I think a Kilo in Mexico is $5K, less in bulk Kilos. Selling on the street in US that Kilo stretches to $80k or so.
So I would imagine the cartels running the actual coca production sites that sell to the people selling for $5k… is probably $1k or so, $2.5k at the very most.
There’s reasons Chapo and such had literally billions in cash just sitting in warehouses being eaten by rats. They make a looot of money
"The Accountant's Story: Inside the Violent World of the Medellín Cartel", Roberto Escobar.
> I know that Pablo was earning so much cash that each year we would simply write off approximately 10 percent of our money because the rats would eat it or it would be damaged beyond use by water and dampness.
Oh Ill one up that. Escobar in a rough spot literally burned millions of dollars to stay warm. "In addition, while his family was on the run in 1992–93, Escobar reportedly burned $2 million in order to keep his daughter warm."
I really just can’t believe they didn’t invest in some… cats…
Like, if there’s ever a description of zero fucks given, I think it would have something to do with letting that much money get ruined by rats.
I see multiple other replies of the citations so I won’t repost
@jdavis703 I’m doubtful. I don’t think you’re aware of the sheer ruthlessness of high level narcos… they will brutally kill a lot of people over the smallest grievances, theft of petty cash included. Nobody is stealing %’s of billions of stored money & getting away with it.
Eaten by rats sounds like an excuse thieves would tell their narco-terrorist boss. It’s like kids having their homework eaten by a dog right before the deadline. That’s to say, it’s likely a euphemism turned urban legend.
I dont want to disclose my background exactly here, suffice to say I was not involved in any illegal activity, but others I knew were, and rats and just rotting cash really are genuine concerns affecting large sums of stored or buried money.
Pay $20 for a Rubbermaid tub to protect hundreds of thousands of $$ seems like a reasonable tradeoff, except maybe it's hard to come by that many where they're hiding the money?
I confess I'm extremely ignorant in terms of what it takes to actually store money in bulk. But it seems like literally anything would be better than just letting it rot.
They often do actually! The pelican cases are quite popular for that purpose. But, like all things, they aren't totally fool-proof. Leaks happen. Even a small air-leak means moisture has an opportunity to condense and penetrate into the container and accumulate. Cracks happen, debris along the gasket, etc. etc.
Actually, a more common failure mode than rotting or rats is... simply forgetting where you buried it!
In Narcos, something similar happens. Some money that was buried was found by a farmer, some was lost, some rotted... Escobar preceded to violently murder the people that brought him the excuse.
Location matters, cocaine in Miami is cheaper (some might say on a multiple of 20+) than cocaine in NYC or SF. I only know this because my uncle and cousins used to run drugs for the Columbians.
Yeah, I was going to say Miami and Texas are likely the lowest. The Texas border smuggling is pretty real, as is the various ways of quickly getting to South Florida/Miami. Southern California border is nowhere near as bad as Texas in terms of smuggling
LA is roughly $80/g, or it was 3ish years ago. I’d say it’s still around that.
Going into the MidWest of Chicago, Pittsburgh, Philly, & North into Seattle, Portland & co is where it’s heading North of $80/g. $150/g in some of the mostly dead middle of nowhere but still metro cities then becomes a thing.
I can imagine if you know a guy in NYC you could get $40/g or cheaper as massive loads come in private yachts and stuff… but average bloke is paying somewhat high
Right now a kilo (bird) is 20k. Ounces are $2000, 8balls are $200-250. Grams are $100.
So a kilo stretching to 80k through the supply chain makes sense. That would put the final street dealer of that kilo buying on average a half ounce. That sounds about right to me.
So I would imagine the cartels running the actual coca production sites that sell to the people selling for $5k… is probably $1k or so, $2.5k at the very most.
There’s reasons Chapo and such had literally billions in cash just sitting in warehouses being eaten by rats. They make a looot of money