Unsung Victims of the Coronavirus

           We’ve all become inundated with stories of the myriad victims of the COVID-19 global pandemic. And without a doubt, there is nothing amusing about the millions of people who have contracted the Coronavirus, the hundreds of thousands who have died and the innumerable others who have lost their jobs and any semblance of financial security or stability.

            Now enter another sad player to the stage: drug cartels and their minions. It should come as no surprise to hear the news that the massive shutdowns in worldwide economic systems have made life much tougher for our friends in the drug trade.

            In the US particularly, lockdown orders have severely cut into the ability of illicit operators to ship and distribute their wares, launder their money and get their product across the southern border.

            According to Bill Bodner, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles DEA field office, Cartel “activities are a lot more apparent than they were three months ago.” He pointed out that California’s shelter in place order has made the movements and clandestine activities of the drug professionals more obvious and forced them to take greater risks to get their product on the street.

            Of course, this makes perfect sense. If there are less people driving and even walking around, those whose job it is to courier drugs and money from one place to another are going to become more exposed. In the words of Mr. Bodner, “When there’s less hay in the haystack, it’s easier to find the needle.”

            Due to breakdowns in distribution systems that include manufacturing centers and legitimate “front” businesses, drug peddlers nationwide have been forced to stockpile larger amounts of drugs and money, whereas during normal times they limit the amount of product or cash in any one location at any given time. This has led to larger seizures coast to coast.

            Not surprisingly, this “new normal” has led to a sharp uptick in prices from the top to the bottom of the trade. Bodner reports that the price for a pound of methamphetamine has risen in California from $1,000 to $2,000 a pound. Prices for cocaine, marijuana and heroin have also increased across the nation.

            I guess its true what I keep hearing on CNN. We really are all in this thing together. And nobody is immune from the ravages of COVID-19.