Drug and human-smuggling crime syndicates expanding
By WND Staff
Organized crime in America over the years has involved clothes cleaners, bakeries, groceries and many more retailers, through “protection” rackets and such.
It was an additional revenue stream for those gangs that already were cashing in on bank robberies, booze-distribution during Prohibition, even murders.
It’s become a stereotype that appeared in the old movies many times: A thug walks into a storefront and threatens to mess it up unless the “insurance” is paid.
It seems now that the Mexican drug cartels, with their ample cash inflows through fentanyl distribution and even human smuggling during the Joe Biden era of open borders, are expanding.
By taking over the tortilla industry.
And they are cashing in on smuggling people.
And, “the powerful and dangerous criminal organizations are now impacting other businesses in their home country, including those producing a culinary staple,” the report said.
“The cartels have gained more political clout by extorting money from a variety of locally owned businesses, including about 15% of the country’s tortillerías.
That was documented by the National Tortilla Council, the report said.
It confirmed upward of 20,000 neighborhood storefront tortilla businesses now are victims of the cartel “shakedown,” in which criminals are “taking cash from local fishermen, chicken vendors, trucking companies, lumber operations and other businesses.”