quote:

Originally posted by Rookhawk:
The problem is that the penalties are severe only up to the point of political cover, just like the illicit drug trade.

I’m mildly sympathetic to the starving African that turns ivory poacher, living in the bush for a month hoping for $50-$100 for a set of tusks. That guy gets caught, he may be shot, will certainly be beaten, will certainly serve a decade in a hellhole prison. That’s the front line.

But one step up is the lieutenant in the crime syndicate. He may be knowledgeable of bribes, extortion, or the occasional murder. One of these types gets caught only occasionally and they usually have the means to “lawyer up”

One step up from that, you have the Capos. These folks know the exporter / crime lords above them and the international angle. They are making six figures. They are ordering violence and murder. They are exploiting the starving poacher that wants $50 to feed his family. This guy almost never gets caught. If he did, political influence can provide him cover, or he can die of an accident before he spills the beans.

Above him, we are now into cabinet ministers, PMs, and international criminal business enterprises in the millions. These folks have never done time as the prosecution gets murky, very dangerous to investigators inside a nation or on the international stage.

Until you go after the kingpins, even if they are diplomats or ministers of state, the best that we can do is create the harshest possible penalties for the least dangerous and most helpless people down the totem pole of the crime syndicate.

Please note, I’m not suggesting that we give a pass to the low-level criminals, only that they are paying 100% of the penalties and once one is prosecuted and disposed of, some other rube or stooge can take his place until we cut the head off the snake.