Episode Summary
In this episode of The Expat Files, Johnny Mueller provides an unfiltered look at life in Latin America, contrasting it with the idealized versions often seen in travel media. He discusses the persistent issue of pirating consumer goods and software, comparing it to the drug trade and highlighting the deep-rooted corruption that makes it difficult to eradicate. Johnny explains that while governments occasionally make public examples of offenders, these actions are rare and often result from major seizures, such as those involving large shipments of pirated goods. He also highlights the economic realities of government workers, noting that owning late-model cars is a common luxury despite low salaries.
The episode delves into the systemic issues surrounding the war on drugs and piracy, particularly in Latin America. Johnny explains that these efforts are often ineffective and serve as a means for corrupt officials to profit. He notes that drug seizures are typically the result of plane crashes in the jungle, where locals discover the drugs before the police or military, leading to media coverage and public perception of progress. However, the reality is that the drugs often re-enter the market, and the real beneficiaries are the corrupt officials who profit from the situation.
Johnny also discusses the corruption within the drug enforcement system, where police and military often steal drugs and sell them back to the producers. He highlights that the large seizures reported in the media are usually the result of accidents, such as plane crashes or car wrecks, rather than effective policing. He criticizes the government for using these busts as propaganda to show they are winning the drug war, even though the real issue is the smuggling of drugs by 'idiots' who are caught at airports. He also criticizes expat bars and the expat community for not truly understanding the local culture and people.
The episode includes a conversation with an expat who is a former military helicopter pilot working on a contract to spray herbicides on marijuana and cocaine fields in Latin America. The pilot explains that the chemicals used are more advanced than those used in Vietnam and are supplied by major companies like Bayer and Monsanto. Johnny highlights the irony that many of these pilots, who are contracted to spray drugs, have a history of using illegal drugs themselves, including cocaine and marijuana, and some continue to use them recreationally. The pilot also mentions his previous work with Blackwater, where he was tested for drug use, but the real focus was on detecting lies. Johnny suggests that the companies are more interested in finding honest workers than in determining drug use.
The segment discusses the paradox of law enforcement in Latin America, where individuals who use illegal drugs are also paid to eradicate them. It highlights the inefficiency of anti-drug efforts, as the demand for drugs remains high despite eradication attempts. The helicopter pilot's perspective is shared, comparing the situation to the US prohibition era, where enforcement efforts were largely symbolic. The pilot also notes the low cost of drugs in Latin America compared to the US, with expat Eddie providing further insight into the pricing differences and the exploitation of tourists. The segment concludes with the idea that tourists are often overcharged for drugs in tourist areas, while locals in remote regions can sell them at significantly lower prices.
In this segment, Johnny Mueller discusses the economic impact of tourism and the prevalence of pirating in Latin America. He highlights how tourists are often unaware of the economic effects of their spending, as they still benefit from lower prices compared to the United States. He also touches on the issue of pirating, noting that it is widespread and not seen as a punishable crime by many Latin Americans. Johnny further explains that the most pirated goods in the region are not software or counterfeit designer items, but rather cigarettes, due to the large tobacco industry and the ease of producing fake brands. He contrasts the high cost of cigarettes in the U.S. with the low cost in Latin America, highlighting the significant tax differences. Finally, he comments on the drug war, suggesting that the U.S. approach is ineffective due to corruption and vested interests, and warns expats about the risks of drug-related encounters in the region.
