America's Drug War: 6 people, including a baby, killed "execution style"
A horrific shooting in Tulare County, California, has left six people dead, including a 16-year-old girl and her 10-month-old baby, in what Sheriff Mike Boudreaux characterized as a massacre by an unspecified drug cartel.
Investigators think the young mother was running away from the gunmen with her baby in her arms; four others were found dead at the family compound in a small farm town, including a grandmother who was asleep in her bed. The victims were shot in the head, leading authorities to suspect it was a targeted hit by professionals.
“We do not believe that this was a random act of violence,” Sheriff Boudreaux told reporters at a Jan. 16 news conference. “We believe that this was very targeted. This was very personal, and we also believe that it was a message being sent.”
Sheriff Boudreaux initially said he believed a drug cartel was responsible for the hit. The next day he back-tracked: “I’m not saying this is a cartel,” he said. “But I am not eliminating that possibility.”
On Jan. 3, deputies found guns, marijuana and methamphetamine at the home where the shooting took place. The New York Times reported on recent drug siezures in Tulare County:
Tulare County officials have made a number of arrests in recent years related to drug trafficking. A traffic stop in 2020 led the Tulare County Sheriff’s Office to find 50 pounds of methamphetamine inside a car.
That traffic stop later led detectives to find two working methamphetamine labs inside a home, and another working meth lab inside another home. In total, the investigation led to more than $1.5 million in recovered drugs, according to the sheriff’s office.
In a multistate drug seizure last year, the county’s drug trafficking task force and the Drug Enforcement Administration arrested four people who were said to be involved in a scheme to send methamphetamine to be sold in Las Vegas.
“Like many communities across the state, this drug issue has become a big concern for many,” Mr. Valero said. “The county, along with its law enforcement, has taken active measures to reduce crime and illegal activity. Despite these efforts, issues like the one in Goshen will transpire. We will continue to take active measures in seeing greater safety and security in our county.”
Let’s take a closer look at the drugs that may have contributed to these brutal deaths: marijuana and meth.
While marijuana remains federally illegal in the U.S., 21 states including California have legalized marijuana for recreational purposes. Despite that, there’s still an illicit market where marijuana is sold. Five years after California legalized marijuana, the black market remains huge, worth an estimated $8 billion each year, double the size of the taxed and regulated market.
More than half of California counties have local laws that outright ban the retail marijuana market. Illegal grow operations are spread across the vast state, and once one gets shutdown another pops up to replace it. ]
Another case of drug war whack-a-mole.
While marijuana in a state that legalized it remains an issue, meth has remained hugely popular on the West Coast despite laws targeting precursor chemicals. In cities, meth use is increasingly drawing the attention of policymakers and politicians. The drug is often tied to issues like homelessness, crime, and violence. But that’s an over-simplification. While meth does have serious side-effects, poverty conditions and a lack of affordable housing are major drivers of homelessness, not drug use.
Remember “Faces of Meth?” Police published mug shots of poor people with broken corroded teeth. There was no evidence they were meth users. The effects associated with meth—bad teeth and skin—are really the effects of poverty and homelessness.
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