(NewsNation) — Fishermen in the Santa Clara Gulf have long made their living by catching jellyfish and exporting them to Asia. Now, the Sinaloa Cartel is fighting for a piece of the business.
According to a report from The Daily Beast, “heavily armed cartel members” are threatening fishermen and making sure no one in the area goes out to fish. The criminal organization has even gone a step further, reportedly burning some distribution trucks so people aren’t able to buy from anyone but the cartel.
The intimidation tactics mark a continuation of a disturbing trend with the cartel using fear to gain control of other industries in Mexico.
Their influence has grown exponentially in recent years and now includes some of the country’s main industries, including avocado farms, petroleum trade, even local family restaurants, according to retired ICE and Homeland Security Investigations officer Victor Avila.
Those activities are not just lucrative; they also allow the cartel to keep a pulse on everything happening across Mexico.
“It’s about power and control,” Avila said. “They have influence in the political world, in the law enforcement world, in the media as well.”
This all comes as Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador maintains his country is not to blame for the fentanyl crisis. NewsNation reached out to the Mexican government about the cartels’ latest endeavors but haven’t heard back.
Cartels have previously used exotic animal smuggling in China to get precursor chemicals to make fentanyl over in Mexico.
Avila said it isn’t out of the realm of possibility that products being used in the jellyfish industry — like the salt products needed to dry the creatures out — could transport drugs as a salt solution across the border.
