Thread by @Livooo

#OperationTrojanShield

Wow! Big news!!

With this operation, #Encrochat #Sky #MPC & other encrypted networks being infiltrated, does this mean the end of #Drugs #Corruption #OrganisedCrime ?🤔

Hmmm!

It's a brilliant operation BUT may have unintended consequences

A #Thread

https://twitter.com/FBISanDiego/status/1401967319459434498

I got sucked into doing some amateur study of the economy of drug trafficking because of brilliant TV shows.

When you study the numbers, understand the geo-politics, social, criminal & financial elements behind the global industry... you realise just how powerful it really is!🎬

If you trace the industry from;
- Areas of production
- Transit routes
- End Markets

Then look at the money flows;
-Peso exchange
-Hawala networks
-Offshore
-Trade based money laundering
etc

Then the operational groups🧐

It's mind blowing in scale & influence @InSightCrime 🤯

#OperationTrojanShield will pick up some of the operators & give law enforcement a good insight into current networks & methods...

But will it dent demand?

Will it ultimately affect production/supply?

Probably not.

More likely to create bottlenecks & new fights for control😣

Illegal drugs and organised crime are the scourge of societies on the streets

Drug dealers, criminal economy, violence, harm, death

But there's a whole other level

A level that produces huge continuous revenue streams for dark, powerful actors

They literally fund wars 💸

Different types of drugs originate from different regions BUT the logistical networks, Mr Big organisers and other key actors often cross-over.

Here's x4 maps that show different routes.

I'll then link stories that might show you how important these networks are in global 🤝

The trend in the rise of ultra right wing, kleptocratic and strong man leaders across the world will lead to an increase in this dark economy - History tells us this!

Here's a start. Drug war used to conquer, corrupt, monetise & control...

#OpiumWars

sciencedirect.com/topics/psychol…

Here's some barely believable reports...

Whistle stop tour of the world and how these networks infiltrate... 🧐

#Argentina embassy #Russia

#OperationTrojanShield

theguardian.com/world/2018/feb…

#Peru #Fujimori (who's family is back in the news with the Peruvian elections happening right now...

#Drugs #NarcoStates #OperationTrojanShield

reuters.com/article/us-per…

We could literally go around the whole of South America and pick out stories of the drug trade corrupting leadership.

Both sides have used the vast revenues to fight their political battles #Left #Right

#Maduro #Venezuela

#OperationTrojanShield

npr.org/2020/03/26/821…

#Mexico and #Colombia have countless high profile cases.

#Bolivia Mining & Drug production controlled by small powerful groups with links to western powers...

#Brazil has it's problems too. Geography & Politics plays a part...

#OperationTrojanShield

insightcrime.org/news/brief/rai…

#Turkey is in the news right now

Again, geography plays a big part as they are a transit route for Middle Eastern and Asian production.

Crazy tales... #SedatPeker

#OperationTrojanShield

#SedatPeker (the Turkish boss) is now based in Dubai.

Dubai seems to harbour a number of high profile (alleged criminals).

-Dawood Ibrahim - India's Mr Big!
-Daniel Kinahan - Boxing & The Mob

Building a new economy💸

& related

#OperationTrojanShield

The ongoing war in #Syria #Assad has been headline news for years.

Next to Syria is #Lebanon & the #BeqaaValley

The Beqaa Valley seems to have been a main corridor for smuggling for centuries🔁 Still key today!

Control = Power
#OperationTrojanShield

North Africa is a major transit route and has corrupted systems widely there.

It then typically enters #Spain
For years #CostaDelCrime was a trope used by many.

The Eastern European gangs have joined the party there!

#JoseGrinda #OperationTrojanShield

In Europe 'The Flat Land' is slang for #Holland and along with #Belgium it is a huge repository for #Drugs entering Europe because of it's ports and laws.

#MPC encrypted phones #MartinKok murder

#OperationTrojanShield

#Encrochat with the infiltration of that service, you only have to scan the @LivEchonews daily to see stories of the many gangs that have been disrupted in #Liverpool #UK

#OperationTrojanShield

liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool…

Then you have the reverse of the #OpiumWars and the invasion of Synthetic Drugs from #China #Asia

#Spice was in the news every week...

#OperationTrojanShield

thetimes.co.uk/article/gangs-…

Sadly, the Manchester Arena incident has now been linked to Drug Gangs.

The money produced by this industry funds wars and terrorism all over the world

#OperationTrojanShield

https://twitter.com/thesundaytimes/status/1393859691961323521

There is no part of the world that avoids this illicit economy....

Remember this headline from a month or so ago?!

The money involved and scale is scary 🤯

#OperationTrojanShield

#TseChiLop

https://twitter.com/Livooo/status/1353703241423327234

And only the other week that Boxing Trainer, Ben Davidson, made some kind of back-handed strange defence of the allegation of Drug Dealing networks within the sport by referencing this 🧐

Strange but true...

#OperationTrojanShield

https://twitter.com/PleasantDanny_/status/1394327297616982021

Could go on forever with examples of how the #IllegalDrugs industry generates 💸 AND;
- Crime
- Infiltration of licit economy
- Politics & Power
- Fund Wars / Terrorism

So, well done to the #FBI & #Europol etc

#OperationTrojanShield

Never ending tho 🔁

https://twitter.com/Livooo/status/1353716997377445890

Industry in numbers;

(From 2011 - It's accelerated since then)

Even at 2% of Global GDP, that still seems like an underestimation.

Informal and secretive offshore networks make calculating the sums involved very difficult.

#WarOnDrugs

#OperationTrojanShield

@threadreaderapp Can you unroll please?

https://twitter.com/anyoneschild/status/1402251996120457220