The Black Market: California's Syrian Cartel

The "U.S" Profiteers On Destroying Black Life, "WE" And Encourages Others To Do The Same Goddamned Thing

What I am about to expose in this piece is a lot of things. It is insulting, especially to me and those like me. It is brutal; because it is a reflection of the brutal society that is its foundation. It is potentially dangerous because there is an organized crime element involved. I do not possess the talent to adequately editorialize the myriad of hurtful things the facts of this article present, but it is the most tragic overall indictment on U.S. society that I have written to date.

That is a monumental statement.

M-o-n-u-m-e-n-t-a-l.

Mental.

The Targets of Homicide…and Genocide

Next to the gun industry, the tobacco industry is likely the most vicious in the United States. An industry that, since the inception of the United States, has exploited, targeted, lynched and murdered Black People in the United States. The vast majority of tobacco during the late 16th century was cultivated by black slave labor. Slaves planted, harvested, cured and packaged tobacco in an extremely labor intensive process. A process so brutal and hazardous that it killed its workers within a relatively short period of time.

Tobacco brought the colonists a large source of revenue that was used to pay taxes and fines, purchase slaves, and to purchase manufactured goods from England. As the colonies grew, so did their production of tobacco. Slaves were brought into the colonies to participate in tobacco farming. Free labor to make money to buy more free labor.

The tobacco industry not only has robbed Black People in the United States of their lives through the production of its products/poison, it has targeted them with those products.

We are all familiar with the “Surgeon General’s Warning” on the side of cigarette packages. Though there have been mildly different iterations of this warning, the most well known reads: “Smoking Causes Lung Cancer, Heart Disease, Emphysema, And May Complicate Pregnancy.” The tobacco industry has a history almost a century old of targeting black communities with everything from specialized ad campaigns and concert sponsorship, to handing out “free samples” in brightly painted vans and trucks. They even make a special product, specifically to kill Black People in the United States, but I’ll get to that momentarily.

Pursuant to the aforementioned “warning” from the U.S. Surgeon General it is a fact that the demographic with the highest rate of lung cancer in the United States are “black males.” It is a fact that the demographic with the grossly disproportionate and highest rate of heart disease are “black males,” and Black People in the United States as a group. It is a fact that the demographic with the highest rate of emphysema (also known as COPD) are Black People in the United States (when the cases per 100,000 are adjusted to reflect percentage of population). And, it is a fact that the demographic with the highest rate of infant mortality are Black People in the United States; with a Black Infant in the United States being almost four times as likely to die from complications related to low birthweight as compared to European-American/white infants.

Now that homicide and genocide have been established, let us examine the murder weapon more closely.

P.C. 187-Lynched In Plain Sight

These are the findings of a 2022 research study by Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA), a research unit of Stanford Medicine, and the American Heart Association, the world’s leading voluntary organization focused on heart and brain health.

The report was a result of the Food & Drug Administration public hearings on draft rules to remove menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars from the market, and as a growing number of states and localities act to stop the sale of menthol cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products. Later that year, in November, 2022, California voters passed a ballot measure to prohibit flavored tobacco products including menthol.

Menthol cigarettes are illegal in California.

“This study is a compelling addition to the overwhelming evidence showing that tobacco companies directly target populations particularly Black communities, women and youth with menthol cigarettes, which make it easier to get hooked and are much tougher to quit than other tobacco products,” said Rose Marie Robertson, M.D., FAHA, deputy chief science and medical officer of the American Heart Association. “Nearly a century of disgraceful behavior by the tobacco companies has made clear that menthol and other flavored tobacco products threaten public health and perpetuate inequities – they should no longer be sold.”

Menthol cigarettes are used by 85% of Black people who smoke and 44% of women who smoke, compared to 30% of non-Hispanic white people who smoke. More than half of teens who begin smoking start with a menthol brand. Numerous studies have shown that the cooling sensation of menthol cigarettes makes them easier to inhale deeply, which leads to a higher dose of nicotine and a stronger addiction as compared to other cigarettes.

The study finds that disproportionately high use of menthol cigarettes by Black People in the United States (including youth) is not the result of organically evolving consumer preferences over time. Rather, it is the result of decades of high-dollar marketing campaigns explicitly targeting these populations. It is malice aforethought.

The penal code section for premeditated murder in California is Penal Code Section 187.

The Syrian Cartel

A cartel is a group of independent market participants who collude with each other in order to improve their profits, fix prices, rig bids, allocate markets, or conduct other illegal activities.

In 2012, due to the war in Syria, California started accepting Syrian “refugees.” In fact, California leads the nation in the resettlement of the refugees. Syrians already in the U.S. are allowed to stay due to their Temporary Protected Country status, a designation that allows foreign nationals currently in the U.S. to remain in the U.S.

When the Syrians arrive, they are entitled to a number of specialized aid programs such as Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) as well as traditional domestic entitlements. Additionally, many of them receive aid from religious organizations: mainly Christian. It is important to note that as a result of their Temporary Protected Country (TPC) status, they are not subject to traditional immigration approvals because return to their home country has been deemed unsafe. This is significant and troubling.

In certain venues in Southern California, mainly where there is a high concentration of black and brown people (the proverbial “underserved communities”), there is a “smoke shop” or liquor store on virtually every corner. Almost all of them are owned by Syrians; and people from that region of the world to a lesser extent. None, and I repeat, none of them are owned by Black People in the United States. In fact, they won’t even hire Black People in the United States.

No grocery stores, but liquor stores, convenience stores and smoke shops aplenty.

