Article in the NYTimes today: "In Puerto Rico, Cocaine Gains Access To U.S." Apparently huge amounts of cocaine use PR as a weigh station for shipment to the continental U.S. It comes either directly to PR from South America or From the DR. In the 80's airplanes were used, now high speed craft. The drugs that remain in PR are the root of a lot of crime; although there has been an uptick in seizures there has also been a big uptick in drugs entering PR and there seems to be no real strategy to deal with it. PR had 6 the national (U.S.) murder average. Now I haven't personally experienced problem because of this, and I don't believe this should necessarily be a show stopper for those who want to live in PR, but it is yet another fact about PR.
Has anyone had a negative experience related to this drug problem?
Puerto Rico And The Cocaine Trade
My step daughter has witnessed a couple of shootouts in Ponce during heavy traffic that were later found out to be drug related.
That's how it is, yes. Once the drugs are here they're in the US and can be shipped to the mainland without having to pass customs.
A lot of violent crime is drugs related. I've never got any closer to shoot outs than hearing it form my front porch, That was already too close for comfort...
I've mentioned before in the forum that my wife's aunt and nephew were gunned down. They were murdered by a drug gang member who manned the closest drug point to where they lived.
There are also a lot of crimes committed that on the surface may not seem drug related but if you dig a little deeper or just scratch the surface you find that they are. In one way or another, drug related crimes touch the lives of a large portion of the population. It's odd that there is no work on the island and the economy is in the toilet but there are a lot of new and expensive cars on the road and the stores and restaurants are always packed.
My sincere condolences to you, Nomadlawyer and your wife! So very sad~
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