Kidney Exchange in Latin America and the Caribbean

 Kidney exchange isn't yet thriving in Latin America, but the basic infrastructure is in place. It would make a lot of sense to jumpstart kidney exchange by allowing cross border exchange, so that there would be a large enough pool of patient-donor pairs to make finding a match easy. Here's an article surveying the member countries of the Latin America and Caribbean Transplant Society.

Bastos, Juliana, David José de Barros Machado, Raquel Megale Moreira, Gustavo Fernandes Ferreira, and Elias David-Neto. "Kidney Paired Donation in Latin America and the Caribbean: An Update." Transplantation 108, no. 6 (2024): 1257-1258.

"we assess the situation of KPD in the countries affiliated with the Latin America and Caribbean Transplant Society (STALYC).

  

"Guatemala was the first country to publish a scientific report on KPD in 2018,8 with 4 kidney paired transplants performed between 2010 and 2017.

"Two reports from Argentina on local news websites reported 2-way exchanges involving 2 pairs in 20159 and 2018.10

"Costa Rica published a 2-way exchange on the hospital’s social media page in 2016,11 whereas a 2-way exchange transplantation was performed in Brazil in 2020.12

"Mexico is leading the reported KPD activity with a first experience involving 4 pairs in a chain beginning with an altruistic donor13 reported in 2019. A more recent publication reported on 22 pairs transplanted with longer chains and excellent results.14

"It is interesting to note that there are 6 countries—Panama, Ecuador, Venezuela, Peru, Chile, and Paraguay—with laws explicitly permitting KPD. Thus far, there has not been a report on KPD in those countries, which is likely due to the relatively recent publication of these legislations, all of which occurred after 2010.

...

"A recent publication has shed light on the potential of KPD in low-to-middle income countries (LMICs), strongly advocating for the promotion and encouragement of KPD programs, including considerations of cost advantages.17 Of additional relevance, valuable recommendations on initiating KPD programs in LMICs include starting with smaller chains, considering simultaneous surgeries, and implementing effective organ transport strategies.17 By adopting these strategies, LMICs can address compatibility issues and enhance their organ transplantation capabilities.

"Considering that KT is the superior and more cost-effective treatment option for patients with CKD, it is puzzling that the initiation of KPD programs remains limited in a region primarily composed of LMICs. Although some countries may have implemented KPD programs without publication, genuinely active programs beyond Mexico remain missing. It is crucial to emphasize that in most of these countries, deceased donor transplantation also falls significantly short of estimated needs.3,7 The entire infrastructure surrounding transplantation, including both living and deceased donors, continues to require substantial improvements. Particularly for KPD, initiatives such as educational campaigns for physicians, recipients, and donors, as well as investments in logistics and software in addition to a legal framework, need to be encouraged. Similar to KPD programs in Europe,5,18 collaborative efforts across countries could benefit smaller countries. Transplant societies, including STALYC, could play a vital role in supporting the advancement of paired donation, ensuring improved access to transplantation for their populations, especially with living donors."

Mexico’s Law Suit Against US Gun Dealers

U.S. gun dealers are protected against lawsuits stemming from crimes committed by their customers. by the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), But that law doesn't protect them from lawsuits resulting from their own actions, and a U.S. judge has permitted a suit by Mexico to go forward which accuses five Arizona gun dealers of violating American laws.

Law.com has the story:, 

Federal Court in Arizona Allows Mexico’s Case Against US Gun Dealers to Proceed. The federal gun industry shield law should not keep the suit from moving forward, U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Márquez ruled. by Amy Guthrie 

"A federal district court judge in Arizona has ruled that a lawsuit filed by the government of Mexico against five Arizona firearm dealers alleged to be engaging in weapons trafficking should be allowed to proceed.

"U.S. District Court Judge Rosemary Márquez held that the federal gun industry shield law, the Protection of Lawful Commerce in Arms Act (PLCAA), should not prevent the suit from advancing. 

...

"The complaint “adequately alleges that defendants’ knowing violation of firearm-specific statutes proximately caused plaintiff’s injuries for purposes of the predicate exception to the PLCAA,” she wrote in her ruling, dated March 22.

"Mexico’s lawsuit seeks to hold the dealers accountable for “reckless and unlawful business practices,” alleging they facilitated gun trafficking across the border into Mexico and contributed to gun violence in that country. "

Prison gangs, in Latin America and in the U.S.

 It's one thing to be able to capture and confine prisoners. When gangs are involved, it's quite another thing to control the prisons, or the ability of prisoners to continue to control gang activity outside of prison.

The NYT has the story, from Latin America:

In Latin America, Guards Don’t Control Prisons, Gangs Do. Intended to fight crime, Latin American prisons have instead become safe havens and recruitment centers for gangs, fueling a surge in violence. By Maria Abi-Habib, Annie Correal and Jack Nicas

"Inside prisons across Latin America, criminal groups exercise unchallenged authority over prisoners, extracting money from them to buy protection or basic necessities, like food.

"The prisons also act as a safe haven of sorts for incarcerated criminal leaders to remotely run their criminal enterprises on the outside, ordering killings, orchestrating the smuggling of drugs to the United States and Europe and directing kidnappings and extortion of local businesses.

"When officials attempt to curtail the power criminal groups exercise from behind bars, their leaders often deploy members on the outside to push back.

“The principal center of gravity, the nexus of control of organized crime, lies within the prison compounds,” said Mario Pazmiño, a retired colonel and former director of intelligence for Ecuador’s Army, and an analyst on security matters.

