Thread: Sources: Drug Cartels interfering with Produce Imports

Sources suggest Mexican drug cartels interfering with produce imports
Comments 2
April 22, 2011 7:41 PM

MCALLEN -- Cinco de Mayo will be here soon, and with it, lots of food, drinks and celebration.

However, the holiday, which marks the victory of Mexico’s Battle of Puebla, may be costlier this year for Americans with imported produce prices on the rise.

Inflation of fruits and vegetables has been increasing steadily due to several factors, including unseasonably colder weather and the rising cost of oil, which has been hovering around $100 per barrel, according to some agricultural experts.

The cost and lack of supply of certain imports, such as limes and avocados, also may be due in part to Mexican drug cartels charging growers and packers, limiting product supply and hijacking shipping trucks.

In a Christian Science Monitor article earlier this month, drug traffickers were directly blamed for the hike in lime prices in December and January in Mexico City.

The Tamayo family, farmers in the state of Michoacán, forks over 800 pesos (about $66) per shipment of limes headed for Mexico City to gang members, according to the article.

“All packing companies pay the money,â€

mexico is owned by the cartels, when will our government get it?? Stop doing business with them!!! Stop buying anything from mexico!

Why would we import produce from them if we have tens of millions of their "hard workers" here doing jobs American "won't" do? You know, like picking lettuce and tomatoes? Oh wait, scratch that, they don't want that work, they're working in service and construction jobs.