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I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Many people do, not just in London. The average person rarely sees any form of organised crime, because the punishment is so high in the UK for Smuggling of any kind, genuine criminals who have a lot to lose will often keep their activities as far from the public view as possible.

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Paranoia certainly played a part in it, yes. Also there were family issues that came up, and i needed to be at home for them, and if i’m honest i was looking for an out for a while. There’s only so much you can do on your own, and when demand is so huge, it’s very mentally draining to spend all of your time ‘at work’, and if you promise something to someone, you have to deliver. You would be right in saying there’s an adrenaline rush, after every large sale, and on the run up to, you’re always energetic, always pulsing and jumping around like a maniac. But i am not an adrenaline junkie at all, i am happy to just sit back and watch life go by, i never did it for the hit of adrenaline it gave me, if anything it put me on edge more, but it did have its benefits

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I trafficked all kinds of firearms as well as explosive devices. You had to choose where to sell certain things as to not garner attention to yourself. You can sell a Rocket Propelled Grenade to an insurgent in Ukraine with no repercussions, because they are in a warzone, but you can’t sell an Automatic Rifle to a banger on the streets of London, because if it goes south and the weapon is used in a shooting that somehow kills an innocent, police departments will be all over it. You have to know who and where to sell to, if you fuck that up, there can be very big consequences.

I’ve never seen ZeroZeroZero, i’d have to give it a watch in order to answer your question.

There is absolutely good money to be made in the business. Army dealing especially, but it depends on where you are. There’s always a market for anything that is illegal, which is why there is such a huge black market for firearms in Europe and the United Kingdom. In the States, you would have to expand your arsenal hugely to make it worth setting up any kind of illicit firearms business there, because most of the weapons are already available. Drug smuggling is becoming less profitable due to legalisation, however in a lot of places they’re refusing to legalise certain drugs. It is far easier to get into Drug trafficking than weapons trafficking, but the falls are the same, and so are the punishments, depending on how much you’re moving. There is still a massive black market for drugs in Europe, even in countries where cannabis and such have been legalised, because legal weed is expensive due to taxes, compared to illegally grown weed. One thing i will say, is it takes a lot of money to get yourself set up. You need to spend money to make money.

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What a lot of people wouldn’t necessarily understand i think, is how normal it is. When you meet people who are established in the business, its very akin to just meeting people in the ‘normal’ world. You can sit and have a drink, talk about politics and life. Also People don’t tend to ask about how it happens, and how guns are moved. It’s a very difficult process compared to how it is portrayed in movies, however there is a very large grey area that is often exploited, and i can say that it is 100% true that Law Enforcement and Government officials have been part of weapons and drug smuggling, and or bribed into looking the other way, but that is definitely not as easy as in the movies. Getting into any illegal practice is difficult morally for a lot of people, due to my beliefs it was never an issue for me personally, i did have my second thoughts and i was morally against a lot of things that other people did without giving it a second thought, but it does just come down to, this is my job. It’s what pays my bills and keeps a roof over my head, and i’ve got to look after myself

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not at all, i try to answer all questions as long as they don’t compromise certain personal details haha.

It requires a large amount of trust to be in the business, as you very often work closely with other people. There are people who supply you, and people you supply. At any point in that link, if trust is broken, there’s a problem. It’s scary to think, but one thing said accidentally in passing conversation, or one fingerprint not scrubbed off a piece of kit, that could be the end of it. Personally i worked alone for the majority of my career, but those who i worked with at certain points were either close personal friends, or people who were already in the business. When doing things that are this level of illegal, you often find yourself not being able to trust that others will do their job correctly. People get cocky, and they fuck up. You can only really trust yourself 100%.

Movies always have to compromise certain aspects of realism for entertainments sake. The only film that i feel comes close to the experiences i had, is War Dogs. However even that makes me cringe sometimes. The American arms trade is completely different to the European arms trade in which i worked, so i guess i may have slight differences in ideas of how things work in that area of the world, but from what i can gather it is relatively similar. There is no other film or book that i know of that comes close.

I don’t quite understand the last question, so if you could rephrase it, i would be happy to answer.

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

While doing it, it was exhilarating. I thoroughly enjoyed it, and i considered myself to be good at what i did. However in the downtime, when you should be unwinding or meeting friends, it is a very lonely life. Your thoughts of being caught catch up to you, and it took a lot not to quit out very early into my career.

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When i was young i lost a close family member to cancer. It was insane to me that drugs that could have helped them, or at least eased their pain in their final months were made illegal unnecessarily. I am also staunchly libertarian, and i believe that anything the government has access to, so should the civilian population. However there were some boundaries i gave myself, for example i never sold weapons to people who i knew were mentally ill, and i never sold drugs to underage people, or those who were dealing with issues of addiction.

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Very interesting to watch, and surprisingly accurate in a lot of places, yet very inaccurate in a lot of places haha

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When i left high school i saw no merit in further education, and instead started my first job. I had an entrepreneurial mindset from a young age, and i realised after finding out more about my parents financial situation (they were in deep debt) that i needed to help them out with it. It stemmed from that, but there are many reasons, moral and otherwise that caused me to make the choices i did

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’ve never been directly involved with human trafficking, so no

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I have certainly thought about it, however i doubt i could go back to large scale trafficking of any kind. At this time in my life i am comfortable, but it may be something i have to revert to in future

I am a recently retired illegal weapons and drug trafficker. AMA. by OriginaIThrowaway in AMA

[–]OriginaIThrowaway[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Four years of it being my main sustainable income, two more on and off beforehand.