“That’s where let’s say the management positions are, the command positions,” he added. “It is where they give the orders and dispensations for gangs to terrorize the country.”

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I wrote a related post in November (see below) about a Brazilian prison gang, and received an illuminating email from Professor David Skarbek of Brown University, saying

"I enjoyed your blog post about the PPC Brazilian prison gang. I thought that you might be interested to know that the same phenomenon exists in the US as well. I'm attaching a piece I published in the American Political Science Review on the Mexican Mafia in Southern California."

Here's the link to that article:

Skarbek, David. "Governance and prison gangs." American Political Science Review 105, no. 4 (2011): 702-716.

Abstract: How can people who lack access to effective government institutions establish property rights and facilitate exchange? The illegal narcotics trade in Los Angeles has flourished despite its inability to rely on state-based formal institutions of governance. An alternative system of governance has emerged from an unexpected source—behind bars. The Mexican Mafia prison gang can extort drug dealers on the street because they wield substantial control over inmates in the county jail system and because drug dealers anticipate future incarceration. The gang's ability to extract resources creates incentives for them to provide governance institutions that mitigate market failures among Hispanic drug-dealing street gangs, including enforcing deals, protecting property rights, and adjudicating disputes. Evidence collected from federal indictments and other legal documents related to the Mexican Mafia prison gang and numerous street gangs supports this claim.

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Earlier

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Balance of violence: prison-based criminal cartels, the case of Brazil's PCC.

Guns and drugs on the U.S. Mexico border

 Here are two stories about some of the illegal traffic on the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

First, the war on drugs is fought with American guns on both sides:

The NY Times has the story:

Appeals Court Revives Mexico’s Lawsuit Against Gunmakers. The decision, which is likely to be appealed, is one of the most significant setbacks for the gun industry since passage of a federal law that provided immunity from some lawsuits.  By Glenn Thrush  Jan. 22, 2024

"A federal appeals panel in Boston ruled on Monday that a $10 billion lawsuit filed by Mexico against U.S. gun manufacturers whose weapons are used by drug cartels can proceed, reversing a lower court that had dismissed the case.

"The decision, which is likely to be appealed, is one of the most significant setbacks for gunmakers since passage of a federal law nearly two decades ago that has provided immunity from lawsuits brought by the families of people killed and injured by their weapons.

"Mexico, in an attempt to challenge the reach of that law, sued six manufacturers in 2021, including Smith & Wesson, Glock and Ruger. It contended that the companies should be held liable for the trafficking of a half-million guns across the border a year, some of which were used in murders.

...

" lawyers for Mexico, assisted by U.S. gun control groups, claimed that the companies “aided and abetted the knowingly unlawful downstream trafficking” of their guns into Mexico.

"Gun violence is rampant in Mexico despite its near-blanket prohibition of firearms ownership.

"About 70 to 90 percent of guns trafficked in Mexico originated in the United States, according to Everytown Law, the legal arm of the gun control group founded by the former mayor of New York Michael R. Bloomberg.

"Gun control advocates hailed the decision on Monday by a three-judge panel, describing it as a milestone in holding the gun industry accountable."

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As for drugs, it turns out that harm reduction drugs are highly controlled in Mexico, so illegal drugs also flow both ways.

Here's that story, from the Guardian:

Carriers sneak life-saving drugs over border as Mexico battles opioid deaths  People forced to bring overdose-reversal drug naloxone from US, as critics accuse Mexican government of creating shortage. by Thomas Graham in Tijuana, Tue 23 Jan 2024 

"Every day, people cross the US-Mexico border with drugs – but not all of them are going north. Some head in the opposite direction with a hidden cargo of naloxone, a life-saving medicine that can reverse an opioid overdose but is so restricted as to be practically inaccessible in Mexico.

"This humanitarian contraband is necessary because Mexico’s border cities have their own problems with opioid use – problems that activists and researchers say are being made more deadly by government policy.

“Mexico has long seen itself as a production and transit country, but not a place of consumption,” said Cecilia Farfán Méndez, a researcher at the University of California at San Diego. “And a lot of the conversation is still around that being a US problem – not a Mexican one.”

...

"The situation has been exacerbated by a government policy that, aside from cutting budgets for harm reduction services like PrevenCasa, has also created shortages of life-saving medicines for opioid users.

"In response to the fentanyl crisis, authorities in the US made naloxone available without a prescription. Naloxone vending machines have proliferated across the country.

"But in Mexico naloxone remains strictly controlled – despite the efforts of some senators from Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s own party, Morena, who proposed a law to declassify it.

"The president, popularly known as Amlo, has criticised naloxone, asking whether it did any more than “prolong the agony” of addicts, and questioning who stood to profit from its sale."

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Earlier:

Sunday, January 22, 2023

The trade in guns and drugs on the Mexico-US border

Kidney exchange in Mexico

 Here's a report from the journal Cirugia y Cirujanos  (Surgery and Surgeons) on the experience with kidney exchange (aka kidney paired donation) at the Central Military Hospital in Mexico City, where 

Donación renal pareada: beneficio de este programa en la tasa de trasplantes y sobrevida del injerto

Kidney paired donation: benefit of this program on the transplant rate and graft survival  by Lucino Bahena-Carrera, Héctor F. Noyola-Villalobos, Edgar E. Ramos-Díaz, Marco A. Loera-Torres, Ricardo Mendiola-Fernández y Mónica L. Razo-Padilla, Cirugia y Cirujanos 91, no. 1 (2023): 50-57.

 Abstract: 

"Objective: To demonstrate the experience since the transplant program under paired kidney donation implementation; program that increases the donation rate by 25-30% in hospitals with no inferior graft survival compared to directed living donor kidney transplantation. 

