Status: 02/14/2022 10:00 a.m
The US is no longer importing avocados from Mexico – a US security inspector had received a threatening phone call. The lucrative business with the fruit has apparently been targeted by the drug cartels.
According to its own statements, the world’s largest avocado producer, Mexico, is no longer allowed to deliver avocados to the USA “until further notice”. According to a statement from the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture, the northern neighboring state stopped imports after a US animal and plant health inspector in the Mexican state of Michoacán received a threatening phone call.
In 2019, the US Department of Agriculture raised concerns about the safety of its inspectors in Michoacán after a team of them were ambushed by gunmen.
US inspectors are examining avocado plantations in Mexico to ensure no pests are making their way into the United States. The import ban became known on the weekend of the Super Bowl football final, when a particularly large number of people in the USA traditionally prepare the avocado cream guacamole.
Mexico in recession
The import ban hits Mexico at a delicate time. The country is currently struggling with economic problems. Mexico slipped into recession at the end of last year. This is what economists talk about when the economy shrinks for two quarters in a row.
Last week, the Mexican central bank raised the key interest rate to six percent due to high inflation. It was the sixth increase in a row. In Mexico, the annualized inflation rate had recently risen to more than seven percent.
Turf wars between drug cartels
Mexico is the world’s largest producer of avocados. In the past six weeks, producers from Michoacán had exported 135,000 tons to the United States, according to the Department of Agriculture. Around 1.5 million tons of avocados are harvested in Mexico every year.
Michoacán is the only state in Mexico that has full clearance for exports to the USA. Like the rest of the country, Michoacán suffers from many acts of violence. There, the Jalisco drug cartel delivers a turf war with other criminal gangs. The cartels and gangs are involved in drug trafficking or kidnapping and fight over distribution. The cartels have also targeted the lucrative avocado business. The Mexican government sent around 1,000 soldiers to Michoacán last week.