Burner, I can assure you your information is quiet correct, but it extends to for more reaches than the Safari industry, such as co owning 52 banks in florida alone at one time, bars in the USA, any business that would clean his money.... As a US Customs Agent and later a DEA Agent, now 20 years retired, I worked on Escobar and his bunch, and its tenicles reached beyond ones wildest imagination and the death of Pablo Escobar was but a temporary set back..I actually remember when Pablo Escobar was a mean ass kid getting into the drug business. I remember his villa with 14 carrot gold place settings, his zoo, his Michael Jackson life style magnified 100 times, He was of record early on but not on anyones priority list when I first heard of him.
If he did any wildlife good it would surprise me and I know of no instance wherein he helped Africas wildlife, he helped out some PHs and Safari companies for sure and thats of record, like I said the money was there for the taking by anyone with a tad of greed. The price of doing business with him was risky at best.
Once there is no more hunting, there is no more value to the animals, and they'll be poached until they are gone. Hunting is the salvation of African game, and a few enlightened countries there realize that.
Hunt with Class and Classics
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Acquit v. t. To render a judgment in a murder case in San Francisco... EQUAL, adj. As bad as something else. Ambrose Bierce “The Devil's Dictionary”
A lot of wildlife's problems in Africa are due to the huge growth in human population since World War Two. AIDS will probably eventually have some effect on this, but exactly how much nobody knows, partly because even the "experts" can't agree on it's effects right now.
“Montana seems to me to be what a small boy would think Texas is like from hearing Texans.” John Steinbeck
"If he did any wildlife good it would surprise me and I know of no instance wherein he helped Africas wildlife, he helped out some PHs and Safari companies for sure and thats of record, like I said the money was there for the taking by anyone with a tad of greed. The price of doing business with him was risky at best."
Ray:
Where might I find a record of cartel influence on the safari industry? It sounds like there may be a book there.
Pablo Escobar may have saved the hippopotamus for mankind. He introduced them into Columbia where a small feral population now thrives.
They are disappearing in Africa at an alarming rate and so it may be that Columbia will eventually become the heartland of the hippo.
I'd like to see Australia become the new heartland of the Bengal tiger, gaur and wild Asian elephant. Better game than camels, horses and goats. Maybe a deal could be cut with the Aborigines on their reserves if the Australian government won't go along with it.
There is a book in it Bill. The Hong Kong Triad are trying to get into it right now and recently threatened to kill a friend of mine at the SCI convention if he didn't tow the line, the Italian mob are in it with big but vacanmt hotels on Zanzibar and the Jewish mob, the late Myer Lansky's (murder incorporated) people (same people who built Los Vegas) are already there big time in gold mining.
Organized crime is taking over Africa. Lots of resources and a place where the law can be bought by anyone with the money.
I can give you a good contact in regards to the Triad and the safari business but you must realize that if you do anything with it you, your family, and this man and his family will be killed.
Do you really want the contact? It ain't gun writing.
The mob may actually do a better job developing Africa than anyone else because they require a return on every dollar and they get paid back.
If anyone steals a UN vehicle no charges are ever layed and the American taxpayer picks up the tab. If an African steals a mob vehicle his days are numbered.
So there is consequence and discipline associated with mob investment that does not exist with foreign aid or UN investment, whose members are just pigs at the trough.
Did you know that if you work for the Un for just FIVE years the UN is obligated to pay to send their kids to ANY university in the world where they get accepted. That can cost the tax payer hundreds of thousands of dollars a year because some guy got a Un bird job for five years.
They accomplish nothing. There has been $ 395 BILLION invested in Nigeria in foregn aid since independence and not a single poor Nigerian has benefitted from it. All stolen.
A Great many of the rich British banking families, the kinds of people who dine with the Queen, made their money selling opium to the Chinese.
It may well be that the world's upper class is and has always been a collection of mobsters and drug dealers.
For those interested in the Hong Kong Triad type in "Sidewinder" and RCMP or CSIS into your computer. What you will find is reference to a report, part of which is on the net, by the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) and CSIS (Canadian equivalent of CIA)saying there are now 3,500 identified businesses operating in Canada run by the Triad in co-operation with the government of Red China dedicated to the overthrow of Democratic Government in Canada. Red China wants the natural resources. The report wa s buried by the Federal Liberal Party of Canada.
The Triad gained power in Canada during the reign of the Federal Liberal party of Canada whose inner circle included such people as Maurice (Chairman Mo) Strong who now appears to be holed up in Red China because he has been implicated in the UNs oil for food scandal and does not sem to want to visit North America. He is best buddies with both billionaire George Soros (working on a car deal) and billionaire anti-hunter Robert Schad (He sits on the same board at a Canadian University).
Another interesting duck is former Canadian Liberal PM Jean Cretien who now makes bags and bags of money working for Red Chinese interests.
