THE RISE OF NARCOTECTURE

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What is it?  What is -- Narcotecture?  Narcotecture is a term used to describe the gaudy mansions, homes and burial shrines -- yes, burial shrines, built by powerful drug lords in both South America and Afghanistan using illicit drug funds.

Drug cartels have never been more powerful than they are now.  Neither can it be said have they been more dangerous.  When President Nixon created the DEA and with it, the "war on drugs," they effectively shut down the distribution channels in Columbia.  This didn't stop production, however.  They still produce copious amounts of cocaine, but they leave the distribution part to the violent cartels in Mexico.  Now, Mexico is essentially a "narco state" and the blood runs red in the streets at a swiftly moving northern current into the United States.

It's a shame that all of the money and influence these cartels garner does little more than build these Narco palaces, but it can't be understated how much gruesome, barbaric violence used to instill fear in their people make dissenting voices impossible.

If you disagree with them, they won't just kill you.  No, killing's too good for you.  No, the cartels will now behead you, dismember you and if you're lucky, they will shove your body into an oil drum along with some acid and make "soup" out of your body.  Then they will place the drum in the middle of the Tijuana streets for the rest of the town to see.

 

Clearly, having mountains of cash doesn't mean you have mountains of taste, but there is something incredibly compelling about these monstrosities. They are shoddily built, with expensive marble and tile, but meanwhile schools and infrastructure continue to sink into the dark abyss.

Then there's the aforementioned burial shrines.  Creepy is an understatement.

 

Just understand, even cartel burial shrines can be desecrated.  The following is a local shrine festooned with the body parts of Zeta hitmen.  Narcotecture. Now, you know.