Topics
Introduction to The Expat Files, Piracy in Latin America, Corruption and enforcement issues, Economic realities of government workers, War on drugs, Corruption in law enforcement, Piracy, Media coverage of drug seizures, Technology and its impact on drug trafficking, Corruption in drug enforcement, Media portrayal of drug seizures, Propaganda in the drug war
Chapters
00:00:00 Opening 00:00:42 Piracy in Latin America 00:01:11 Corruption and Enforcement Issues 00:02:33 Economic Realities of Government Workers 00:04:31 The Financial Burden of Car Ownership for Low-Income Workers 00:04:41 Bureaucrats and Their Involvement in Piracy 00:04:53 The Illusion of Crackdowns and Investigative Efforts 00:06:25 The DEA's Media Strategy and the War on Drugs 00:07:09 The Lost War on Drugs and Piracy 00:07:50 The Role of Local Communities in Drug Confiscation 00:08:54 The Problem with Drug Enforcement in Latin America 00:09:14 The Reality of Drug Enforcement and Corruption 00:09:48 The Media's Role in the Drug War Propaganda 00:12:26 Cultural Misunderstandings in Expat Communities 00:13:36 Loose Lips and Helicopter Pilots in the Expat Bar 00:13:39 The Helicopter Pilot's Contract and Chemicals 00:13:44 Advanced Herbicides and Their Impact 00:13:59 Chemical Suppliers and the First World Connection 00:14:07 A Potential Good News Story 00:14:12 The Pilot's Contract and Pay 00:14:17 Military Helicopter Pilots and Third World Jobs 00:14:28 The Supply and Demand of Helicopter Pilots 00:18:40 The Paradox of Drug Enforcement in Latin America 00:19:31 The Cost of Marijuana in Latin America vs. the US 00:22:25 Exploitation of Tourists for Drug Sales 00:22:31 Tourists and Economic Impact 00:23:48 Pirating in Latin America 00:24:42 Cigarette Counterfeiting 00:26:23 Drug War and U.S. Policy
Transcript
Automatically transcribed from the original recording; names and wording may contain errors.
[00:03] Hi everybody, I'm Johnny Mueller and you're listening to The Expat Files, living in Latin America. The show that tells you what it's really like to live, work, play and or retire in Latin America. I tell it just like it is, not the version they give you in those glossy travel magazines, or the picture they paint for you in those international traveler websites, where they're only trying to sell you something. What's it really like for expats living in Latin America? Well, it's time to take off those rose colored glasses and find out. So let's get started. Now I promised you a while back that I'd talk a little bit more about pirating down here in Latin America. And I'm not talking about Johnny Depp here, or the kind of pirating they do around the African coast where they actually hijack ships and take hostages and all that.
[00:49] No, I'm just talking about good old fashioned pirating of consumer goods and software. Now as far as I'm concerned, and from what I've seen down here in Latin America, you're never going to stop it. It's just like drugs. No matter how much money you throw at the problem, and how many heads you cut off to Hydra, another two headed snake grows back. And those two are a lot smarter than the first one. Now down here in Latin America, it's a huge industry. And it's on every street corner and the governments just pay lip service to it. And occasionally, only occasionally, they make an example out of someone. And that's only when they catch someone so red handed that it's so obvious that any two year old would arrest a guy and put the cuffs on him. Only then you might see some photo op in the local newspaper with some pompous politicians and some police smiling wildly next to a bulldozer on some street in a big downtown area where
[01:36] they're in the act of crunching 10,000 CDs or DVDs into the dust. And how do they catch these guys? Well, guess what? They don't catch them. I found out by hook and crook and talking to some insiders, it's just another project on the huge to-do list for the police and the so-called criminal investigators down here. Man, that's a joke in itself, but I'll talk about that in another show. And guess what? It's way down on the list, right down there next to jaywalking. So far at the bottom that it almost never gets any attention unless the authorities stumble on a big motherload that's in some kind of a shipping container and it falls off a truck at the airport and cracks wide open for everyone to see. And then it takes a customs guy to figure out that it's not on the manifest. And only then does it get impounded. And sometimes it doesn't because you know there are a lot of bribes going around down
[02:22] here. And there's a lot of officials that work down at the airport and in the customs office. And they only make about four, five, or six hundred dollars a month too. They're sitting solidly in the middle class down here. Though for us first-worlders, that's sitting on poverty row. So I ask you, how does a guy making four, five, or six hundred dollars a month afford to drive a late model car? And not surprisingly, a lot of guys in customs and immigration drive them. Isn't that a coincidence? Now down here, no one pays cash for things like that. None of the locals anyway who have regular jobs and who can actually afford the payments. Down here very, very few people have a new or late model car. Only the upper five percent of the population. And somehow that includes a hell of a lot of government workers. Hmm. And if you have a new or late model car, you're still gonna pay at least six, seven, or eight
