5 U.S. Tourists arrested in southern Colombia while taking a tour of a cocaine lab

pedro (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 07:50:

Lowell says on Jan 24, 2009, 08:44:

What's the penalty/jail time?

Alfred E. Newman. "What. Me Worry?"

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Alma del Norte (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 09:13:

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 09:21:

Alma del Norte (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 09:26:

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 09:30:

whitewidow says on Jan 24, 2009, 09:39:

Morons. Any of you Colombians interested in taking a "crack lab" tour here in the USA ghettos?

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:00:

whitewidow says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:04:

Careful Darloup, they may be watching you....

* Isn't most of that crap available on YouTube anyways?

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:08:

adrimm (Moderator) (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:13:

Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:15:

tasco66 says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:18:

"Utilizaban una empresa fachada de turismo para atraer a los extranjeros, les cobraban gruesas sumas de dinero y luego los conducían a zonas rurales donde con algunos insumos les hacían la parodia de la elaboración de la droga"

It was not even real

http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/113-general/2674-police-...

The trouble with free elections is, you never know who is going to win (Leonid Brezhnev)

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:22:

whitewidow says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:26:

"I can't believe they let them walk. What a joke"

- DAS does not have alot of teeth to begin with it seems to me. Colombia law on the streets is pretty laxed when compared to other countries. I guess this is why drivers do not fear passing cops on the roads/highways.

* I believe homicide with a gun will bring you only 6 short years in a Colombian prison. I would get more time than that trying to sell a bag of weed here in the USA (if anybody is looking) ;)

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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Simon says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:37:

Fokin' scumbags!! They should be locked up in a Colombian jail!

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:40:

Simon says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:43:

Both!

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

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tasco66 says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:45:

Well said Simon!

The trouble with free elections is, you never know who is going to win (Leonid Brezhnev)

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manINred says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:50:

Yes, glorifying cocaine won't exactly solve the problem, but I also sorta agree with darloup ;)

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makopp5 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:52:

manINred says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:52:

exactly makopp54

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 10:57:

manINred says on Jan 24, 2009, 11:05:

Tours of cocaine labs like cocaine is some sort of treasured industry for colombia is glorifying to an extent. Though i suppose that the cocaine industry is treasured for many. Hey mate, I sitll agree with you, i'm curious about that sorta thing too!

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Simon says on Jan 24, 2009, 11:16:

Snorting poisonous powder is a nasty vice that crosses the line of decency and should not be legalized. It turns those who use it into degenerates and can quickly kill them, unlike cigarrettes which don't affect your mental health and can kill you only after decades of use.

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

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makopp5 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 11:21:

Cheers Terry says on Jan 24, 2009, 11:29:

When I finished the La Ciudad Perdida trek I was asked by my guide if I wanted to see a local coke lab. It was a short but fairly strenuous hike through the jungle.

It was very interesting to see this makeshift lab in the middle of the jungle, covered only with tarps and camo nets. It was built on a rough cement slab, but everything was quite primitive and could be moved easily if they had to. The boss had 3 other workers there running the operation. As far as I could see they were pumping out a lot of product for such a makeshift operation.

The boss took me through every step of the process right from the raw coca leaves, adding salt, soaking in gasoline plus a bunch of other chemicals until finally you have the raw filtered cocaine base ready for sale to the local paramilitary thugs.

I was there for 4 or 5 hours. Certainly not something the majority of travelers would be interested in (nor should they be) but I was quite happy to have a glimpse into this aspect of Colombia.

Cheers,
Terry

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La_Huella says on Jan 24, 2009, 12:29:

I'm not in the slightest interested in something like that but I'd like to know what the charge would be in a free country for something like that.

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 24, 2009, 12:56:

La_Huella, I don't understand your question...

Charge? The cost I paid for the tour? Or a criminal charge if there were honest police there staking it out, ready to arrest a tourist? (Which is a contradiction in terms.)

Free country? Colombia is not free? Or did you mean observing an illegal operation in a western country?

