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Mexican organized crime and the illegal trade in totoaba maw

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Abstract

The convergence between wildlife trafficking and other serious crimes has received increasing attention within criminological studies. The present study examines how and why Mexican organized crime groups, in particular drug cartels, have shifted their operations from drug trafficking into specific parts of the illegal trade in totoaba maw. By drawing upon literature research, semi-structured interviews and official documents of the Mexican state, empirical data indicate that Mexican organized crime groups may infiltrate into the poaching and smuggling of totoaba maw as a result of a diversification process, influenced by the social context in which these groups operate. The different interactions between actors involved along the supply chain revealed that organized crime groups adapt to new illicit markets by means of corruption and violence; by establishing alliances with local fishermen and Asian criminal networks along the trafficking chain; by using their existing routes and concealment methods. Finally, in the light of this empirical evidence that infers the complexity of crime convergence, we suggest the introduction of a National Environmental Task Force in Mexico.

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Notes

  1. It is an international non-profit marine conservation organization that participates in direct action campaigns to defend wildlife, and to conserve and protect the world’s oceans from illegal exploitation and environmental destruction, operating on the high seas, as well as with the national authorities to address illegal fishing in sovereign waters. See the Official Sea Shepherd Website, available at: [https://bit.ly/3tuv8uF].

  2. Totoaba (Totoaba macdonaldi) is a protected saltwater fish and endemic to the Gulf of California, spawning in Colorado River Delta which is currently in endangered status.

  3. A saccular organ in some bony fish, made of a translucent membrane filled with gas located between the intestines and the kidney, just below the spinal cord and functions as a buoyancy aid independent of muscular activity, using the same buoyancy principle as submarines.

  4. According to the Mexican Normative, art. 420, fractions IV y V of the Federal Penal Code and 2°, fractions X of the Federal Law against Organized Crime.

  5. This factor is also observed by Boone et al. (2004) for the case of South Africa: ‘Owing to its special geopolitical position and economic opportunities, South Africa is used as the regional hub for organized crime, including drug trafficking’.

  6. Mexican marine areas have 11,122 km. of coastline, as well as 3,149,920 km2 of national maritime jurisdiction, that cover the territorial sea and the exclusive economic zone (CoNaBio 2018).

  7. For Astorga (2012), the decision of President Calderón was motivated by the need to legitimize his government after his narrow victory in the 2006 presidential election.

  8. Over the years, the UN has emphasized the process of linking wildlife crime and organized crime activities. Since resolution 2001/12 - of July 24, 2001, entitled “Illicit trafficking in protected species of wild flora and fauna” —the Economic and Social Council instructed the Secretary General about the link between environmental crimes and transnational organized crime. The document stressed that, at that time, organized crime was involved in different “forms of trafficking in protected species of wild flora and fauna”, but it was very present in various sectors that were involved, in addition to the fact that different groups of ‘organized criminals’ had diversified and had entered the market for endangered species. At the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, held in Bangkok, Thailand (United Nations 2003), the process of globalization of criminal behavior was emphasized in the significant changes in the relationships of criminal groups and the way in which they function internally, and it was recognized that, during the last decade, criminal organizations have expanded to encompass a wide variety of illegal activities, diversifying their activities, expanding the geographical scope of their operations and their spheres of action.

  9. When profits are high and the possibility of discovery and prosecution are low, criminal opportunities increase. This is especially true when law enforcement agents do not pay attention to them if they aren’t noteworthy; this was initially due to ignorance from officials that turned a blind eye to trafficking goods they had never heard of. Under this lens, it is not surprising that during the past decade environmental crimes have increased 5%; according to INTERPOL (2020), they are growing three times faster than the world GDP. Despite the intervention of authorities (C4ADS 2017), illegal fishing of totoaba maw is increasing, with some evidence suggesting totoaba fishermen are becoming even more active.

  10. The situation coincides with the literature findings that highlight that crime networks dealing with the smuggling of wildlife use the same or similar routes and modus operandi to that of drug traffickers (see e.g. van Uhm 2016; Van Uhm et al. 2021).

  11. The UNODC and PROFEPA presented the Mexico report: tools for the analysis of crimes against wildlife and forests on June 30th 2016 in the United Nations Common Headquarters in Mexico City. It must be noted that the report (2016) was issued before wildlife trade was regulated as an expression of organized crime in Mexico (2017); in fact, the report served to motivate the legal reform.

Abbreviations

AM :

Armada de México (Mexican Navy)

ASEA :

Agencia Nacional de Seguridad Industrial y de Protección al Medio Ambiente del Sector Hidrocarburos (National Agency for Industrial Safety and Environmental Protection of the Hydrocarbons Sector)

CoNaBio :

Comisión Nacional para el Conocimiento y Uso de la Biodiversidad (National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity)

FGR :

Fiscalía General de la República (General Attornney of the Republic)

GN :

Guardia Nacional (National Guard)

ICCWC :

International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime

LFcDO :

Ley Federal contra la Delincuencia Organizada (Federal Law against Organized Crime)

MP :

Ministerio Público (Public Ministry)

NGO :

Non-Governmental Organization

PCA :

Política Criminal Ambiental (Environmental Crime Policy)

PF :

Policía Federal (Federal Police)

PROFEPA :

Procuraduría Federal de Protección al Ambiente (Federal Attorney for Environmental Protection)

UN :

United Nations

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  1. INACIPE, Magisterio Nacional 113, col. y deleg. Tlalpan, CP 14000, México, DF, Mexico

    Israel Alvarado Martínez

  2. Utrecht University, Utrecht, the Netherlands

    Aitor Ibáñez Alonso

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  1. Israel Alvarado Martínez
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Correspondence to Israel Alvarado Martínez.

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Martínez, I.A., Alonso, A.I. Mexican organized crime and the illegal trade in totoaba maw. Trends Organ Crim 24, 526–546 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-021-09436-9

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