Pirates Target New Treasure: Shrimp Catches Along Mexico's Pacific Coast Seth Robbins - InSight Crime
go to original March 24, 2014

Heavily armed pirates have been hijacking shrimp catches along Mexico's Pacific Coast, perhaps the work of cartel gunmen with time on their hands, or a sign of an interruption in cocaine shipments.

According to an investigation by El Universal, around $800,000 of shrimp has been stolen from shrimpers working off the coast of the state of Sinaloa following 14 robberies during the 2013 to 2014 shrimp season - an almost five-fold increase on the three robberies reported during the 2012 to 2013 season. The pirates using go-fast boats to ambush the shrimping vessels at sea and are equipped with bullet proof vests and assault rifles.

Raul Benitez Manaut, an investigator at Mexico’s National Autonomous University, said the breakdown in the Sinaloa Cartel after the recent captures of important leaders - including boss Joaquin "El Chapo" Guzman - may be behind the increase in shrimp boat robberies and that the problem will likely escalate. He warned that authorities need to ensure that these robberies do not "begin to be become modus operandi" for armed cells within the drug cartels. According to Benitez, a shrimp price increase of 30 to 40 percent has led to it being labeled "blue gold" and may also explain the rise in robberies.

Read the rest at InSight Crime

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