"Method: Observational, analytical, longitudinal and prospective study from December 2018 to July 2021. All G5 KDIGO chronic kidney patients who were HLA or ABO incompatible with their original donors in the pretransplant protocol and who were transplanted under the paired kidney donation program, were included. 

"Results: 22 kidney transplants were performed under this program. Survival of the graft and the patient 1 year after transplantation was 100%. The post-transplant glomerular filtration rate was 72.5 ± 17 ml/min/1.73 m2  body surface. 36.3% of hypersensitized patients were successfully transplanted. The in-hospital donation rate increased by 33.33%. 

"Conclusions: Transplantation under the kidney paired donation program constitutes a real modality of successful transplantation when there is incompatibility with the original donor. The greater use and socialization of this program can increase the country kidney transplantation rate, reducing the waiting list. Our hospital represents the largest experience published in Mexico with this transplant program

The trade in guns and drugs on the Mexico-US border

 It's well known that a lot of illegal drugs enter the U.S. over the border with Mexico.  Less well known in the U.S. is that a lot of guns cross illegally into Mexico over that border, destined for Mexican drug cartels.  

Here's a story from the Guardian:
How Texas’s gun laws allow Mexican cartels to arm themselves to the teeth by Sam Garcia.

"Despite Mexico’s well-documented high levels of violence, legally purchasing guns there is actually quite difficult. The nation of nearly 130 million people has a single store that can legally sell guns.

...

"Mexican foreign affairs ministry legal adviser Alejandro Celorio Alcántara estimates that half a million guns annually are purchased legally in the US and then brought into Mexico illegally. About 70% of guns seized in Mexico from 2014 to 2018 and submitted for tracing had originally come from the US, according to officials with the American bureau of alcohol, tobacco, firearms and explosives (ATF).

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Here's another report:

Dribs and Drabs: The Mechanics of Small Arms Trafficking from the United States

"Robust arms export licensing regimes are necessary but not sufficient for stopping small arms trafficking. Many of the traffickers studied did not apply for arms export licences or attempt to exploit licensing exemptions; they simply bypassed the licensing system entirely. At the same time, recent examples of attempted and successful diversion of authorized small arms exports highlight the continued need for rigorous licensing and post-shipment end-use monitoring.

"Arms trafficking from the United States goes well beyond gun-running to Mexico. Traffickers in the 159 cases studied shipped weapons, parts, ammunition, and accessories to at least 46 countries and foreign territories on six continents. Intended recipients of these items range from Honduran farm workers to a Finnish motorcycle gang 

"The illicit trade in parts and accessories for small arms is more significant than commonly assumed. Networks that traffic in firearms parts are among the most prolific and geographically expansive of the smuggling operations studied"

HT: Sarah Hirsch

The market for hitmen

Why are laws against hitmen more effective in most of the world than laws against drug dealers?  Yesterday's post was about a paper that models this, but that paper didn't try to look empirically at hitmen.  

The model suggests that the different availability of hitmen and heroin dealers might have something to do with how you would react if I asked you where I could buy heroin or where I could hire a murderer. In both cases I would expect  you to tell me what a bad idea that was...but you might proceed differently after that.  I think it is unlikely that you would call the police to report that I asked about buying heroin, but you might well call the police if I asked about murder. (And the police would likely react differently to the two potential calls.)

Over the course of writing our paper, I collected news stories that featured  attempts to hire a hitman, many of  which went wrong from the very beginning. The search for a hitman often ends with finding an undercover policeman.  The rest of this post consists of those news stories. (This isn't meant to substitute for serious empirical work; it's just a rouges' gallery of news stories...)

Here's an example from the U.S., where the police were immediately brought in:

‘Help me kill my wife,’ Monroe man accidentally texts to his former boss

"A 42-year-old Monroe man apparently thought he was texting a hit man when he offered to split a $1.5 million life-insurance payout for killing his wife and young daughter, according to Snohomish County prosecutors.

But the text addressed to “Shayne” was actually sent to the man’s former boss, who called 911 Tuesday evening and showed the message to sheriff’s deputies, says a statement of probable cause outlining the case against the suspect."
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Here's another:  Woman charged in Craigslist plot to kill Israeli ex-husband

"The affidavit said a person who responded to the ad contacted the FBI after meeting with Layman at a coffee shop in May. The affidavit said Layman used a PowerPoint presentation called "Operation Insecticide" and that the person who responded to the ad provided the written instructions to the FBI."
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And here's another:
Woman sentenced to prison after allegedly trying to hire hitman
"A District woman who was charged this summer with trying to hire someone to kill her estranged husband was sentenced to a year in prison Friday after she later pleaded guilty to attempted assault with a dangerous weapon.

Prosecutors say 39-year-old Brandi Myles of the District agreed to pay a man about $25,000 to kill her estranged husband ...

"The unidentified man notified authorities of Myles’s plan. Detectives then orchestrated an undercover operation in which Myles allegedly agreed to pay the man to kill her husband last November. The killing never occurred."