[03:09] thousand dollars for it, right? And that's for a basic model like a Nissan Sentra or a Toyota Corolla or a Toyota Yaris. Now bear with me just a little while here because I am trying to make a point. Now generally when you pay payments on a five or six or seven thousand dollar car, a used car even, you're gonna pay about two hundred to three hundred dollars a month for the privilege. Not including of course insurance, which they'll make you get. And full coverage on a car will cost you anywhere from thirty five to fifty bucks a month, even on a late model used car. Even though, like I said in a past show, I always recommend you just carry the basic liability policy, which is only a hundred to a hundred and fifty bucks a year. But I talked about that in detail in a past show and you can look that up in the archives if you want. But just like in the first world, if you're making payments, you don't have clear title
[03:55] on it, and who's ever holding the note on your car is gonna make you carry full coverage in case you get in a wreck or you get it stolen. That way they don't lose their collateral. Anyway back to the point that these airport officials and customs guys drive nice cars, at least late model cars. And though most of them aren't stupid enough to drive it to work, just like a janitor in the first world wouldn't pull up to work in a Ferrari, which would definitely send tongues wagging amongst the other people who work in the airport who aren't fortunate enough to be in a position to accept bribes, which I'll talk about in a second. Anyway, they have a nice or a late model car at the house, sitting in the driveway or in the garage. Now for a guy making four, five, or six hundred dollars a month, owning a late model car is gonna take up more than half of his salary, which doesn't leave much for food or rent or running a household, not to mention gas for that car.
[04:41] So the point I'm making here is that these guys, these bureaucrats, they're in on the pirating. That's how they make extra cash. And when a dubious container makes its way through the borders, they're known to hold out a hand and look the other way. And if you think you're seeing a huge investigative push and a big crackdown, you're mistaken. Anytime you see pirated goods being displayed in the papers or the media, they almost never charge anybody for the crime, but they impound the goods. And somehow most of those impounded goods always seem to end up back on the street anyway. Hmm, how'd that happen? Well, it's not hard to guess. They seem to somehow get misplaced, just like the drugs they confiscate down here. And in that case, when they confiscate drugs, it's almost never because of an investigation. It's usually when some truck gets a blowout and crashes, and the police arrive on the
[05:27] scene and they find two tons of cocaine in the back. That's how almost all the big hauls of drugs are confiscated down here. In fact, I can't tell you how many times I've seen in the paper over the years, all throughout Latin America, where a small plane has crashed in the jungle, then it's usually discovered by kids or locals who get to it first, maybe even days after the crash, they're the ones that pick through it and discover that it's got a hidden compartment or it's jam-packed with cocaine or marijuana or whatever. Then somebody finally calls the police and when they get to the scene, there's a big media blitz about it and they stack the bricks of cocaine and marijuana in nice little rows, along with all the guns and ammunition they might find in that plane. And then there's always a few high-ranking police officials that pose like conquering heroes over it. And that's the photo that gets into the evening newspapers.
[06:13] And often times, the DEA makes sure that that photo-op gets on the wires and all the international news services get it. Because that, you see, is the only way that the DEA can show the world that it's making a big effort to win the war on drugs. They have to show big quantities sometimes, because that's the only way people are going to believe that the war on drugs is actually working. But it's not. When a small plane full of drugs crashes in the jungle, there's always millions and millions of dollars worth of this stuff in it. It's never just a couple of small sacks. It's fully loaded. But you see, you shouldn't let that fool you when you see something like that in a newspaper. Because even though your first thought might be, wow, the DEA and the local law enforcement, they must really have it together. Look at all the stuff they confiscated. Tons of marijuana and cocaine. Maybe they are actually turning the corner and winning the war on drugs.
