How do drug smugglers pay back the cartel when busted US Law Enforcement?

Question

I read recently of smugglers busted with $18 million worth of meth hidden in a vegetable shipment. It was around 16 tons. For the smugglers, Aside from of going to prison, are the smugglers indebted to the cartel or do the cartels see it as a cost of doing business?

In: Economics

Answer 1

People are terrified of cartels, and it’s not because they forgive a lot of debts. That being said, in many cases the cartels were paid in full for the meth by the smugglers, so it’s the smugglers that assume the financial and legal risk when they try to bring it across the border.