To read more about Jean Cretien punch in the word Jean Cretien and China into the Canada Free Press website. Also look up the story about the admitted spy Hugh Hambleton, who went to the same university as Cretien but was never arrested in Canada when Cretien was Minister of Justice under Pierre Trudeau.
I believe but I am not sure about this that in Canada the minister of justice has to sign the arrest warrant in cases of spying but in Cretien's case this was never done.
However, Hambleton was arrested and convicted and jailed in Britain and he admitted to supplying top secret Nato documents to the communists during the cold war.
Also note the legal firm in Canada handling most Chinese business in Canada is the Toronto legal firm of Goodman and Goodman, run by the famous "Fast Eddy" Goodman whose China expert is Bob Rae.
Rae is the former NDP (socialist) premier of Ontario whose one claim to fame, aside from trashing the Ontario economy, was bringing Chinese owned gambling casinos into Ontario.
Rae, demonstrating the courage of his convictions, switched parties and became a contender for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Canada but he lost his bid.
You may ask what does this have to do with hunting in Africa.
Well the Triad has already tried to take over some major African Safari companies, whose names you all know, because they want to replace the legal money you have with the illegal drug money they can launder in Africa to increase their influence wherever they can.
Like Ray Atkins says. Its not just hunting safari companies but they are into all kinds of businesses and its not just the Triad. Its also organized crime figures of all kinds of different persuasions.
The NRA brought to world attention the UNs plans to get into the small arms banning business. Maurice Strong (Chairman Mo) was a very (if not the most) influential man at the UN when this initiative took place and it is not unreasonable to assume that he might be behind it.
It the UN keeps written records of the minutes of its meetings its certainly worth looking into Strong's possible role in this initiative.
Red Chinese lover Maurice Strong also sits or sat on the board of directors of the Humane Society of the United States, the largest anti-hunting organization in the world so his agenda - disarming America for one reason (via anti-hunting) or another (banning guns) is pretty clear.
Hopefully he will return to the west so he can face questioning from the RCMP, CSIS and the CIA as regards his role in the UNs oil for Food scandal and possible misuse of CIDA funds.
None of this would have ever come to light had George Bush not decided to attack Iraq and look at the documents lying around Saddam Hussein's palace.
Bill Q, There has been a couple of TV documentarys on the Cartel, including the life and death of Pablo Escobar which was very informative..and there may be several books on the subject.
It would be hard to find documentation on its connection with the Safari business persay other than it existed, other than investigative procedures with folks in Africa that will talk..
Most of the information is in DEA files, but I doubt that they would allow anyone to go into those files without a court order or perhaps a Senator could help you obtain some of that type of information..Perhaps the Freedom of Information act would shed some light..Mostly the concern would be informant protection by DEA, and thats certainly understandalble.
I would not be concerned about the cartel killing you, they wouldn't even be interested in what you have to say, nor would they be so stupid as to bring down that kind of heat on themselves...Besides they don't shoot book writers or TV folks unless they can catch them in their domain in Mexico...I would not go to Medilin and start asking questions, at least not without an appointment with them knowing what you intend to do in which case they may talk to you and be very cordial, or they might cut off you head if the interview didn't go well, who knows.
I was recently offered some big bucks to introduce some TV folks to some old informants, Mexican police, and residence of Mexico and also act as a translater, so they could do a show on the Mexican drug traffic and I had no problem with doing that, but they got a little s--t in there necks and decided to do all their reporting with some sheriffs in Arizona only and stay on the USA side. They also started talking less money, consideralby less money..I told them adios as it would take big bucks to get me to do that..As a result it will be just another yehaw police show running search warrants on crack houses.. A high percentage of those Hollywood movie producers are a$$holes to start with. These guys were afilitated with the Fonze in some form or fashion or so they claimed. It "could" have been a winner of a show btw....
Within the last few months its gotten a lot tougher over there..Might be a good idea for everyone to stay out of certain parts of Mexico for awhile..22,700 people have died since DEA started their drug eradication program there. That was about a year ago as I recall, maybe longer..thats a lot of dead people, and damn little has been accomplished. The end result will be one cartel under the thumb of the Mexican Army, thats the way it works.
If you do such a book on the drug wars and how they got started and where they are going and why they flourished, I would be glad to cooberate with on it..Lots of folks have been trying to get me to do that, but I don't want to write one persay, but I would work with someone that is a writer. Tell him what I know and thats a lot plus introductions to many others on both sides of the fence.
Your comment "The end result will be one cartel under the thumb of the Mexican Army, that is the way it works" is spot on.
That also sums up third world "might is right" values and that is why third world people, who bring those values with them, should not be allowed to pour into and disable functioning democracies.
