Pacific Coast Shrimp Boats Victims of Piracy on the High Seas Murry Page - The Mazatlan Messenger
go to original October 3, 2013

The first case of piracy of a shrimp boat occurred this past Friday night. The shrimp boat “Viking,” belonging to the fleet Puerto Penasco based in Sonora was high jacked while anchored in the area known as Perihuete, located near Guasave in the state of Sinaloa.

The victims said several boats surrounded them around midnight and boarded their vessel carrying assault rifles. The hijackers offload between 1.5 and 2 tons of shrimp and the ships communication equipment before making their getaway in an unknown direction.

In the early morning hours of Monday morning the shrimp trawler “Allende 15” was hijacked in the waters near Navolato, Sinaloa. The Allende 15 is based in Mazatlán. In this case the hijackers took 1.2 tons of blue shrimp, which is the most valuable shrimp for exporting. Unlike the hijacking in Perihuete, the ship’s captain was beaten, as he pressed the ship’s alarm button.

Michel Luna said the hijackers are part of an organized group, which operates under the watchful eye of authorities and with the help of those that have access to freezers and the ability to sell such large quantities of shrimp.

Read the rest at The Mazatlan Messenger

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