Engineering Lifestyle
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William Miller
So, you're telling these engineers weren't kidnapped? They are working somewhere ...
rohs compliant
who died and made you the lead actor from; "Breaking Bad"????
Kidnapped engineers enslaved by drug cartels
Sylvie Barak
11/1/2012 10:45 PM EDT
Drug king pins don’t usually have much time for nerds. Unless, of course, those nerds happen to be incredibly bright engineers able to build out clandestine radio networks.
An alarming report in Wired Thursday (Nov. 1) highlighted the disturbing phenomenon of disappearing Mexican engineers, kidnapped by drug lords like the deadly Zetas to build shadow communication networks, which allow the cartels not only to communicate securely, but also to hack military radio systems.
According to the report, at least 36 engineers and technicians have been kidnapped over the past four years alone, disappearing without a trace and no word to their families.
Hidden in rocky, off-the-beaten-track terrain, powered by solar cells, “Radio Zeta” apparently thrives, despite the best efforts of the Mexican government to shut it down. Even the dismantling of over 167 illegal radio antennas last year alone did not make a dent in the organization’s capabilities.
Like a Medusa, the cartel simply stole more equipment and set up an even wider web.
Horror stories of masked gunmen hijacking radio antenna contractors from Nuevo Laredo, a border town and Zeta stronghold, an IBM engineer snatched from the wrong side of the Texas border and tales of others bundled into cars from outside their workplaces have become almost commonplace.
The Mexican government seems at a loss to help.
It’s an incredibly sorry and scary situation. But of course, kidnapping engineers is not exactly a new phenomenon. After all, weren’t the pyramids –one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world-- built by slaves?
If knowledge is power, by kidnapping engineers, the drug cartels have managed to forcibly enhance themselves from simply being a group of underworld thugs into something much, much more dangerous.
An alarming report in Wired Thursday (Nov. 1) highlighted the disturbing phenomenon of disappearing Mexican engineers, kidnapped by drug lords like the deadly Zetas to build shadow communication networks, which allow the cartels not only to communicate securely, but also to hack military radio systems.
According to the report, at least 36 engineers and technicians have been kidnapped over the past four years alone, disappearing without a trace and no word to their families.
Hidden in rocky, off-the-beaten-track terrain, powered by solar cells, “Radio Zeta” apparently thrives, despite the best efforts of the Mexican government to shut it down. Even the dismantling of over 167 illegal radio antennas last year alone did not make a dent in the organization’s capabilities.
Like a Medusa, the cartel simply stole more equipment and set up an even wider web.
Horror stories of masked gunmen hijacking radio antenna contractors from Nuevo Laredo, a border town and Zeta stronghold, an IBM engineer snatched from the wrong side of the Texas border and tales of others bundled into cars from outside their workplaces have become almost commonplace.The Mexican government seems at a loss to help.
It’s an incredibly sorry and scary situation. But of course, kidnapping engineers is not exactly a new phenomenon. After all, weren’t the pyramids –one of the greatest wonders of the ancient world-- built by slaves?
If knowledge is power, by kidnapping engineers, the drug cartels have managed to forcibly enhance themselves from simply being a group of underworld thugs into something much, much more dangerous.
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mac_droz
11/2/2012 8:27 AM EDT
As far as I recall (from one of the latest Discovery Channel programs) the pyramids were actually not build by slaves but quite well paid and well trained craftsmen.
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dylan.mcgrath
11/2/2012 10:22 AM EDT
Yeah, I think there is some debate on that. But either way, this thing with the Mexican cartels is very frightening, to say the least.
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SylvieBarak
11/2/2012 11:22 AM EDT
Whatever was the case with the ancient Egyptians... I reckon they were probably better employers than the Zetas.... It is indeed super frightening, Dylan.
I wonder if the Mexican government could start recruiting engineers itself, to fight fire with fire, so to speak?
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William Miller
5/17/2013 9:53 AM EDT
So, you're telling these engineers weren't kidnapped? They are working somewhere to be well paid. I would say everything is possible!
