More Cocaine of the Sea: Poached Lobster and Turtle Meat

Translated by Yaqui for Borderland Beat from: ZETA

Mexican Soldiers and Conapesca inspectors found the cargo in a cooler truck, in cardboard boxes.

By: Marco A Flores

More than 3 tons of lobster and sea turtle meat were seized by elements of the 67th Infantry Battalion on Sunday, September 9, at the Ejido Ajusco military post, the Ministry of National Defense said in a statement.

Lobster and Turtle meat, along with many species of mollusks and the infamous Totoaba bladders are favorites of a big black market run by organized crime groups, most often ending up in China.

The soldiers and authorities of the National Fisheries Commission carried out a review in the back of a white ice-cube truck that circulated from South to North.

In the interior they discovered lobsters that did not have the measurements allowed for their transportation, ( under-sized ) during the season  closure , reason enough to proceed with an administrative act, ie seizure. Harvested turtle meat of any kind is illegal in Mexico.

In total, the inspectors counted 83 cardboard boxes with 2, 924.84 kilograms of lobster; a total of
5, 854 lobsters still in their shell, of which 5, 224 are less than the minimum size of capture according to NOM 006a-sag / pesc-2016, determined by the environmental expert of the PGR.

They also found cardboard boxes with sea turtle meat, with a total weight of 202.96 kilos, which is regulated under NOM 0059-Semanart 2010.

According to the Sedena, it is estimated that if this product had arrived at the black market, it would yielded a total of 1,579,000-413.60 Pesos, roughly $80,000 USD.

You can read my original "Cocaine of the Sea: Totoaba Bladders" from May 6, 2028 here