Denver, The fallen queen of smuggling ? Options

[Nath]

Feral Cities, p.11
[...] it's no wonder Chicago is one of the prime smuggling hubs on the continent, rivaled only by Miami in the Carib League and New Orleans in the CAS.

See ? No mention of Denver, the good old T-Bird capital of smuggling. Back in the days, I remember Target:Smuggler Havens (2059) described smuggling routes in North America with almost no reference to Denver alleged central role. Later, I thought that Ghostwalker authority could make polices cooperation a bit more efficient, and have them busting down the smuggling rings in Denver.

So, has Denver lost its place as the smuggling hot spot, and had the event been covered somewhere I missed ? The Denver SR Missions ? The upcoming Vice book ?

[Fix-it]

I doubt it. I would assume, looking at a map, that most smuggling goes through Denver to get to Chicago. It was more likely meant that it's now easier to smuggle east through Chicago and the Great lakes now that the military isn't watching the border, and you're less likely to end up as bug food.

[FlakJacket]

Didn't Ghostwalker institute a single defence force for Denver using borrowed national troops under his direct command when he claimed control of the city? Whilst you'd still have national military and law enforcement presences in each of the sectors a combined defence force that worked as a team as opposed to the old system could make it a lot harder to run T-birds through the area. It could just be an oversight or like you said something to do with a future book.

[martindv]

But as I recall he also seemed willing to tolerate smuggling so long as the t-bird jammers didn't make much waves.

[Pendaric]

And paid unto Caeser er Great Dragon.

[AllTheNothing]

Yet if I remember well in Arsenal is stated that Ghostwalker is cracking down on smuglers, which seems strange to me considering how much he has to gain by turning his blind side to them; that is, if they meet the dragon's requirements.

[Nath]

Arsenal p.4
Responding to a sudden influx of new street drugs, the Denver Zone DEfense force announced a new crackdown on smugglers and crime syndicate attempting to circumvent border patrol checkpoints, with particular focus on the vast tunnel complex left from the failed subway project of the 2050s.

I guess it ties up with the Tempo arc, with Ghostwalker targeting only this particular trade.

On the other hand, since Ghostwalker took Denver in 2061, the CAS probably secured for good control over the Aztlan sector, and the Pueblo et Ute sectors merged. The Haida National front in Tsimshian, the Rinelle in Tir Tairngire and the MPA in San Francisco are more or less out of business, and the Yucatan rebels may no longer supply themselves with the black market. Maybe also the Simone, X or Colloton administration did not turn a blind eye on awakened/metahuman armed movements like the Haeffner-Daviar administration may have been prone to.

Also

Runner's Companion p.4
Omar Chavez, widely belived to be the Sottocapo of the Chavez Mafia in Denver, died yesterday in helicopter crash over the CAS sector of Denver. The incident if under close scrutiny by both the CAA and the ZDF. Chavez was 94.

Crackdown and a gang war are more than needed to run a smuggling center out of business (it took about two years to shut down the French connection). That would just require more of fleshing out than an omission.

[Warlordtheft]

But the T-birds use the rockies to mask their routes from detection, so denver is still a good layover point. I think what was implied was that smugglers were cracked down on, but that doesn't mean it still isn't happening.

[the_dunner]

Note that the material quoted to initiate this thread is "in character" material written by ChangeAgent. It's not unreasonable to think that he might have his own reasons to neglect mentioning Denver. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Also, the Sottocapo Chavez's death had nothing to do with Ghostwalker's crack down on smuggling.

[ Spoiler ]

Those who are interested in more info, might want to consult SRM02-24 Hubris and Humility.