Last week, a tiny, new online publication finally wrote what so many reporters knew for so long but never wanted to write: that Mexico's avocado industry, which provide Americans with nearly 70 percent of the fruit's crop, is now plagued by the narcos.
The scandal is especially big in Michoacán, the heart of Mexico's avocado industry, and a state that has sent hundreds of thousands of people to OC over the past century, especially in SanTana. There, the Knights Templar cartel has not only bought up avocado groves, but is shaking down other growers with that infamous narco question: ¿Plata, o plomo? (silver, or lead?)–A bribe, or a bullet?
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The other local connection is the avocado being shake down: the Hass avocado, which comes from La Habra Heights. Oh, joy!
Read the full report here at Vocativ. Just another reminder to buy your guac from Fallbrook or Carpinteria, cabrones…
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