_______________
William - http://www.carid.com/
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EREBUS
11/2/2012 4:24 PM EDT
If they offered a cut of the take and a 401K, they could probably recruit good talent rather than kidnap them.
Just a thought.
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TanjB
11/2/2012 7:33 PM EDT
Check out Freakonomics. The drug industry pays most of its workers less than Macdonald's.
It takes CEO compensation to the limit: all for him, a bullet for everyone else.
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SylvieBarak
11/2/2012 7:54 PM EDT
Yeah, the Zetas don't seem like the socially responsible kind... why pay your pension when they could just off you and dump you by the side of the road?
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rohs compliant
11/14/2012 9:43 AM EST
who died and made you the lead actor from; "Breaking Bad"????
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seaEE
11/2/2012 9:16 PM EDT
There seems to be a lot of corruption in Mexico extending up through the police force and into the government. That may be why the "despite the best efforts of the Mexican government to shut it down" doesn't seem to be working.
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Tcat_Houser
11/13/2012 5:19 PM EST
Having lived there for 5+ years, naively believing all that was missing was a shot at a practical education.... I just 'went out to get a paper', and walked away from everything...
My 'willing students' we're blood related to the Sinola chief. They we're using my condo on the water as a safe house...
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osm3000
11/3/2012 3:00 PM EDT
Engineers are always very valuable. I actually don't see it weird that drug lords kidnap them, although this is indeed frightening.
But what really puzzles me is that why doesn't the Mexican government recruits engineers and fight back ?
I'm sure that the day of using just a police and guns have gone. There's a need for more sophisticated fight techniques I guess.
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resistion
11/3/2012 9:22 PM EDT
So sad, these engineers can't be expected to be released. So now studying communications engineering is a dangerous career path in Mexico.
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Fabio007
11/5/2012 1:59 AM EST
This problem needs a radical, holistic approach, a solution that creates a new paradigm. More of the same simply means an "arms race" as each side tries to gain an advantage over the other - and kidnapping engineers is just one step in that process. Next will be the kidnapping (or bribing) of personnel from high-tech military and intelligence facilities.
The solution: legalise drugs. Prohibition doesn't work. The debate is over, the only question remaining is the details.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/artcarden/2012/04/19/lets-be-blunt-its-time-to-end-the-drug-war/
http://www.legalisedrugs.co.uk/results.html
http://www.news.com.au/national-old/its-over-weve-lost-drugs-war-report-says/story-e6frfkvr-1226316949594
http://www.urban75.com/Drugs/drugten.html
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/28/drug-legalization-pros-cons-drug-war_n_1834417.html
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resistion
11/5/2012 11:44 PM EST
There's a point. Legalize and regulate drugs, so that everything is under control, and the drug cartels lose their business. But with their resources already, the cartels would easily become like domestic terrorists, would they not? How strong and corruption-free is the government?
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MClayton
11/5/2012 1:50 PM EST
I agree, legalize drugs, require perscriptions, and use tax revenue to treat addicts...just like we do with oxycotin. BUT street heroin is now cheaper than oxycotin. So some underground drug traffic will always exist for economic reasons. But it would be a start.
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Brian Fuller2
11/5/2012 8:29 PM EST
Yikes! That's a scary trend. My question is: "What would Gus do?"
("Breaking Bad" fans please weigh in)...
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seaEE
11/6/2012 12:49 AM EST
We might also want to legalize and regulate enslaving engineers.
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boblespam
11/6/2012 2:09 AM EST
doh !
You mean it's not already the case ?!
My Master (inBA) lied to me ?
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bougues
11/6/2012 8:14 PM EST
Can these bright people emit a signal to make it easy for the bright engineers working for the US government to track their kidnappers?
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the mountain man
11/8/2012 10:14 AM EST
Legalizing would definitely take most of the profit out of these operations and should help stem the violence. this is assuming no corruption in the government. And,instead of playing around with these people, they need to execute the leaders, and not let them live 15 years in prison going through the process.
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