[07:02] After all, the US is pumping in all that technology and untold billions of dollars every year. Right? Wrong. The war on drugs and the war on pirating was lost decades ago. It's such a waste of time, manpower and money, I just can't believe it. But it's a huge business for both sides and it keeps a lot of people employed. Now let me just mention another thing, and I've been told this by someone in the know too. Someone on the inside at one of the embassies. And he told me that when one of those small planes crashes, and the locals do not get there first, but instead the police or the local military gets there first, often there's a deal made and some cash changes hands, and the drugs go right back to the producer. And that's why police commissioners and generals and colonels always seem to retire rich, especially the ones that are posted out in the boonies, where all those secret narco landing strips
[07:50] seem to be. Now you really can't keep a thing like that secret for long, can you? Which naturally means the narcos spread a lot of money around to keep a lid on it. And people are poor so they take it and shut up. So it turns out the only time there seems to be big drug confiscations is when there's a plane crash and the locals find it before the police or the military. When that happens, the drugs can't mysteriously disappear. And that's because these days, every little teenage kid has a cell phone with a camera in it. And when kids start flashing pictures, that often keeps the police from pulling a fast one. And it might seem hard to believe that these kids in the boonies, these poor kids have cell phones with cameras. And if you don't believe me, just this week I went down and bought a cell phone myself for 20 bucks and it has a camera in it. These days, even down here in Latin America, cell phone and computer technology comes down
[08:38] here so fast, and that's about the only thing that does. Everything else has a delay time of years, believe me. But anyway, so first on the scene, at a crash like that, if it's a local or locals, chances are there's going to be some photos taken on those cell phone cameras. And why not? It's a big event. A plane crash, right? So it's not like the old days, when the police and the officials got there and shooed away all the bystanders, and you could bet every time that most of those drugs went missing. And when they did leave some drugs behind to make it look good, the size of the crashed airplane's storage compartment seemed way too big. That is for the skimpy amount of drugs that came out of it, if you know what I mean. So basically what I'm saying is that police and the military, especially on the boonies, are often into stealing the drugs themselves and selling them back to the producers. And more often, they steal only part of it.
[09:24] That way they've got something to bring back to headquarters and it looks like they're doing their jobs. That way they make some ready cash, a lot of ready cash, from the guys who lost a plane. And they look good, like heroes on the home front, in the process. Now let me mention once again that these big cocaine and marijuana fines, that you see in the papers, where you see these unbelievable rows and rows and stacks and stacks of cocaine bricks and marijuana bales. Well let me just clue you in. 95% of the time, that's not due to some brilliant high-tech police work, no. That's the stuff they stumble on when the narcos have a plane crash or a wreck on the highway. And when you read in the papers about other cases where the police seem to be doing great work as they wage valiant battle in the drug war, well here's another thing you didn't know. They're forever catching idiot smugglers at the airports down here in Latin America.
[10:13] People who try to slip a few ounces or a pound or two of marijuana or cocaine through, on or in their bodies or in their luggage. Now normally at any big airport down here, the scanners and dogs and check-in people are going to catch two or three idiots like that a week, because they're using all that high-tech stuff that they got for free from the first world. Well not exactly free, because you paid for it. So there's never a shortage of good publicity for the government people in charge of the drug war when they need it. So anytime up north, when it looks like drug war fatigue is setting in with the population, and the US taxpayers seem to be getting a little huffy about all the money spent on it and not seeing any results in their own drug-infested neighborhoods. When that happens, every so often you hear rumblings from the taxpayers about loosening penalties and legalizing drugs and stuff, especially out in the western states.
