexican government.
I'm all for legalization, but this does not seem to be the reason to do it.
The ONDCP has told us
The ONDCP has told us repeatedly that 60% of the cartel's money comes from selling marijuana in the US. No business can withstand the loss of 60% of its income! When we allow reputable US businesses to undercut the cartel's marijuana prices we'll decimate them and end their ability to continue murdering innocent people.
Being scared of what they *might* do is no reason to continue this policy which is pumping $billions into them. We need to starve them by removing their most profitable revenue source!
drug deaths
The drug war is not just over marijuana, as you have phrased the question. The deaths of drug overdoses through the United States are a testament to the deception pro legalization zealots won,t acknowledge. We need tougher laws on these drugs with tougher prison terms for drug offenders. Dealers and users. The drug culture is destroying the American family and destroying young lives at a record pace. Thus the legalization of pot will only make the destruction worse. Maryjane is a gateway drug to other more harmful drugs,and causes forms of schizophrenia and similar disorders. Science has proven this. There are many who try to deceive the populous by supporting pot for medical purposes, thus having it widely accepted. Another fraud by the pro legalization zealots. If you want the deaths to stop on both sides of the border then support the moral end of the argument and support tougher border control enforcement. The war on drugs has been raging for years and the solutions are quite easy to win this war. close the borders, tougher penalties for dealers and users. end of story. Do you want your 14 year daughter getting screwed up on drugs and then the scum of the earth sexually abusing her for their own gratification because she has peer pressure or is trying to be cool. Those who support legalization are also supporting scumbags to have your children also.
So if you want the Mexicans to stop killing each other, which is a very sad situation, take the moral high ground and ask them to quit shipping it here.
hahah gqateway drug.... who
hahah gqateway drug.... who and the hell ever smoked a joint and said " hey this isn't quite doing it for me, let's go cook up some herion and inject that into our viens. that sounds like more fun." The phrase of its a gateway drug is such nosense. drinking is more of a gateway drug then anything else.
If you were to legalize it, just as prohibiton, the surge of weed use would increase at first but then the nolvity of the drug would wear off and usage would decline, just as drinking did after the ban was removed.
I don't believe as the OP that legalization will stop the killing. They will continue to do that. Now why I do believe in leaglization it would have to do with the 500 Billion we use in trying to stop it and don't even come close to the amount that is out on the street. So, we are wasting money and losing this battle. The states could regulate and tax this product (as everything else) and make millions if not billions of dollars from the new revuen.
there are so many good and
there are so many good and bad points out there, i'll respond to the legalization portion:
there's no way any current serving politician is going to put their name on a bill to legalize these demonized drugs.
it will not happen.
they all need to maintain the moral high ground for re-election.
being an illegal drug advocate would brand them as insane, irresponsible, not in touch with reality.
they'd never be re-elected. ever.
and that's all they really care about.
they are self preservation specialists.
if drugs were legalized, the billions that were made in tax revenue would be spent on things like education (for 3rd graders-not a good connection), health care (for drug addicts-not a good connection), road improvements(so you can share the road with drug crazed hippies-not a good connection), state and federal election campaigns (our politicians are already f@cked up enough as it is-not a good connection, and last but not least military defense spending (this war has been brought to you in part by the united states for greener buds hydropnic society-not a good connection).
every corner of society would be tarnished by the effects of drug money.
the former illegal drug industry would be transformed into the largest (open)special interest group on the planet and their influence on government would dwarf that of big tobacco and the auto industry combined.
at least one of the problems with that is that it would most likely be a FOREIGN influence.
the saudis, israel, palestine and iran are already exerting too much influence on our political (to include preasidential elections) system.
i don't have any answers, just a point of view.
The situation in Mexico is
The situation in Mexico is scary. I'm not willing to go there on vacation anymore.
Dopey Druggies
Oh the moral high ground. what am I thinking. Those who want to use drugs and legalize them, don't want there to be a moral consequence for their immoral behavior. Handed down from the "if it feels good, do it" crowd of the sixties. Commonsense tells you that the war on drugs is a farce ! One of the biggest beneficiaries to illegal drug use are the big pharmaceutical corporations. 1.) have people used to the drug culture. 2.) they can sell all kinds of psychedelic drugs for cures for the results of illegal drug use. These psychedelic drugs are in great demand by the scum bags and the confused. That's part of the health care debate too. Big Pharma wants everyone to have Government health care so they can have more customers to sell pharmaceuticals to. You can bet the Democratic supporters of government health care are getting all kinds of donations from Big Pharma. And you thought Obama was going to give us change. Yes, you are correct George Bush supported Big Pharma Agenda's too. The No Child Left Behind Act, and an act it was. School children all across the country being given psychological test and bunch's of them being put on drugs like Ritalin. "Such A Compassionate Conservative Thing"
to do to our children. Get them hooked on drugs for life. All this bull crap on the legal side of drugs is just as bad as the pusher in the streets. The end result is ,people using drugs and the rest of society has to pay for it with, Prisons, Health care, Torn families and yes Deaths. Deaths of our most valuable assets, our CHILDREN.
Do you know of the tragic consequence to small children who are sexually abused by drug crazed scum bags? Do you know anyone who has overdosed and is screwed up for life and or died from drugs. I do. It's sad that our culture is being deceived and destroyed with drugs,both legal and illegal. And you want to legalize the gateway drug to all this degradation? GIVE ME A BREAK !