# Why are Mexicans chopping each other up? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [May 14, 2012, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935 "2012-05-14T23:13:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/41 "2012-05-15T17:27:47Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Pfizer and Merck aren’t going to make crystal meth, because the liability risk would be too high. But there are many lower tier pharmacology companies who would be happy to fill the gap. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/42 "2012-05-15T17:33:44Z")
> [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > Pfizer and Merck aren’t going to make crystal meth, because the liability risk would be too high. And the cartels may not be content to simply let a hundred meth labs bloom around the US without taking action, if that were to mean the end of their profitability. The US suppliers could very well end up still simply being fronts for various cartels. > > By way of comparison, consider that garbage disposal is entirely legal, but the industry nonetheless has been dominated by organized crime in parts of the country. Is there a reason it wouldn’t be similar to what happened with alcohol production and distribution after the end of Prohibition? Alcohol was good business to organized crime, yet now it’s mainly above board. Does anypony know how long it took for alcohol production and distribution to (on the whole) go legit after 1933? ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/43 "2012-05-15T17:40:11Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > [Nitpick] PCR makes DNA testing very quick and relatively inexpensive. [/nitpick] In the US I’d mostly agree with that statement. For Mexico, not so much. I’d probably have to write and ask, but I’d bet the number of [Spartan DX real-time DNA analysis machines](http://www.spartanbio.com/products/spartan-dx/) sold to Mexican authorities is quite low. I’m comfortable saying that, from Mexican law enforcements point of view, DNA testing is still expensive and time consuming. Enjoy, Steven ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/44 "2012-05-15T17:44:02Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > [Nitpick] PCR makes DNA testing very quick and relatively inexpensive. [/nitpick] You need to test against patrons. You could have a corpse’s whole DNA sequenced, and that would still not give you the slightest clue to their identity (ok, you’d know genetic gender) unless you had a database to compare it against. If I leave a print in a crime site in Spain, the Spanish police should be able to ID it pretty fast, since they have my prints on file. The US government has partials, but who knows which agencies have access to them. The French government doesn’t have them: a fingerprint of mine, in France, would be a John Doe. DNA works the same way: knowing which markers are present is worth very little unless you have something to compare against. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/45 "2012-05-15T18:27:51Z")
Not only that, but if you don’t have a database, you’d be comparing it with relatives and see if they match. Thus, you’d have to have all the people whose relatives have disappeared come forward, submit a sample, and run that with all the possibilities. It is time consuming and expensive, in that sense. It may be easier, after all, since the relatives will be coming forward, to show them pictures of any recognizable marks, tattoos, or clothing. Still time consuming, but less expensive. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/46 "2012-05-15T18:35:21Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Is there a reason it wouldn’t be similar to what happened with alcohol production and distribution after the end of Prohibition? You may be right, and I may be being too pessimistic. I think there are differences, though. There was a legal business infrastructure for alcohol outside the US, which prevented alco-terrorist cartels from developing, and which facilitated the reintroduction of a legal alcohol industry in the US. Also, product liability and dram-shop laws were of minimal risk to the alcohol industry back then, but would be much bigger concerns these days. One other thing: Even after legalization, the cartels’ economies of scale would mean that they would have the cheapest product and the greatest variety. The US could prohibit the importation of foreign recreational drugs as it does with prescription pharmaceuticals, but then we’re back to interdicting the border. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/47 "2012-05-15T18:52:49Z")
> [@Harborwolf](#): > > I just don’t see how this is supposed to solve things in Mexico. Drugs are legal and all the cartels just retire? They give up on having control over territory? Stop killing those viewed as enemies and start playing nice because the US has looser regulations on drugs? That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. The value of the drugs is inflated based on the amount of risk involved in transporting and selling them. Take away the prohibition and there would be no profit in drug smuggling. The public has demonstrated that they will buy and use drugs regardless of the risk or who their money supports and will pay a huge premium if US law makes it risky to sell them. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/48 "2012-05-15T18:55:13Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > How do you reconcile these two statements? You can’t drive 20 kilometers without being stopped for a contraband search, yet the cartels still have guns? There are a lot of highways, a lot of cars, and a lot of guns and drugs. How do you reconcile the amount of drugs confiscated in the US by law enforcement every day yet everyone still having easy access to them anytime they want? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/49 "2012-05-15T18:58:25Z")
> [@Cubsfan](#): > > Can’t they cut the army loose on the fucking cartels? Isn’t that why this happened in the first place? The cartels had had a symbiotic relationship with “law enforcement” since time immemorial and in recent years the Mexican government started cracking down on them. The result was an enormous campaign of murder as the cartels lashed out at anybody who might try to arrest or prosecute or inform on them. ---