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and another
Oklahoma Dentist Accused of Killing Mistress' Baby Now Charged with Ordering a Hit on Mother
"KOCO News 5 reported Franklin approached an inmate being held at Oklahoma County Jail about the possibility of killing a witness in the murder case against him. The inmate was an informant for police, unbeknownst to Franklin."
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On the other hand, there are places where there are a lot of murders. Colombia was once one, when Pablo Escobar paid a bounty on policemen. Mexican journalists are now particularly vulnerable, see this NY Times story:
In Mexico, ‘It’s Easy to Kill a Journalist’

The story makes clear that journalists who run afoul of either corrupt politicians or drug gangs are often murdered.
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And in Ukraine, as told to the WSJ:
Requiem for a Hit Man
A doomed hired gun unburdens himself in a jailhouse interview that sheds light on the shadow battle between Russia and Ukraine

"Ukraine has become a magnet for hired guns as Kiev tries to fight its former master Moscow’s bid to reassert control. With a stalemate on the battlefront between Russian-backed rebels and the government, Moscow and Kiev appear to have turned to contract killings to settle scores and winnow the ranks of commanders in the war, Western diplomats say.
...
"In Kiev, many of the triggermen appear to be freelancers, moonlighting from their jobs in the Ukrainian armed forces or police, say law-enforcement officials and Western diplomats.
...
"Mr. Makhauri came to Ukraine, he said, to hunt down the agents Moscow sent to eliminate opponents abroad. He said the killings ordered by Russia came from two distinct directions—from Moscow’s federal security services, as well as the Russian-backed Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov.

“I know who to look for and to stop them before they do anything,” he said from under a mop of long black hair, speaking politely in a vernacular Russian that earned him the nickname “Zone,” referring to someone from a penal colony. “There is a small number who do this kind of thing.”
**********
And from the NY Times:
Russia Ordered a Killing That Made No Sense. Then the Assassin Started Talking.

"Assassinations happen frequently enough in Ukraine that they are often just blips in the local news cycle. In 2006, Russian President Vladimir V. Putin signed a law legalizing targeted killings abroad, and Ukrainian officials say teams of Russian hit men operate freely inside the country.

“For the intelligence services, as bad as this sounds, murdering people is just part of the work flow,” said Oleksiy Arestovych, a retired officer in Ukraine’s military intelligence service. “They go to work, it’s their job. You have a work flow, you write articles. They have a workflow, they murder people.”
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It's not clear whether the hitmen are part of a for-hire marketplace, or if they are simply employees of the politicians and drug gangs.
Judging from cases in which organized crime hitmen turn state's evidence against their bosses, hitman is a job description for some American organized crime outfits as well. See e.g.
How An Infamous Mafia Hitman Rebuilt His Identity From Scratch
Heinous Boston mob killer became government informant
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And even if you find someone who says he's a hitman, there's a good chance you are talking to a policeman:

Ex-escort gets 16 years for trying to have husband killed
By TERRY SPENCER, ASSOCIATED PRESS WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Jul 21, 2017,
"Circuit Judge Glenn Kelley imposed the sentence on Dalia Dippolito, who was convicted last month of solicitation of first-degree murder. She was recorded on video and audio in 2009 as she plotted to have Michael Dippolito killed, telling an undercover detective she was "5,000 percent sure" she wanted her husband dead."

‘$500 and he’s a ghost’: Man accused of enlisting white supremacists to kill his black neighbor
"A South Carolina man tried to enlist a white supremacist group to kill his black neighbor and burn a cross in that person’s front yard, authorities say.

Federal investigators say they learned of Brandon Cory Lecroy’s plan in March after a confidential informant told them that the 25-year-old had reached out to a white supremacist organization and said he needed help to kill his neighbor, a federal complaint says. The following day, March 20, an undercover FBI agent spoke with Lecroy, who offered payment for the job."



Amateur hour (with low quality amateurs):  Florida mom killed in case of mistaken identity in murder-for-hire love triangle

"Lopez-Ramos, 35, is accused of hiring Alexis Ramos-Rivera, 23, and his girlfriend Glorianmarie Quinones-Montes, 22, to murder the woman.

On Jan. 7 and the early morning hours of Jan. 8, the suspects planned the robbery and murder, and mistook Zengotita-Torres for their intended victim when she left a store at a shopping center Sunday night.

The suspects then followed her home, kidnapped her and forced her into her own car before driving away, Gibson said. They then made Zengotita-Torres give them her ATM card and pin number and used it to withdraw money, he said.

During the incident, Lopez-Ramos and Ramos-Rivera “realized that they had mistakenly taken the wrong person,” he said."
************

Doctor who ran a drug ring in collaboration with a motorcycle gang (and apparently succeeded in hiring a hitman from the gang)
Doctor accused of arranging wife’s killing to protect his drug ring is found dead in apparent suicide
"Kauffman, 68, of Linwood, a small town outside Atlantic City, was charged with first-degree murder this month, more than five years after his wife, local radio personality April Kauffman, was found dead inside their home. Ferdinand Augello, who prosecutors said was a co-conspirator, is also charged with first-degree murder.
...
"Prosecutors later outlined the prescription drug ring they said James Kauffman and Augello ran out of Kauffman’s office with the help of the Pagan Outlaw motorcycle gang.
...
"Augello was solicited by James Kauffman to kill his wife, and he found another man, Francis Mullholland, a cousin of a Pagan associate and a member of the drug enterprise, to do the deed, officials said.
...
"Prosecutors said they think Mullholland shot April Kauffman and was paid for the job.

"The drug enterprise, meanwhile, continued for years after the killing, until James Kauffman’s June arrest.

"Mullholland died after what officials say was an accidental overdose in 2013, NJ.com reported."
*************
Here's a case of successfully hiring a hitmen from former army colleagues:
Former Army Sniper, 2 Other Ex-Soldiers Accused of Becoming Hitmen
Published on Apr 3, 2018
"A former U.S. Army sniper and two other ex-soldiers have gone on trial in New York on charges they became contract killers for an international crime boss.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Eagan said in opening statements Tuesday that Joseph Hunter recruited the others for a cold-blooded hit on a real estate agent in the Philippines in 2012.