I find it puzzling that these so-called “refugees,” almost exclusively, operate establishments of vice. I am most intrigued by the fact that given their special immigration status, which waives traditional approvals, they are able to obtain liquor licenses so prolifically. One of the most difficult things in the country to obtain is a liquor license and it’s been that way a long, long time; since Prohibition. If you are a Black Person in the United States it is damn near impossible (for a plethora of reasons).

The Persecuted

On July 17, 2014, Eric Garner, a 43-year-old Black Man in the United States, was killed in the New York City borough of Staten Island by Daniel Pantaleo, a New York City Police Department (NYPD) officer, after the latter put him in a prohibited chokehold while arresting him. Though I realize such events happen to us with such frequency that it is numbing “white noise” to many, it was a case that garnered (no pun intended) national attention. Perhaps you remember it. If not, worry not as I will take it upon myself to refresh your memory.

NYPD officers approached Garner on July 17 on suspicion of selling single cigarettes from packs without tax stamps. Federal law, (Penal Code Section 308 2009 Tobacco Control Act (Federal) 21 U.S.C. § 387, et seq.) specifically prohibits the sale of single cigarettes. Cigarettes are required to be sold in quantities of no less than 20. The sale of loose cigarettes was outlawed because of “loosies” potential appeal to children. Loosies are commonly found in “underserved communities.” The high cost of cigarettes due to increased taxation has been blamed for increased sales of loosies.

After Garner told the police that he was tired of being harassed and that he was not selling cigarettes, the officers attempted to arrest Garner. When Pantaleo placed his hands on Garner, Garner pulled his arms away. Pantaleo then placed his arm around Garner's neck and wrestled him to the ground. With multiple officers pinning him down, Garner repeated the words "I can't breathe" 11 times while lying face down on the sidewalk. After Garner lost consciousness, he remained lying on the sidewalk for seven minutes while the officers waited for an ambulance to arrive. Garner was pronounced dead at an area hospital approximately one hour later.

“I can’t breathe", how ominous; particularly in light of the subject matter.

The Syrian refugee resettlement efforts were mostly initiated by Barack Obama due to the “persecution” that they were suffering in their homeland. Oddly enough, exacerbated by a war that Obama helped foment. Yet, these “persecuted” people are now persecuting my people. There is no price to be paid for persecuting my people and the persecutors know it; in fact, they will likely be rewarded for doing so.

When the prohibition of menthol cigarettes took place in 2022, I applauded the law. The R.J. Reynolds company has killed hundreds of thousands of my people with menthol cigarettes. In fact, one brand in particular, “Newport” is known as the “Black Cigarette.” Given my awareness of the law I was stunned about six months ago, as I sat in my vehicle at a strip mall in a town that I often conduct business in.

As I sat in my vehicle listening to NPR, I saw an Alkebulanian brother walking out of a rather crummy looking liquor store nearby. It was a warm day out, and he was grinning from ear to ear. He said hello to me and I responded by stating “how are you, brother?” What he said blew me away, literally. He said “Man! The Aye-rabs got dem’ Newport’s man! Real Newport’s!” You would have thought it was Kwanzaa.

I was mortified.

For the past six months, I have conducted an undercover sting operation in which I have witnessed these loosies being sold. I have even purchased them myself and secured both audio/video evidence of the transactions. It is happening over a significant geographic area at multiple stores.

What stuns me most is that the proprietors make no attempt to hide it. Their own video surveillance indicts them and they do it from the time they open, until the time they close. Clearly they have no regard for the people they are poisoning, the law or any fear of being held accountable. Yet, Mr. Garner was killed for, allegedly, doing the same thing.

Not only are these “persecuted” thugs violating State Law by selling the prohibited, illegal contraband, they are violating multiple federal laws. In fact, they may be flirting with RICO violations. Given that the cigarettes are illegal in the state, that means they are being acquired out of state. Since cigarettes are classified as a drug, that means interstate transport of a controlled substance; also known as drug trafficking.

The sale or transporting of controlled substances is a felony offense in California. HSC §11352 sets the basic penalty for conviction at three, four, or five years in prison.

The average price for a pack of cigarettes in California is about $12. The Syrian cartel sells the regular loosie cigarettes (the kind white boys smoke) for seventy-five cents to a dollar apiece. They sell the Newport’s for two-dollars apiece. Math translation: $40.00 a pack; on top of killing the exploited.

Epilogue

During my investigation I witnessed other questionable activities regarding EBT purchases such as allowing the purchase of nonfood items. Including pet foods, soaps, paper products, household supplies, vitamins and medicines and, indeed, alcohol and tobacco products. As I have wound down my investigation, along with trying to figure out my plan of attack, I made the decision to confront several of the store owners.

For whatever reason, many of these Syrian store owners adopt the name “Sam” (perhaps that is an inside joke for Syrian-American). One of the owners I confronted goes by that very moniker “Sam". I asked him why he did not hire Black People in the United States at his numerous stores. His response was “because they don’t want to work. They don’t want to do nothing but sit on their ass, collect the welfare and the EBT and smoke weed.” He said it without rancor and was quite matter-of-fact. I turned around without uttering a word and walked out.

My final interaction with an owner was a week ago. I informed him that selling single cigarettes was illegal. I told him that he was targeting black people and he was fully aware that menthol cigarettes were illegal. I told him he was committing a crime that was harmful to people. I asked him to cease and desist or I intended to report him to authorities.

He told me: “fuck you.”

Words he will regret.