**Author:** ![Crazyhorse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crazyhorse/32/31_2.png) [@Crazyhorse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crazyhorse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/50 "2012-05-15T19:01:13Z")
> [@kenner116](#): > > I don’t think changing US policy is going to change much of the situation in Mexico. What if Mexico just legalized drugs and the cartels? Anything would be an improvement over the current Mexican policy of militarization. Actually over the years Mexico has attempted several times to decriminalize drugs in various degrees. Those initiatives have traditionally been squashed by US diplomatic efforts. Right now some South American countries not as indentured to the US as Mexico are currently discussing the idea. Note that if that happens and the US maintains her prohibition on them it means much of the violence could move north of the border. ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/51 "2012-05-15T19:11:30Z")
> [@PunditLisa](#): > > They don’t know about DNA down there? Man, it IS a backward country. If it is a backwards country, wouldnt it be called Ocixem? ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/52 "2012-05-15T19:29:51Z")
Is it possible— mind you, I’m just brainstorming here— that Mexicans are saying to each other “let’s go shopping,” and the pronunciation is the problem? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/53 "2012-05-15T20:22:16Z")
To answer the question, if it is earnestly asked, the reason for the chopping is intimidation. I think the cartels got the idea from Jihadi videos where they kill people in gruesome ways. A former friend sent me a video where they behead one guy with a chainsaw and then another one with a knife. Another video involved castration and then beheading. All while the victim is fully conscious. If I were considering entering the business, the idea of dying that way would give me pause. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/54 "2012-05-15T20:23:43Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Is it possible— mind you, I’m just brainstorming here— that Mexicans are saying to each other “let’s go shopping,” and the pronunciation is the problem? Vinyl Turnip you are a genius! This is absolutely what I think happened here. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/55 "2012-05-15T20:44:06Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > You need to test against patrons. You could have a corpse’s whole DNA sequenced, and that would still not give you the slightest clue to their identity (ok, you’d know genetic gender) unless you had a database to compare it against. My friend had a brother who died in the Twin Towers collapse, whose remains were positively identified by comparing the DNA of various remains to a database of relatives’ DNA. [http://www.mlynch.org/ml/about.htm](http://www.mlynch.org/ml/about.htm) ---
**Author:** ![dngnb8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@dngnb8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dngnb8)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/56 "2012-05-15T21:27:43Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > Is it possible— mind you, I’m just brainstorming here— that Mexicans are saying to each other “let’s go shopping,” and the pronunciation is the problem? LOL that reminds me of when I was a medic. We had calls that we called Chicken Breathers. I worked an area with an extremely heavy Hispanic Pop. Their accent was so think when they would say She Cant Breath it sounded like Chee’Ken Breath We started calling those call chicken breathers. In the end, the wifey would hyperventilate to panic the hubby when they fought. Hubby would be in a panic and talking real fast. CHEEKEN BREATH MAN! CHEEKEN BREATH ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/57 "2012-05-15T22:01:33Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > To answer the question, if it is earnestly asked, the reason for the chopping is intimidation. I think the cartels got the idea from Jihadi videos where they kill people in gruesome ways. A former friend sent me a video where they behead one guy with a chainsaw and then another one with a knife. Another video involved castration and then beheading. All while the victim is fully conscious. If I were considering entering the business, the idea of dying that way would give me pause. If you’re going to soon be beheaded anyway, castration isn’t any worse than any other painful wound; it’s _living_ with being castrated that’s a problem. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/58 "2012-05-15T23:16:00Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > If you’re going to soon be beheaded anyway, castration isn’t any worse than any other painful wound; it’s _living_ with being castrated that’s a problem. True. Also, I love that you made this comment with the name “Lumpy”. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/59 "2012-05-15T23:39:50Z")
> [@LonesomePolecat](#): > > They no longer have billions of dollars flowing into their coffers from the United States, which in turn means they have no money to pay the troops, buy automatic rifles and RPGs, and bribe cops and politicians. They then take what money they have on hand and launder it for investment in more legitimate enterprises. Just like that. They won’t move on to human trafficking or try to fight over whatever small pieces of pie are left. They’ll just leave the whole “chopping people to bits” thing behind and begin investing in local small business. Am I the only person who thinks that groups of people who are leaving the severed heads and mangled bodies in public places aren’t just going to pack up and call it a day? > [@Crazyhorse](#): > > That’s pretty much it in a nutshell. The value of the drugs is inflated based on the amount of risk involved in transporting and selling them. Take away the prohibition and there would be no profit in drug smuggling. The public has demonstrated that they will buy and use drugs regardless of the risk or who their money supports and will pay a huge premium if US law makes it risky to sell them. I’ll repeat. These people are reducing humans into smaller bits for public display. It may be a bit of an assumption on my part, but there is clearly a bit of a differing mindset at work here. I honestly doubt that they will just shrug and say, “Well we had a heck of a run. See you in the funny pages,” taking the remaining money and leaving the guns, thugs, and territory behind and forgiving all previous slights committed by rival cartels. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [May 15, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935/60 "2012-05-15T23:58:14Z")
> [@The\_Man\_With\_The\_Golden\_Gun](#): > > That is a bit of a high head count. What, zero? 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-mexicans-chopping-each-other-up/621935.md?page=4)