David McWilliams

We're going to talk about the narco economy, how it emerged, where it emerged from, why it emerged, where it did, when it did, what they are selling, what the Americans are buying, and how it has totally and utterly corrupted the Mexican body politic.

Yeah, okay.

Have you watched...

Narcos.

You know, I haven't.

It's really good.

Okay.

So basically, what happened was Colombia was the first narco state.

People will know the name Pablo Escobar.

Basically, the Medellin cartel, all that sort of stuff, right?

And then when the Americans came down really heavily against the Colombians, the Colombian cartels were destroyed completely.

De facto.

But those cartels shifted their production and their operation to Mexico and they ceded power to the Mexican cartels who have now become this enormous parallel force within Mexico and, of course,

Because of the geography, the Mexican cartels control the route of all drugs from Latin America up through Mexico and into the United States.

And they have exploded.

I'll give you a few figures, John.

Total annual revenue from the drug trade is estimated at $12 billion.

billion annually.

Now, I think that's probably an understatement.

But that's the official, right?