Defense attorneys said in their openings that evidence against them was too weak to convict them. All three have pleaded not guilty to murder conspiracy.

The case is expected to offer a window into the clandestine world of private mercenaries willing to kill for money. The trafficker has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify for the government."

More from the NY Times
New York Trial Will Explore the Secret World of Mercenary Soldiers
By ALAN FEUERAPRIL 2, 2018

"Joseph Hunter, 52, a former United States Army sergeant with Special Forces training, stands at the center of the trial, accused of planning the murder of the Filipino woman, Catherine Lee, while serving as the chief of security for a globe-trotting criminal named Paul Le Roux.

 

U.S. Reveals Criminal Boss’s Role in Capturing a Mercenary FEB. 1, 2015

In Real Life, ‘Rambo’ Ends Up as a Soldier of Misfortune, Behind Bars DEC. 20, 2014

Ex-Army Sniper Gets 20-Year Sentence in Murder-for-Hire Scheme

By Benjamin Weiser May 31, 2016

"In late 2012, as part of the sting operation, Mr. Hunter began assembling a security team for what he had been led to believe were Colombian narcotics traffickers but were actually confidential sources working under the direction of the D.E.A., the government has said. "

*********

Here's a case of a woman jailed for trying to hire her handyman to kill her husband (the handyman turned her in) now trying to hire a fellow inmate to kill the handyman:
Woman accused of hiring hit men to get out of her hit-man-related troubles
By Alex Horton March 11  (Washington Post)

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Here's the career of a prolific hitman, who seems to have been a contractor for rather than employee of drug cartels:
The Life Of One Of America’s Bloodiest Hitmen
https://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicagarrison/martinez-hitman-cartel-black-hand-mano-negra-contract-killer
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Here's the story of a successful amateur hit
Texas teen, girlfriend hired gunman to kill man's jeweler father, police say
"Nicholas Shaughnessy allegedly asked multiple people whether they would be willing to get paid to kill someone in the months before the shooting, investigators said. "
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There are scam sites that advertise hitmen:
https://allthingsvice.com/2016/05/14/the-curious-case-of-besa-mafia/
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And here's a parody site that got some serious looking inquiries and forwarded them to law enforcement: https://rentahitman.com/ 
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Here's a story of a "successful" murder, but the hitmen were caught...
A veteran pulled over to help a stuck truck. Its driver was a hit man hired to kill him. Washington Post, Sept 7, 2018, By Taylor Telford

"McFoley was a “thug of thugs,” Chitwood said, with a lengthy criminal record that showed his capacity for violence. After the road-rage incident, McFoley was charged with aggravated assault and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. He was slated to go to trial in early December 2017. To avoid going back to prison, Capt. Brian Henderson said, McFoley hired someone to take Cruz-Echevarria out.

"That’s where Benjamin Bascom came in. The 24-year-old had a reputation as a killer, Henderson said, adding that investigators have tied him to open murder cases in Orange County, Fla. Bascom and McFoley were “criminal associates,“ investigators said, and McFoley reached out over the phone, offering Bascom money to silence Cruz-Echevarria."
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Hit Men and Power: South Africa’s Leaders Are Killing One Another, NY Times, September 30, 2018, By Norimitsu Onishi and Selam Gebrekidan

"Political assassinations are rising sharply in South Africa, threatening the stability of hard-hit parts of the country and imperiling Mr. Mandela’s dream of a unified, democratic nation.

"But unlike much of the political violence that upended the country in the 1990s, the recent killings are not being driven by vicious battles between rival political parties.

"Quite the opposite: In most cases, A.N.C. officials are killing one another, hiring professional hit men to eliminate fellow party members in an all-or-nothing fight over money, turf and power, A.N.C. officials say."
*******

Polish diplomat admits ordering hit on wealthy mother of his partner
Wojciech Janowski confesses to being behind killing of billionaire after years of denial
At a 2018 trial in France for a 2014 hit. There are 10 defendents, including the two accused hitmen and an intermediary.
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July 2019 Atlantic Magazine
People Who Pay People to Kill People
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The trial of the alleged Dan Markel gunman and bag woman begins.
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Guardian, Oct 22, 2019
The five reluctant hitmen of China: group jailed over botched contract killing
Court hears job was outsourced repeatedly before fifth hitman offered to stage the death and pocket the payment

200万雇凶杀人层层转包后成10万！“杀手”与被害人演戏……判了！

GT: "2 million hired murderers will be subcontracted into 100,000! The "killer" acted with the victim... sentenced!"

someone was trying to buy a hit for 2 million yuan, but after a chain of brokers, the killer only got paid for 100k. And the killer eventually thought it was not worth it and didn't carry out the crime. It is interesting that in the end, the original buyer was sentenced for the longest time, and the sentence decreased going down the chain. You may be able to read it yourself if you use google translate: https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/87651845

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Washington Post Jan 22, 2020
Zookeeper who killed tigers and tried to have rival murdered is sentenced to 22 years in prison
"An Oklahoma City jury found him guilty of twice trying to hire hit men to kill the activist.
One of the men Maldonado-Passage tried to commission was an undercover agent for the FBI...
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2 Attorneys Arrested In Alleged Murder For Hire Plot
They're accused of hiring an undercover police officer to kill another attorney.
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Ex-Lesotho PM paid gang to murder his wife, police say
Thomas Thabane and his current wife allegedly agreed to pay hitmen $179,485 to carry out killing
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jun/11/ex-lesotho-pm-paid-gang-to-his-wife-police-say-thomas-thabane

