Letters to the Editor
View(s):Let us not turn into a Mexico or Colombia of Asia
The decision by President Maithripala Sirisena to introduce the death penalty to drug king-pins who keep carrying on their vicious trade while in prison has received mixed reception from various quarters. Some who oppose it have their own personal agendas. Whether it’s the death penalty or life imprisonment,the ultimate punishment has to be given for drug dealing.
It is a well known fact that drug lords and hitmen such as Gonawala Sunil, Soththi Upali,Baddegane Sajneewa Wambotta, Olcott, Dhammika Amarasingha and most recently, Makandure Madush and Kanjipani Ibrahim who were captured in Dubai and extradited to Sri Lanka have the backing of their political masters.
In the circumstances it is necessary for the voting public to choose a leader who they trust will fight or at least minimize the narcotics menace in this country. Otherwise we will be the Mexico or Colombia of Asia.
It was only last Friday, July 19, the infamous Mexican drug lord “El Chapo”(Joaquin Guzman) was sentenced to life plus 30 years in Colorado. The Sinola cartel in which Chapo was the leader had the blessings of Police, politicians going up to the President of Mexico.
In Colombia the king of hell was Pablo Emilio Escobar Gaviria. In the 1970s, prior to entering the drug trade he was a thief and bodyguard, allegedly earning US$100,000 by kidnapping and holding a Medellín executive for ransom. Escobar began working for Alvaro Prieto, a contraband smuggler who operated around Medellín, aiming to fulfil a childhood ambition to have COL $1 million by the time he was 22. Escobar is known to have had a bank deposit of COL $100 million (more than US$3 million), when he turned 26.
When questioned about the essence of the cocaine business, Escobar replied with “simple: you bribe someone here, you bribe someone there, and you pay a friendly banker to help you bring the money back.” Isn’t it familiar to us Sri Lankans?
Forbes magazine estimated Escobar to be one of 227 billionaires in the world with a personal net worth of approaching US$3 billion while his Medellín Cartel controlled 80% of the global cocaine market.
While seen as an enemy of the United States and Colombian governments, Escobar was a hero to many in Medellín (especially to the poor). He was a natural at public relations and he worked to create goodwill among the poor of Colombia. A lifelong sports fan, he was credited with building football fields and multi-sports courts, as well as sponsoring children’s football. He worked hard to cultivate his Robin Hood image, and frequently distributed money through housing projects and other civic activities.
The Colombian cartels’ continuing struggles to maintain supremacy resulted in Colombia quickly becoming the world’s murder capital with 25,100 violent deaths in 1991 and 27,100 in 1992.This increased murder rate was fuelled by Escobar giving money to his hitmen as a reward for killing police officers, over 600 of whom died as a result. Escobar was killed in a gun fight in 1993.
In August 1989 Luis Carlos Galan, a journalist who was the Presidential candidate was killed by General Miguel Maza Marquis of the Colombian Army on orders given by Escobar.
I have written this in order to show the readers how cancerous this narcotics trade is.
Upali Cooray Via email