[11:00] But you know that kind of talk always scares the politicians, they can't have that because it's too big a business, there's too much money for both sides in the drug war. So whenever the public starts making noises like it thinks that the drug war is not working at all, and it's time to legalize and tax it, which is the only smart and logical thing to do. But governments were never known to be smart or logical. Anyway, there are thousands and thousands of great airport busts on the books, and that's the DEA and the government's ammunition to show that they're actually winning the war on drugs, though they're really not of course. I mean they can trot out thousands and thousands of photos of idiots who've been busted at airports and border crossings. The airport and border people have seen it all believe me, and they usually manage to catch most of these idiots, and there are so many arrests every day of the week like that, that it almost looks like the DEA has got things under control and might even be
[11:49] winning that war, but of course they're only catching the idiots, the smart guys always get through. And in fact in the last few years the price of drugs has actually gone down in the first world, and the potency has gone up, which by the laws of supply and demand, just shows that a greater volume of better grade stuff is actually getting through. So much for the war on drugs. And related to that, not long ago I was sitting in an expat bar, gathering information of course, not really enjoying myself, though I was with Expat Eddie, so there was some very amusing moments I must say. And I hope by now, all you loyal expat file fans out there know I don't recommend those expat bars. You'll never really get to know a country or its people if you hang around with gringos and first worlders. Not to mention those first world losers that work at the embassies, they hang around at all those expat bars too.
[12:36] And of course you'll meet those military attachés from the first world, some down here officially and some unofficially. Some in uniform and some out of uniform, depending on the country and circumstances. But you can always spot an active military guy, even in civilian clothes, you know what I mean? That certain erect posture and the toughness, and the universal military hairdo of course. Anyway, I was with Expat Eddie, in a notorious expat bar. We were sitting next to a US military guy, when suddenly the guy turned to us and said something very unenlightened. The same thing US military guys say to almost all expat Americans, who look like they've been down here a really long time. Like me and Expat Eddie. And he said something like, Hey, what are you guys doing in this god for second place? Pretty far away from home, ain't ya?
[13:22] Bet you're down here for the Chiquitas, wish I could say that. Well the guy was half in the bag and talkin' it, so I decided to pry a little information out of him if I could. After all, that's why I was at the expat bar. There's a lot of loose lips down there, especially near closing time. So it turns out, this guy's a helicopter pilot. And in fact, he's an ex-military helicopter pilot, down here on a contract to spray herbicides. Though I think they're not using Paraquat anymore, they're using something even better. Which means, it's about five generations more advanced. And that means ever so much worse than the defoylants they sprayed in Vietnam. And to tell you the truth, I don't know why people in the first world aren't talking about it. He tells me the chemicals they use are coming from Bayer and Monsanto and all the biggies up in the first world. All the big herbicide and insecticide companies. I think there's a really good news story in that somewhere.
[14:10] So anyway, he's telling me about his job. He's down here under a first world contract. From what he says, he's making about a hundred grand a year. Turns out he's on a list of former helicopter pilots for the military who are on call for third world jobs like this, because obviously they pay really big money down here compared to anything he could get up in the first world. I mean first of all, all the guys really qualified for is flying a helicopter. And though there might be some full time helicopter jobs up in the first world, there are a hell of a lot more qualified helicopter pilots than there are jobs. That's what he tells me anyway. And I can believe that considering the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and Libya and you name it. Wherever we're at war, the military cranks out helicopter pilots. And think about this for a second. You can be up in Milwaukee sitting in your backyard all day and maybe see ten or fifteen
[14:55] planes go by. But I bet you ten to one you never see a helicopter. Which I guess proves the guy's point, right? So anyway, this guy's down here spraying some god awful unknown high powered chemicals on marijuana and cocaine fields. Which I'm sure blow right back in his face sometime. Because a helicopter's nothing but a big fan, right? Now he's not the guy that goes out and looks for him. He's just the guy that gets the information by GPS and goes out and sprays him. And then he says, you know, when I first got the job I felt a little funny because I like a doobie now and then, you know, it relaxes me. What the hell, I went to college in the 90's and I mean everyone did it. Except maybe the born again Christians, but I knew some holy rollers who were sneaking their dope on the side. Anyway that's what he said. So this half in the bag helicopter pilot tells me and ex-pat Eddie that he felt a little
[15:41] guilty at first. But after a few big paychecks, well it was just a job. In fact a very good paying job, even if he didn't like what he was doing. Even if he got some chronic disease down the road from the overspray. And then he says, before he had this job he worked for Blackwater. Can you believe that? He was a civilian helicopter pilot contracted through Blackwater right after the first Iraq war. And here's what he said. He said when he went to his interview at Blackwater, the form that he filled out asked him if he'd ever done drugs before and which ones. And he put down that he tried cocaine a few times and he smoked marijuana in college. And he figured he'd better tell the truth because a friend had told him that when you get through the first interview at Blackwater, they give you a lie detector test. Then surprisingly enough a month later they called him up for the second interview.
