[simplicio]

Might be dated at this point, but a chapter in Freakonomics was about the economics of being a gang affiliated drug dealer in the US. The analysis there was that outside the top couple guys, the actual pay wasn't much better than just working as a fry cook or whatever, while the risk of being arrested or shot was much, much higher.

So even in criminal enterprises, I think you have to move up the distribution chain a ways to see the big $