A story the other day in the Toronto Globe and Mail talks about how CIDA, the Canadian International Development Agency, which Maurice Strong founded is financing Jane Goodall and her Gombe National Park.
Goodall and Strong have travelled and appeared together in North Korea promoting environmental awareness. Its on the net.
The Un's Maurice (Chairman Mo) Strong has really run the Canadian tax payer ragged.
He roped people, who pay their electricity bills in Toronto, via Ontario Hydro, into paying for his "Peace University" in Costa Rica. No mention ever of who realy owns the valuable property now?
He created CIDA which now pays Jane Goodall's Bills at Gombe National park in Tanzania.
He created CIDA which has allegedly been implicated in using its money to provide intelligence about American troop movements to the NVA during the Viet name war.
And all this courtesy of the Canadian taxpayer.
I hear he also runs/ran some kind of nutbar retreat in Colorado where his guest/clients sits around in yoga poses , in a trance looking at candles but I don't know if the Canadian taxpayer paid for this or not.
God bless the Canadian tax payer. Dumb as mud and just begging to have his pockets emptied.
I doubt if I'll do anything with it. So far, all I've heard are rumors. I've seen nothing yet that makes me want to chase any of them.
As for it not being gun writing, good! I've sold a few gun articles, but I am not a gun writer, I have never been a gun writer, and I have no desire to be a gun writer. I write about international big game hunting, which is related to the lowly art of gun writing only by the tools we hunters use.
Early on, though, I was a newspaperman who did a bit of investigative reporting.
All I can provide you with are rumours. You need better sources.
I know there is a retired RCMP oficer who has the TRIAD mapped out in detail right to the very top. He would be easy to find by calling the RCMP. His work is well known but Canadian newspapers are afraid to touch his material.
A reporter named Vince Debbit (may have mispelled his last name) once told me he did a mafia expose for the Toronto Star and the mafia sued the star and held them up in court for years and it was costly and Vince said after that the Star woul not touch the big boys becaue it cost them too much money. They still jump on little guys.
The Canadian media is the tame press.
Canadian crooks and spies are normally arrested and convicted outside of Canada because the Canadian media is so cowardly - at the top.
Here are three examples
1) Russian spy Hugh Hambleton was charged, arrested, convicted and jailed in Britain.
2)Hockey crook Alan Eagleson was charged, arrested, convicted and jailed in the USA.
3) Sir Conrad Black was charged, convicted and arrested and is now in jail in the USA yet he still has a column at the National Post newspaper in Toronto.
The distinction between right and wrong is blurred with Conrad Black as it is with George Soros who is still interviewed on MSM as a financial advisor even though he was convicted of insider trading in France and his appeal was overturned.
The Triad set up shop in Toronto alongside many other legitimate Chinese busineses when the Brits handed Hong Kong back to the Chinese.
Chinese businesses were encouraged to move to Toronto by the Conservative goverment of Bill Davis, whose bag man was "Fast Eddy" Goodman. The Triad came embedded in legit businesses.
The Triad did not know how the Chinese government would deal with them when they took over Hong Konmg so they moved their liquid assetts to Toronto buying up controlling shares of banks etc.
Governments and organized crime do not always work hand in hand but sometimes they do. For example, in the past Mussolini wiped out the Mafia so the Triad was not sure what Red China might do to them.
The precursor of your CIA made a deal with the Italian Mafia to undermine Mussolini and in so doing imported the Italian mob into America.
Since then the 14-K Triad have become best buddies with Red China, as they have shared values (might is right) and now they work hand in hand against democratic institutions. The head of the 14-K Triad is developing properties with the head of the Red Chinese army.
I know the FBI has a file on people laundering money for the late Myer Lansky and his deciples.
The DEA people like Ray, especially the retired guys who can now talk, are probably your best source for Pablo Escobar.
So those are the sources. Look for retired guys who can talk.
1) Triad - RCMP 2) Myer Lansky - FBI 3) Pablo escobar - Ray Atkinson 4) I hear the late Joe Banana's lawyer was president of SCI so he may have valuable information with a huntinmg link.
And you need a major newspaper with a good legal department when you publish. Safari Press is too small to deal with it.
Good luck. There is no one I admire more than a good investigative reporter.
A courageous hunter who showed real balls in exposing corruption in the hunting world was Ian Parker who wrote a book fingering Margaret Kenyatta as being in charge of elephant poaching in Kenya.
He did this while Jomo Kenyatta was in power and he is still alive wheras lesser lights such as Joan Root were killed for much less.
I can give you a good contact in regards to the Triad and the safari business but you must realize that if you do anything with it you, your family, and this man and his family will be killed.
Do you really want the contact? It ain't gun writing.
Rose fertilizer; by any other name ...
Saved for the sheer beauty of the promise and then the retreat
Quote
Dear Bill,
All I can provide you with are rumours. You need better sources.
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