[16:28] He went in and took a lie detector test and they asked him again if he'd done any drugs and he said yeah I took a little cocaine, some marijuana in college. And he went back home thinking no way was he going to get selected because they seemed to emphasize that drug taking question way too much and he'd admitted it on the written form and during the polygraph test. Then a month later they called him up and gave him the job. And when he got his orientation classes at Blackwater, he was in the room with about 30 other helicopter pilots. And after the orientation they went out to get to know each other better, had a few beers and they all discussed that question about the drugs and they all admitted the same thing on the form and in the polygraph test that they'd taken drugs before. To a man, every single one of those pilots had tried illegal drugs. And quite a few of those guys were still using those drugs recreationally but they never
[17:15] admitted that. And sometime later, by hook and crook they found out that those psychologists at Blackwater that made up those interviews and tests, they knew that 95% or more of Americans had tried cocaine and marijuana in college or high school. Blackwater wasn't trying to find out if you did drugs or not, what they were trying to find out is if you were a liar. Because it turns out if one of these helicopter pilots would have lied on the written form about the drugs, he would almost disqualify a guy immediately because it's the odd American these days who's never tried drugs at all. So here's the irony, you've got all these pilots under contract to spray herbicides on marijuana and cocaine fields down in Latin America and the vast majority of them, probably 95% or more, have tried and used illegal drugs and many are still using, yet they're being
[18:01] paid big money to try to eliminate the very stuff that they like using themselves. Then the helicopter pilot said to me, he said, you know it'd be like working for the feds during prohibition, busting open whiskey barrels with axes and raiding speakeas he's during the day and then at night after work driving up to Canada where it's legal, partying hard and drinking whiskey till your heart's content, then the next day driving back across the US border to your job, smashing whiskey barrels again. The more things change the more they stay the same, I guess. I know it doesn't make sense he said, but I get paid big money for it, so I do it. And that's when I asked him the million dollar question, I said, so how's it working, are you really eradicating those cocaine and marijuana fields like you're being paid to do? Or are you just going through the motions because the DEA has the budget for it? And you know what he said, he said, man, I have the best job security in the world, it's
[18:49] never going to end. If we had every helicopter ever made up there right now spraying, we still couldn't put a big enough dent in the business for anyone to really notice. And then expat Eddie laughed and put in his two cents, he said, you know, up north in the Midwest you know what it costs for a really good ounce of pot, about three or four hundred dollars for the really good stuff. And you know what an ounce of pot costs down here? And the pilot said, yeah, sure, about 15 to 25 bucks, right? Then he made a sour face and he added this, you know, these Latins, they always sell you a short ounce. In fact, it's usually a half ounce or less, but I don't really care, a half ounce for 15 or 25 bucks, it's really good stuff. So what's the difference? So even if you figure a half an ounce for 25 bucks, that means an ounce is about 50 bucks, which is about a sixth of what you pay for the same thing up in the States.
