Odd Lots · Monday, September 7, 2026
Oliver Bullough explained how drug cartels balance their financial books by exporting goods, such as Caterpillar and John Deere tractors, from countries where they generate revenue. This practice, including the export of luxury goods from Europe to China, serves as a method to move value internationally in lieu of cash, effectively functioning as a form of money laundering.
“What does America make particularly well? Well, I mean, Caterpillar tractors, John Deere tractors, that's useful. Everyone wants those. You can send them south.”
“So essentially anything that is being made well in one place, whether that's Caterpillar tractors or Gucci handbags, can just be as useful a form of money as anything else.”