San Pedro Prison - Income

Income

There are several sources of income for the prisoners and those who run the establishment. Embol, the Bolivian brewery who own the exclusivity rights to produce Coca-Cola in Bolivia, have a deal whereby their products are advertised and sold inside the prison and rival brands are banned. In return they provide cash, tables, chairs, and umbrellas for the grounds. Most prisoners have jobs such as messengers, hairdressers, and shopkeepers, with many profiting from the tourist trade. Many inside the prison work as tour guides or sell handmade crafts to the visitors, and tourism provides many of them with a source of income. There is also a gambling trade, with betting on the inter-section football matches being worth up to US$20,000 a year. Players are also sometimes bought and sold between teams.

Cocaine is produced inside the compound with large laboratories producing a significant amount of the drug while other inmates utilise crude processing systems in their own cells. Consequently the amount of drug use and addiction around the prison is very high. The cocaine is then trafficked outside, meaning that the prison is a large supplier of the drug. Alcohol is also widely available and its sale is an important source of income for some of those inside the prison.

Read more about this topic:  San Pedro Prison

Famous quotes containing the word income:

    Italy is such a delightful place to live in if you happen to be a man. There one may enjoy that exquisite luxury of Socialism—that true Socialism which is based not on equality of income or character, but on the equality of manners. In the democracy of the caffè or the street the great question of our life has been solved, and the brotherhood of man is a reality. But it is accomplished at the expense of the sisterhood of women.
    —E.M. (Edward Morgan)

    Happy are those who find wisdom, and those who get understanding, for her income is better than silver, and her revenue better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called happy.
    Bible: Hebrew, Proverbs 3:13-18.