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Washington Post, Feb. 2, 2021

A Louisiana man hired hit men to kill a woman accusing him of rape, police said. Instead, they allegedly killed his sister.    By Andrea Salcedo

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NY Times, Feb 5, 2021

N.Y.P.D. Officer Accused in Plot to Kill Husband Will Plead Guilty

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Washington Post, Feb 9, 2021

Journalists thwarted a murder-for-hire plot while reporting a story, prosecutors say

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People: (March 18, 2021): https://people.com/crime/father-ambushed-shot-9-times-knew-ex-wife-sent-hit-man/ 

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Washington Post May 10, 2021 :

A paroled murderer called himself a ‘good dude’ — before hiring a hit man to kill an ex, feds say  By 

Jaclyn Peiser

"Three months after he was released from prison on parole, Derrick D. Jackson parked his tan sedan on a residential street in Detroit and met with a man he hoped could solve a problem for him — Jackson wanted his ex-girlfriend dead, according to an affidavit.

“I just want head shots, just quick,” Jackson told the man, court documents said.

"Jackson, a convicted murderer, was looking for revenge on the woman, who lived in Ohio, claiming she stole money and drugs from him.

"He didn’t know it at the time, but the man Jackson was arranging to pay $11,000 for a murder-for-hire was an undercover special agent from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

"And the agent was wearing a wire."

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From Alex Chan:

There is this one newspaper article:

https://washingtoncitypaper.com/article/208854/straight-dope-how-many-people-get-killed-for-money-each/

that used some extrapolations with violations of "chapter 18, section 1958 of the U.S. code" (The "murder-for-hire" statute, 18 U.S.C. § 1958, was enacted as part of the Comprehensive Crime Control Act of 1984) and claimed that there are approximately 416 hits done by hitman in the US.

and an analysis of online/dark web ads: https://cina.gmu.edu/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/An-Assessment-of-Hitmen-and-Contracted-Violence-Providers-Operating-Online.pdf

Seems like there is a NYTIMES pieces commenting on it (this paper) too:

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/04/technology/can-you-hire-a-hit-man-online.html

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A Michigan woman tried to hire an assassin online at RentAHitman.com. Now, she’s going to prison. By Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post,  November 22, 2021  

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At Last, Girlfriend in House of Gucci Murder Drama Speaks Out. Sheree McLaughlin had a years-long affair with Maurizio Gucci, which gave him the courage to leave his marriage with Patrizia Reggiani. It was a decision that would get him killed.

"The story of Maurizio Gucci and his untimely death is infamous in Italy—and will soon be viewed by audiences around the world as it’s retold by director Ridley Scott in the film House of Gucci. Adam Driver plays Maurizio, and Lady Gaga portrays Patrizia, the glamorous wife who was eventually convicted of paying a hit man to have him killed. 

...

"Maurizio had been killed by a hit man as he walked up the steps of his office building in Milan. Two years later, Patrizia was arrested for hiring the killer, after a tipster went to the police. Judge Renato Samek, when issuing her sentence in November 1998 after a five-month trial, said that Maurizio had died not for who he was but for what he had: a formidable patrimony and an internationally recognized name. “Patrizia Reggiani did not intend to give these up,” said Samek, looking out over the courtroom. She was sentenced to 26 years in prison and released on parole after 18 years."

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If you got this far, you might also be interested in listening to this podcast:

Friday, February 4, 2022

Kim Krawiec interviews me about repugnance on her podcast Taboo Trades

Universal health coverage under siege from both the right and the left, in the U.S. and Mexico

Here's a commentary in The Lancet, comparing attacks on the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. and on Seguro Popular in Mexico.

A dark day for universal health coverage, by Julio Frenk, Octavio Gómez-Dantés, and Felicia Marie Knaul

"Dec 14, 2018, was a dark day for universal health coverage (UHC). To begin with, a federal judge in Texas, USA, ruled that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is unconstitutional.1 That same day, the new President of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, announced his intention to abolish the country's largest public insurance programme, known as Seguro Popular (People's Health Insurance).2 The ACA and Seguro Popular have extended health coverage to millions of previously uninsured families, most of them among the poorest in their respective countries. Signed into law in 2010, the ACA roughly halved the number of uninsured, from 46·5 million then to 26·7 million in 2016, towards the end of the Obama administration.3,  4 Following legislative approval, Seguro Popular began full-scale implementation in Mexico in 2004. Public expenditure increased to finance coverage for non-salaried workers and their families, approximately half of Mexico's total population, who were excluded from employment-based social insurance. By 2018, 53 million beneficiaries had access to 290 essential and 65 high-cost interventions.
...
"The challenge to the ACA has been headed by the right wing of the US Republican Party, whereas the attack to Seguro Popular comes mostly from the far left factions of the President's Morena party. This is an example of the way in which opposing political extremes can converge in their attack against centrist positions.
...
"Seguro Popular is one of the most thoroughly evaluated programmes in the world. A 2006 Lancet Series set out the evidence base for the design of this innovative initiative.7,  8 A comprehensive review9 published 8 years into implementation identified a large body of peer-reviewed articles, including one of the few randomised assessments of a large-scale social intervention.10 The evidence strongly points to major benefits of Seguro Popular in terms of financial protection and effective coverage,11 without labour market distortion.12 In a recent cover article on UHC, The Economist featured Seguro Popular among the most successful efforts in low-income and middle-income countries, noting how “studies suggest that Seguro Popular has drastically reduced the number of Mexicans facing catastrophic health costs and reduced infant mortality”

