A High Proportion

An academic named Edgardo Buscaglio says that 85 percent of the legal economy has been "infiltrated" by La Familia. I've not read the full report (can't find it), but I think the details here are essential. "Infiltrated" could mean a lot of different things. If that means that 85 percent of the economy is within, say, three degrees of separation from La Familia, I'm not sure that's such a surprising figure. If he means that 85 percent of the economic activity is linked to La Familia, that's a huge number. So large, in fact, that it almost defies credulity. Michoacán is responsible for 2.1 percent of Mexico's almost $900 billion GDP; by my calculations, controlling 85 percent of the economy would mean revenues of around $15 billion annually for La Familia, which strikes me as very high.