this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2024
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me_irl
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Apparently Yucatan is cool
Only because cartels keep you safe there. Because how else would it be safe if cartels weren't earning better cash there with the tourist trash?
Cartels have to launder their money somehow, no better way than catering to Midwesterners.
That seems like a logical explanation at first, but how do you launder dirty money by offering services to tourists who bring "clean" money into the country? and wouldn't the cartels have a multiple in money from drug trades compared to the overall transactions involved in tourism?
I mean, I am not saying you are wrong, it just never occurred to me that this could be more than just a nice additional source of income...
Laundering money is usually mixing dirty cash with clean cash. So you have legit business(es) in a busy area, and you inflate the 'real' income with the 'dirty' cash. Now you've paid taxes on the dirty cash (and can put it in the bank).
oh. yeah, that makes sense! Thank you for the money laundering crash course :D
No problem. The best types of businesses for this deal with a lot of cash, and are ideally service-based. If you are selling goods, then someone could investigate and find that you aren't buying enough supplies to account for your sales. For laundering millions, real-estate and fine art are popular, since you can buy it cheap, and then inflate it pretty arbitrarily, and sell it (to yourself or a coconspirator) for a huge 'profit'.
kind of explains the art market :D
Yucatan is fucking awesome once you get away from the tourist zones. Great small towns, authentic, safe as best I can tell, strong Mayan culture. I love it.