[19:35] And then he said, down here, the other good thing is nobody ever hassles you about it unless you're so stupid that you light one up right in front of a cop's face. And even then you might get away with it. In fact, I've never seen anybody get busted for pot or coke down here except at the airport. The Latin police may be idiots, all right, but they've got dogs and you can't fool dogs. Now here's where it got interesting. Expat Eddie chimed in and said, look, you're paying way too much for your pot, man. If you're paying 25 bucks for a half an ounce and 50 for a full ounce, you're getting screwed. And the helicopter pilot's eyes widened and he said, what do you mean? That's dirt cheap compared to the US. And Eddie said, maybe so, but you're paying tourist prices. That's what they charge in the high volume tourist areas and in the big city areas, the zone of Viva's and the zone of roses, like we're sitting in right now in the expat bar.
[20:22] I bet you buy your stuff from some Latin guy who comes in here and sells it to you, right? And the guy shrugs and said, sometimes, why not? It's dirt cheap, come on. And then Eddie said, no offense, but the problem with you guys that hang around in these expat bars is you never get to see the rest of the country except in your case by helicopter. Where we're sitting down right here at this expat bar, this is not the real Latin America. And in your off hours, you hang around the zone of Rosa and the zone of Viva and the expat bars and stuff and everything you buy, and I mean everything you buy, you're paying near gringo prices because you're all concentrated in this little area and everybody knows you'll pay. And then Eddie rubbed it in a little bit and he said, do you know what? I get jumbo ounces for 25 bucks. I never get shorted. In fact, I always get more than an ounce because my
[21:07] contact is out in the boonies. Now here's the thing for all you expats and expat wannabes and tourists. If you come down to a high volume tourist area, if you're dressed like a common first world tourist or a backpacker, especially if you're a backpacker, I'll bet you the first night you're out. If you go out to the tourist bars and mingle with the other first world tourists and gringos, I'll bet you anything. Some local is bound to approach you and offer to sell you some pot or even some cocaine or some ecstasy. And believe me, you'd be surprised how many tourists, especially young ones, teenagers and people in their twenties are on the lookout for that kind of stuff because they're on vacation in a tourist town and they just want to party and let loose. And the local hucksters know that. So they'll sell you a bag for 15 or 25 bucks. But like Eddie says, you're lucky if you get a half an ounce. And because this stuff is so powerful
[21:54] down here and so dirt cheap, the locals don't have to stoop to ripping you off with oregano or some other kind of dirt weed. And they know you'll be more than satisfied because they know the real price of marijuana up in the first world. And they're giving it to you at a fifth or a sixth of the price you've been paying for it up north. And they also know that you're going to be a good repeat customer, at least as long as you're down here. And you're going to be partying all the time and you're going to meet new friends and be with groups of your own people. And the key thing is you're on vacation. So anyway, expat Eddie, who knows about all this stuff, insists that recreational drugs are twice as expensive in the big city and along the tourist trails as they are in the boonies. So the tourists in effect are getting ripped off all the time, but they could care less because they're still getting it at a huge discount compared to US prices, which is another example,
[22:40] albeit a strange example, where the cost of living is always cheaper in smaller Latin American towns than in the big cities and in the tourist areas, of course. The fact is wherever there are gringos and first world tourists, the dollar eventually contaminates the population in some bad effects set in. Not the least of which is a predictable hike in prices, but because most prices are so low in Latin America compared to up in the first world. And of course, I'm talking about locally produced products and food. Anyway, the point is even when locals do jack up prices like in Costa Rica and other tourist areas, sometimes you still think you're getting quite a deal. The same thing works, let's say, for hotel prices. Now, suppose you're in a small town in Uruguay and you're paying 25 bucks a night for a really nice hotel with a nice view. In Costa Rica, you'll spend about 75 bucks for a similar hotel and in the United States, you might pay 100 or more. And when you