A television interview on kidney exchange in Mexico (video)

Here's a short video that ran on Mexican tv, with a one minute introduction in Spanish, and then 11 minutes in English with Spanish subtitles. Curiously, the recording ends abruptly just as I started to talk about the 1974 paper of Shapley and Scarf...:)





Here is an earlier post about my recent visit to Mexico:

Tuesday, May 22, 2018

Forbes Health Forum in Mexico City, May 23

Thursday, May 31, 2018

Kidney exchange takes another step forward in Mexico: Pro-Renal

Kidney exchange takes another step forward in Mexico: Pro-Renal

My recent visit was to speak about kidney transplantation in Mexico, and to raise awareness of and support for the new kidney exchange network, Pro-Renal, which has already collaborated successfully with the Alliance for Paired Donation (APD).

Kidney exchange (and international cooperation for global kidney exchange) received a lot of favorable press, here are some reports.

In Forbes Mexico:

Cada año mueren 7 millones por falta de un trasplante de riñón: Alvin E. Roth
Para el Premio Nobel, las barreras que impiden un trasplante renal deberían ser derribadas, porque los tratamientos más costosos son también los que rezagan los mejores resultados.
Jessica Martínez, mayo 23, 2018
[Google Translate: Every year 7 million die in the absence of a kidney transplant: Alvin E. Roth  ... the barriers that prevent a kidney transplant should be demolished, because the most expensive treatments are also those that lag behind the best results."
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Anuncian campaña para duplicar el número de trasplantes renales en México
mayo 24, 2018

Rafael Pardo, Mike Rees, Al Roth, Marisol Robles, Arturo Dib Kuri

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Llega a Mexico la nonacion renal pareada [Paired renal donation arrives in Mexico]
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Premio Nobel impulsa donación de órganos en México

Alvin Roth y destacados médicos lanzan la campaña 7-14-21

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Un algoritmo, para salvar vidas  [An algorithm to save lives...]

En nuestro país se realizan alrededor de 3,000 trasplantes al año: 77% vivos y 23% cadavéricos.

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Aplicarán algoritmo en México para hallar donantes de riñón
25/05/2018 05:31  XIMENA MEJÍA
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Buscan salvar vidas con algoritmo para trasplantes [They seek to save lives with an algorithm for transplants]

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 En México, con algorismos de compatibilidad se buscará donación de riñones

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Cadena de trasplantes de riñón: lo que se espera realizar pronto en México

mayo 28, 2018
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México ya tiene su ‘tinder’ para riñones BÁRBARA ANDERSON 08.06.2018

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Update: here's a story from an interview that must have been conducted during that visit that came out only in September:

ENTREVISTADOS • SEPTIEMBRE 17, 2018
Alvin Roth, Premio Nobel de Economía 2012

photos: Bruno Sánchez

Forbes Health Forum in Mexico City, May 23

I'm travelling to Mexico today, to speak about kidney exchange at a health forum sponsored by Forbes, and to meet with colleagues at Pro-Renal, the new kidney exchange program there.

Here's a brief news story:
Alvin E. Roth, el Nobel de Economía que ha salvado miles de vidas
No es médico, pero el doctor Roth ha ayudado a miles de personas a recibir un trasplante de riñón, lo que le valió un Nobel en 2012.

And here's the conference program:

FORO FORBES SALUD
May 23,
HACIENDA DE LOS MORALES, CDMX

Agenda (via Google translate)

08:30 HRS. WELCOME

MANAGING TEAM OF FORBES MEDIA LATAM

08:40 HRS. FORBES HEALTH FORUM RECOGNITION

ALFREDO QUIÑONES-HINOJOSA , "DOCTOR Q", MD, FAANS, FACS. WILLIAM J. AND CHARLES H. MAYO PROFESSOR | CHAIR, NEUROLOGIC SURGERY

Dr. Alfredo Quiñones is an example to follow. His history as a migrant in the United States is a reflection of tenacity, dedication, inspiration. He is currently one of the most recognized doctors in the United States for his contributions to neurosurgery. And it's Mexican.

09:00 HRS. INAUGURAL DISCOURSE

TBD

An economic-financial diagnosis of the sector and the challenges it faces such as increased investment in health services.

09:30 HRS. CONFERENCE.

"THE ECONOMY CURES THE HUMANS"

ALVIN E. ROTH , NOBEL PRIZE OF ECONOMY 2012

The work of Dr. Roth has allowed the realization of more than 4 thousand kidney transplants in the United States. This economist developed a "Algorithm of Compatibility" based on technology, big data and the economy applied to health that is solving two of the main public health problems in the world: chronic renal failure and incompatibility between couples of donors and recipients of transplants.

10:00 HRS. RECESS | EXPO | NETWORKING OPPORTUNITY 

10:30 HRS. PANEL. 1

"HEALTHY SOCIETY = HEALTHY ECONOMY"

Investing in health can mean big business, but above all the best practice to build a better future. The principle is basic: if we have healthy Mexicans, companies and the public sector would register a better performance and, consequently, economic activity would register better numbers. How to face costs, have the necessary infrastructure, treat chronic degenerative diseases and maintain a decent level of quality of life?

