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[–]neolib[S] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Pretty weird article - they say "The BBC gained rare access to a cartel's operation along the border and travelled to the US to meet their ultimate customers" but how? Why did cartel people allow all this to be described in details?

The fentanyl dealer from Los Angeles stands to the side watching carefully as a Mexican drugs cartel operative prepares his latest shipment. The synthetic opioid drug is wrapped in foil, sealed in plastic, then dropped with an oily splash into the petrol tank of the trafficker's nondescript car.

Jay, not his real name, had crossed earlier from the US to this cartel-run safe house on the Mexican side of the border. The house looks like any other in this neighbourhood. We are told to drive in quickly and an iron gate closes firmly behind us. They don't cook the drug here, but still they are wary of attracting attention. The men all speak in hushed voices and work quickly.

...

The men keep their faces covered while they remove the back seat of the car to gain access to the tank, taking care not to spill petrol. The smell inside the car could alert customs officers on the other side of the border that the fuel tank has been tampered with.

The light green pills, 5,000 in total and marked with an M, are packed tightly - a fraction of what Jay says he sells every week in LA and across the American northwest.

"I try to get 100,000 pills a week, every week," the softly spoken dealer tells me. "I don't send them in one vehicle. I try to spread it in different cars. That way I minimise my risk of losing all my pills."