Sorry, I'm confused...

Cheers,
Terry

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 12:59:

SUERTE GRINGO says on Jan 24, 2009, 13:39:

I would personally be interested in taking a private tour of a cocaine lab in Colombia it would be very educational.

“If you're gonna eat your crackers in bed, you're gonna have to sleep with crumbs."

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makopp5 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 13:52:

tasco66 says on Jan 24, 2009, 14:00:

Yep, the best thing is for Euros and Americans to stop taking this shit

The trouble with free elections is, you never know who is going to win (Leonid Brezhnev)

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 24, 2009, 14:52:

"... I blame the US and Europe for the violence in Colombia..."

======================================================

Funniest thing I've read here all day. That is sooooooooooo Colombian...

Cheers,
Terry

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Darloup (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 14:59:

makopp5 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 15:04:

Cheers Terry says on Jan 24, 2009, 15:20:

It's a classic Colombian attitude to never take responsibility for your own problems - it's always someone else's fault. That's how little Moma's boys talk. Conveniently ignore the corruption at every level throughout the government, military, police, etc. and blame everything on the big bad people in North America and Europe.

That's a dumb, simplistic attitude that does nothing but bring harm to Colombia. The situation is MUCH more complicated than that.

Cheers,
Terry

(The violence in Colombia started long before cocaine, but lets conveniently ignore that fact too.)

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SUERTE GRINGO says on Jan 24, 2009, 15:42:

Agree with Cheers Terry.

Guns don't kill people
Criminals with guns kill people
A line of cocaine won't kill you but if you over indulge on cocaine it may kill you
Violent criminal in Colombia with guns kill people
The bloody violence in Colombia long existed before cocaine became a hot commodity
Colombia has a violent history

and cocaine profits have greatly contributed to Colombia's infrastructure over the years and if you do away with cocaine were do you think Colombia would be today?

“If you're gonna eat your crackers in bed, you're gonna have to sleep with crumbs."

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Simon says on Jan 24, 2009, 16:47:

"Funniest thing I've read here all day. That is sooooooooooo Colombian...

Cheers,
Terry"


And blaming the drug problem only on Colombia is an attitude that is sooooooooo (US) American!

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

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Simon says on Jan 24, 2009, 16:49:

"and cocaine profits have greatly contributed to Colombia's infrastructure over the years and if you do away with cocaine were do you think Colombia would be today?"

If we did away with cocaine, Colombia would be like France because the Colombian government wouldn't have had to spend billions of dollars combatting cartels and narcoterrorists. That money would instead have gone to building a lot of needed infrastructure (homes, schools, hospitals, etc).

"Just an honest, decent Colombian trying to do the right thing."--Simon

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 24, 2009, 16:55:

"... And blaming the drug problem only on Colombia is an attitude that is sooooooooo (US) American!..."

================================================================

Simon, if you're going to try and contribute to a discussion then at least make the effort to read the posts. I said the situation is MUCH more complicated than that.

Cheers,
Terry

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Alma del Norte (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 17:07:

makopp5 (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 24, 2009, 17:46:

whitewidow says on Jan 24, 2009, 19:17:

Thanks Robi for speaking the truth about "Narcoturismo"... once again...

"I recognize that the US has done a very good job with the Plan Colombia"

- Dude, are you stoned or stupid?

I'm no doper! I just play one on TV.

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 24, 2009, 20:38:

Robi: Great input, as usual.

Makopp5: So long as there are people like Darloup, you, and the rest of the crybabies here who always point fingers instead of taking responsibility like adults then Colombia will never be able to pull itself out of the mess it's in.

As much as people you, Darloup, Simon, and rest of the Colombian apologist here claim to love Colombia all you're doing is keeping the country in the dark ages. Time to man-up and grow a pair...

Cheers,
Terry

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La_Huella says on Jan 25, 2009, 01:03:

Colombia without cocaine wouldn't be a damn thing like France. It would be more like Afghanistan or Zimbabwe or Somalia. Only an idiot wouldn't realize this.

