"Cali's activities begin at the stage where coca leaves, purchased from Bolivian, Peruvian and Colombian farmers, are processed into powdered cocaine. The vast majority of this cocaine is destined for the US market. It reaches the US by numerous routes - by air, by sea, but mostly over land via Mexico. Once the cocaine reaches the United States, Cali has makes use of its distribution network to deliver the drugs wholesale to the retailers, typically ethnic crime gangs. Cali is thus primarily in the business of manufacturing, distributing, and wholesaling cocaine for the US market. Its competitive advantage lies in its distribution networks, which can transfer tons of illegal material through actively hostile territory (http://www.twilighthush.com/columbia.htm).".
"Cali's great strength lies in its distribution network. Finding sufficient numbers of people who are willing to risk their lives and freedom, and who will not cooperate with law enforcement agencies, is a major barrier to entry. A distribution network also requires airstrips, hidden warehouses, and corrupt officials, and these take time and money to develop. Cali's network is also highly compartmentalized at laundering the large quantities of cash it generates (http://www.twilighthush.com/masquerade/columbia.html)." Their expert embezzlement operations make them very successful. With the right management of their goods, they are able to ship them to their "customers" with minimal tribulations. Despite their minimal failure rate, this trafficking is very high risk considering the illegality of their action.
"Cali's main weakness is the legality of cocaine as compared to their competitors legal narcotics, such as tobacco, alcohol, and Valium. It faces much higher operating costs, contracts are not enforceable, and it has no access to traditional advertising media. This is slightly mitigated by the fact that it is exempt from government regulations and taxes (www.