DR. DAVID KERSHENOBICH STALNIKOWITZ , DIRECTOR GENERAL OF THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND NUTRITION SALVADOR ZUBIRÁN

ÁNGELES DE GYVES , CEO OF THE CORPORATE HEALTH AND WELFARE COUNCIL

11:00 HRS. PANEL. 2

"THE DIGITAL WORLD IN HEALTH"

The patient has changed and that forces companies in the sector to adapt to the new circumstances. The digital revolution is largely responsible for this transformation. How to understand the new consumption habits? How to transmit the information to customers? This table will be aimed at understanding and applying the best techniques to know the voice of the e-patient.

JENNIFER BARBA , FOUNDER AND CEO OF FRAME CONSULTING

ALEJANDRO PAOLINI , MANAGING DIRECTOR OF SIEMENS HEALTHINEERS MESOAMÉRICA AND MEXICO

HÉCTOR VALLE MESTO , EXECUTIVE PRESIDENT OF THE MEXICAN FOUNDATION FOR HEALTH, AC

JORGE RUIZ ESCAMILLA

11:30 HRS. PANEL. 3

"HACKING HEALTH"

New forms emerge as a muscle for efficient use and maximization of resources, patient management and electronic records. Along with this, home care, mobile applications and regulatory challenges begin to be promoted. Also, the best practices of IT companies. This space will serve to know the best strategies that allow the Health Sector to capitalize on the new trends.

MARTHA GONZÁLEZ , DIRECTOR OF IBM WATSON & amp; CLOUD PLATFORM

JAVIER CORDERO , PRESIDENT OF ORACLE MEXICO

FERNANDO OLIVEROS , CEO OF MEDTRONIC

GABRIEL LOOR MD., FACC , SURGICAL DIRECTOR, LUNG TRANSPLANT PROGRAM BAYLOR AT ST. LUKE'S MEDICAL CENTER

MODERATOR : ARMANDO SANDERS , CO-FOUNDER OF GENO +

12:00 HRS. PANEL. 4

"HEALTH AS A BUSINESS AND INVESTMENT"

Health is a good investment. The Mexican Pharmaceutical Industry as a contributor to the productive capacity of the country. Multinational and Mexican companies will share their success stories and strategies to adapt to market conditions.

RODRIGO PUGA , CEO OF PFIZER MEXICO

ANA LONGORIA , CEO OF NOVARTIS MEXICO

RAFAEL GUAL , DIRECTOR GENERAL OF CANIFARMA

VLADIMIRO DE LA MORA , PRESIDENT OF GE MEXICO

MODERATOR : JUANA RAMÍREZ , FOUNDER AND PRESIDENT OF SOHIN

12:30 HRS. CONFERENCE.

"EXPONENTIAL HEALTH", ACCORDING TO SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY

RAYMOND MCCAULEY , CHAIR OF THE BIOTECH TRACK OF SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY

13:00 HRS. TIME FOR FOOD

14:30 HRS. PANEL. 5

"THE NEW FINANCING"

Pharmaeconomics, changing the health dialogue. Going from asking for "budget" and "demonstrating that health brings productivity". This space has a clear objective: to understand public finances and the impact it has on the country's fiscal balance. What are the new financing models? Topics such as investment in infrastructure, private equity and health financing models will be put on the table.

PATRICK DEVLYN , PRESIDENT OF THE CCE HEALTH COMMISSION

PABLO ESCANDÓN , PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR GENERAL OF GRUPO NADRO

FRÈDÈRIC GARCÍA , PRESIDENT OF THE EXECUTIVE BOARD OF GLOBAL COMPANIES (CEEG)

FÁTIMA MASSE , CONSULTANT IN URBAN URBAN DEVELOPMENT

ANTONIO CHEMOR RUIZ , NATIONAL COMMISSIONER OF SOCIAL PROTECTION IN HEALTH / PEOPLE'S INSURANCE

MODERATOR : GUSTAVO CANTÚ , CEO OF SEGUROS MONTERREY NEW YORK LIFE

15:00 HRS. PANEL. 6

"THE END OF THE TRADITIONAL DISTRIBUTION"

New disruptive models of distribution and access to primary health care. The customer service in the last chain of the process in the distribution of the drug is being transformed.

MAX LEONARDO , ATTORNEY GENERAL OF PHARMACIES OF SAVINGS

RICARDO MARTÍ , DIRECTOR OF WALMART FARMACIAS

15:30 HRS. CONFERENCE.

"BENEFITS OF AEROSPACE MEDICINE ON EARTH"

EMMANUEL URQUIETA, MD, MS , SENIOR RESEARCH PORTFOLIO MANAGER OF THE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR SPACE HEALTH

16:00 HRS. HEALTH VIEWED BY THE NEXT SEXENIUM

The political times are already here and, under this environment, this table will convene the links of the candidates to the Presidency of the Republic to share with the audience the great tasks that would be carried out in the next six years.

JORGE ALCOCER VARELA , REPRESENTATIVE OF ANDRÉS MANUEL LÓPEZ OBRADOR, PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE FOR THE COALITION TOGETHER WE WILL HISTORY

16:30 HRS. CLOSING

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And here's an article in the Mexican edition of Forbes describing some of the health problems faced in Mexico:

La biotecnología puede ser una cura para muchos males en México
México está enfermo: Cada año unas 100 mil personas mueren a causa de diabetes, 80 mil por infartos y 80 mil por tumores, sin embargo, la tecnología podría estar cerca de cambiar las reglas del juego. Este tema y otros se tocarán en el Foro Forbes de Salud.

Google translate:
"Biotechnology can be a cure for many ills in Mexico
Mexico is sick: Every year about 100 thousand people die from diabetes, 80 thousand from heart attacks and 80 thousand from tumors, however, technology could be close to changing the rules of the game. This theme and others will be played at the Forbes Health Forum."