Mafioso: Bring Back The Code

If you’ve picked up the paper or noticed the $19.99 special on the Acapulco all-inclusive, you’re probably aware of the drug trade’s infiltration of the Mexican streets. These days, big sections south of the border are looking like one big Pablo Escobar New Year’s party, and it’s tearing the country apart. Gangs, crime families, capos taking killing orders at the blink of an eye, it has the making of a Hollywood movie. In all of my years on the street, I’ve never seen the game this out of control. These aren’t respectable wise guys with a code of street ethics; these are crazy bacalas with machine guns and a few kilos of coke. Any code of street ethics has been thrown out the window as the criminals of Mexico cause incredible amounts of destruction. Now more than ever, there needs to be a return to the old ways, when a code of ethics prevented such mayhem. I've taken the time to refresh the memories of those who have so clearly forgotten.

Respect the innocent

This thing is ours, so why bring in those who didn’t take the oath? I guess no one posed this question in Mexico, where no person is treated as an innocent bystander. These “businessmen” should know that violence around schools, churches and pedestrian areas is dirty business. There are some things that are off-limits, but more importantly, there are some people who are off-limits. The schoolyard where little Jimmy plays hopscotch shouldn’t be your personal office -- that’s certainly not part of the code I’m referring to. Keep the dealings to places where the only ones who get hurt are delivering the goods or delivering the dough.

Respect the employee

When employees are being mistreated in this business, you won’t find them running to human resources. Instead, you’ll probably find them at the bottom of the Gulf. That’s because kingpins in the drug game are treating their workers as expendable pawns, luring them in with a Lamborghini and repossessing it after they’re sent on a fool’s errand. An employee shouldn’t be looked at like a replaceable cafone -- he should be an investment. Take care of him and he’ll take care of you. That’s not only a code to live by, that’s the cornerstone of any successful business.

Rational vengeance

I’ve always told my guys that retaliation is a rational response. But just because “an eye for an eye” is justified, it’s still important to recognize the consequences. I know two wrongs don’t make a right, but math was never my strong subject… so screw it. Every dirty action deserves an equal reaction. But the buck stops there! In Mexico, a continual flow of vengeance is fueling a spiral of violence. Kill a man’s brother, he’ll kill your mother, and the practice continues until the dogs are six feet under. Whoever heads the dueling parties down south has a responsibility to settle the beef, because rampant retaliation is bad for business.

Drugs are a dirty business

I know narcotics are a lucrative commodity, and if you take a wrong turn in the wrong neighborhood, you know there’s a constant market for them. But just because there is green behind the white, doesn’t mean every stunad should become a seller. Don Corleone says it best in The Godfather, “Drugs, that’s a dirty business.” But you don’t have to take the word of a fictitious character, despite the fact that he’s played by Brando. You have to measure the risk versus the reward. Ruining lives and serving life sentences doesn’t seem worth the extra dollar. You really want to stay in the game? Apply for a job at Pfizer: It's just enough corruption, plus a 401K.

Slippery slope

I’m still not ready to book that Mayan Riviera cruise the wife has been bugging me about. But if the Mexican drug game self-destructs like it should, I figure I’ll be giving the travel agent a call by 2020. Excuse my pessimism, but anytime the rules are thrown out the window, any sense of order gets thrown out with it. There’s a code that must be followed, and although that code can be flexible in its interpretation, there’s certainly a limit to how far you can stray. Any business has to instill some ethics, even if that business is regrettably the drug business. Hopefully, that gets through to the numb nuts out there making headlines on Telemundo. But if it doesn’t, I might have to book that cruise sooner than later so I can tell them myself.

By Mr. Mafioso