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Markets in Everything: Want Ads for Hit Men
One of Mexico's biggest drug cartels has launched a brazen recruiting campaign, putting up fliers and banners promising good pay, free cars and better food to army soldiers who join the cartel's elite band of hit men.
From USA Today. Hat tip to Peter Gordon.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on April 27, 2008 at 12:17 PM in Economics | Permalink
Comments
Must be a wonderful country, Mexico...
Posted by: jorod at Apr 27, 2008 2:46:52 PM
"Must be a wonderful country, Mexico..."
It is a wonderful country. Have you ever been there? I mean, they haven't gotten ridden of all the criminal organizations like we they have in US and Europe. For example, it's not like my hometown of San Francisco, where organized crime has been eliminated and no effort is spent by gangs to recruit new members, but they're moving in the right direction, never-the-less.
Posted by: Michael Giesbrecht at Apr 27, 2008 3:09:20 PM
"Must be a wonderful country, Mexico..."
It is a wonderful country. It would be even a better country if it didn't have to deal with satisfying your insatiable appetite for drugs.
HC
Posted by: Happy Camper at Apr 27, 2008 5:37:01 PM
Interesting if true...
From the story:
It listed a cellphone number, which was disconnected a few days later. The banner was taken down a few hours after it was spotted.
What pranks could you play on your friends with this cell-phone number? The mind boggles.
Posted by: Pomegranates In Fridge at Apr 27, 2008 5:50:14 PM
Nothing new here. Check out the famous Pancho Villa recruiting poster:
http://noblebandits.asu.edu/Topics/BlurredLines.html
Payment in gold weekly. Privately contracted security. Setting up your own country. Should stir the passions of the armchair libertarians on this forum.
Posted by: Bob Knaus at Apr 27, 2008 10:13:42 PM
Just like underage women soliciting sex online from older men, it is far more likely that this is about law enforcement authorities entrapping would-be perps than the real thing.
Posted by: at Apr 27, 2008 10:46:52 PM
If most underage women "soliciting" online (I don't believe the cops actually "solicit" per se) were undercover cops, I do not think they would catch many people. So, your analogy is not apt. If I had to guess the ratio it would probably be at least 50:1 or so (real thing:entrapment).
Posted by: Cliff at Apr 27, 2008 11:47:53 PM
If ads soliciting the services of soldiers and ex-soldiers weren't common before it must mean one of two things: Calderon's "war on drugs" is working and the Cartels are in desperate need of new Zetas (the zetas are the mercenary arm of the drug cartels, with the actual organizations behaving more and more like genuine businesses), or the Gulf Cartel's sphere of influence is growing and more hitmen are needed. I really hope it is the first one, although sometimes the news lead me to believe it is certainly not the case...
That, or someone just got into a lot of trouble because of a prank.
Posted by: Mister Chaps at Apr 28, 2008 1:23:22 AM
The ads aren't real – they're only intended to mock and demoralize the police. They post them in extremely public places. They're drug dealers, but they're not stupid – they know if you put a huge sign up on a busy highway taunting la Policía, someone's gonna take it down in a couple minutes/hours. That having been said, you better believe that every police officer in the area knows exactly where they can go if they don't want to comer sopas Machuran anymore.
Posted by: Stephen at Apr 28, 2008 1:38:39 AM
It is a wonderful country. It would be even a better country if it didn't have to deal with satisfying your insatiable appetite for drugs.
Yes, I imagine you'll be completing your immigration to Mexico soon. Or perhaps you like countries with less corruption, more rule of law, less racism, less crime, and much stronger economies? By what standards is Mexico a "wonderful country?"
Posted by: Sideways at Apr 28, 2008 2:14:18 AM
Do you think this type of advertising would be more effective then running an ad in one of the various soldier of fortune publications in the US?
Posted by: spencer at Apr 28, 2008 9:50:58 AM