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lpdiver says on Jan 25, 2009, 07:08:

" I believe homicide with a gun will bring you only 6 short years in a Colombian prison."

You believe wrong my friend. And six years in a Colombian prison is anything but short.

ts

Remember what the monkey says, "Fuck money it's free"

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SUERTE GRINGO says on Jan 25, 2009, 08:02:

“If you're gonna eat your crackers in bed, you're gonna have to sleep with crumbs."

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La_Huella says on Jan 25, 2009, 09:12:

People who kill people in Colombia genereally get out in about 3 years, that's very much the truth.

And... what I was asking is, what would be the criminal charge for somebody visiting a cocaine lab? AFAIK it's stupid but not illegal to do something like that in Colombia. Could they get you for money laundering if you paid a fee to do it??

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 25, 2009, 09:30:

La_Huella, my reasoning was how could they charge a dumb tourist with anything serious? It's a coke lab. Operating the lab is a thousand times more serious than me giving someone 15,000 pesos to see the operation. It was (in my opinion) a very small risk. A much more important issue was trusting the guide and feeling comfortable that I wasn't being lead into a set-up where I was going to be robbed. I covered my ass very well in that aspect so had zero worries there either.

As a result of my traveling and my job I've been in many dicey situations and on a scale of 1 to 10 this was barely a 3. It was no big deal.

Again, it's not everyone's cup of tea - nor should it be - but in this particular situation I had time to properly prepare, thus making it no more dangerous than going to an illegal cock fight in Cuba...

Cheers,
Terry

One funny bit to the story... I had a frozen six pack of Aguila in my backpack. When we got to the lab the boss made some very funny jokes about the cold cerveza being more valuable than the coke. It was a nice ice breaker.

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RJQuilla says on Jan 25, 2009, 12:09:

Cant believe someone would go on a tour of a cladestine drug lab. Of course it is illegal but more importanly you dont know who you will encounter. FARC is funded through narcotics and the people on the tour could have walked right into being kidnapped, held for ransom, killed or whatever. Guess they were only thinking of getting high.

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 25, 2009, 12:27:

RJQuilla, who are you directing your comments too? If it was the story in the Original Post then yes, they sound like naive dummies. Thankfully for them it was a fake tour to a fake lab by fake guides, etc. so it was nothing more than a simple scam that idiot tourists fall into all over the world. They lost nothing more than some cash. No big deal, and hopefully they learned a lesson.

If you're commenting on my actions then you didn't read my post - I went into it very well prepared so my risks were minimal.

Cheers,
Terry

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Alma del Norte (☼Travelguide writer) says on Jan 25, 2009, 15:24:

manINred says on Jan 25, 2009, 20:21:

exactly. many legitimate tour operators in that neck of the woods will give you the option of seeing a coke lab. apparently the paras are quite nice there, they'll let you take pictures of them. it's not exactly an 'underground' or 'danger-ridden' operation, seeing a busted useless coke-lab. and it's not like you'll just stumble upon a major trafficking route, the paras will make sure of that.

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Cheers Terry says on Jan 25, 2009, 22:29:

manINred,

Bullseye.

Cheers,
Terry

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davidslc46 says on Jan 26, 2009, 01:35:

Personally,

I try to stay off goverments radar, Why didn't they arrange lunch with a rebel leader while they
were at it?

David

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RJQuilla says on Jan 26, 2009, 15:25:

Not aimed at you just the concept in general.

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babygirl says on Jan 26, 2009, 18:48:

White Widow...Morons. Any of you Colombians interested in taking a "crack lab" tour here in the USA ghettos?

BAAAHAHAHAhahahahaha WW! Made me literally laugh out loud!

Met a bunch of Aussies at a hostal and they were talking about doing a tour. I guess I'm old or it's the mom in me, but that was one adventure I took a BIG PASS on. JESUS.

Best quote of the week... "should I be taking this pill with wine?" Canadian Girls Kick Ass!

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