[23:28] get back from your vacation, you're going to tell all your friends about that nice little hotel you stayed at for 75 bucks a night. But it's the guy in Uruguay who really made out now, didn't he? Now, I know I started this conversation today talking about pirating. Well, the reason why I began with that is in fact, because I came across an article on pirating in the Sunday paper in Panama. And the title of the article says, eight out of 10 Latin Americans prefer to buy pirated material. And nine out of 10 Latin Americans don't think that they're breaking the law when they buy pirated goods or falsified goods. And it goes on to say that Latin Americans think if it's for sale and somebody's selling it, whether in a store or on the street, it's perfectly okay to buy it even if it's pirated. And they don't look negatively on the person selling it, nor do they think that the seller is a criminal. And they don't think the seller should be punished even if he's the guy doing
[24:17] the pirating. Like for example, a guy who's downloading movies off the internet, then copying them on DVD and selling them on the street, which is a really obvious case of pirating. Which brings me back to my original statement that pirating is like the drug business. No matter how much money or resources you put into it, you're just never going to get rid of it. Not when people don't think of it as a real punishable crime. Now here's the funny thing about pirating. Did you know that down here in Latin America, it's not CDs or DVDs or computer software or fake designer label stuff that's pirated the most. You know what it is? Cigarettes. Down here there's a huge gray market in the buying and selling of cigarettes because tobacco is a huge crop. And if you have tobacco and cigarette making machines, you can put out any kind of cigarettes you want, which means you
[25:03] can falsify any brand. It's easy. Now the fact is the local brands, like for example Belmont, which you probably never heard of in the first world, cost about a dollar and a half a pack down here. And a brand name like Cool or Marlboro costs about two bucks a pack. So down here if you can fake a Cool or a Marlboro, you get an extra 50 cents on the deal. But you got the same basic tobacco and product as a Belmont. Now the funny thing about this is that up in the United States, you pay about five dollars a pack for cigarettes, don't you? And since they only cost about a buck a pack to produce, about four dollars out of that five in each pack is direct taxes. Whereas down here in Latin America, they only tax a pack of cigarettes about 50 cents. So you can see how a huge gray market too has developed between Latin America and the United States. And most of that stuff slips through the United States on the Gulf side by boat in places like Galveston, New Orleans
[25:52] and on through Florida. And you know smuggling untaxed contraband cigarettes up to the United States is not like shipping marijuana or cocaine. The penalty for smuggling cigarettes is almost nothing compared to smuggling drugs. Anyway I just thought I'd give you a heads up on that. Even though I suppose most of you don't smoke cigarettes and I don't either. But it's interesting to note in Latin America that counterfeiting cigarettes is bigger than software, CD and DVD and designer label pirating. And one last note on this marijuana and cocaine thing. I get emails asking about that all the time so I thought I'd touch on it. I'm not condoning drug use but I'm a libertarian on that issue. You should be able to put into your body anything you like. It's your body. And as for the so-called drug war, well that's like shooting an elephant with a pea shooter and it's the United States that has the pea shooter. So that's pathetic and it should be phased on but it won't because
[26:42] there's vested interest and big money in it on both sides. And a while ago I mentioned the DEA was involved. Well what's the DEA doing down here? Well what they do is they train and fund and outfit every little government down here with all the latest high-tech gadgets at the airports. Along with dogs and helicopters of course. Another waste of billions of US taxpayer dollars. Because most of the cops down here are crooked. It's not hard to bribe a guy when he's making four or five hundred bucks a month. Which is another reason why the first world will never win the drug war. No matter how much lip service they give it. But just remember when you come down to Costa Rica or Panama or Acapulco or Cancun or any of the Caribbean island resorts. When a little guy comes up to you and tries to sell you some drugs. No matter how good a deal it seems to you compared to what
[27:28] you paid up in the states. You're paying twice what expat Eddie pays. South of the border. You've been listening to The Expat Files living in Latin America. Coming to you each week from somewhere south of the border. And don't forget you can email me on anything at all about Latin America. The Expat Files at gmail.com. Once again The Expat Files at gmail.com. See you next time.