Incredible contraband: 64 million TL “water cocaine” seized

When it comes to smuggling operations between the US and Mexico, fish guts probably aren’t the first thing that comes to mind. However The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) recently seized a large shipment of illegal fish guts worth approximately 64 million British pounds ($2.7 million).

In what is believed to be the second largest of its kind in terms of catch in the United States, officers working at the regional port of Nogales in Arizona discovered 110kg of gut, the organ that helps fish control their buoyancy while being smuggled into the country. reported the Daily Star.

But these were no ordinary fish intestines, and officials claimed that DNA tests showed the bladders belonged to the endangered totoaba fish, a highly sought after and valuable Chinese dish.

ENDLESS SPECIES

The Totoaba fish, a species native to the Gulf of California in Mexico, has been listed as an endangered species since 1979 under the United States Endangered Species Act.

Because they are federally protected in both the US and Mexico, they are illegal to buy, possess, transport, or sell.

But the intestines of the endangered fish are “valued in traditional Chinese medicine and as an Asian cultural delicacy,” according to CBP, and on April 13, officials at the Mariposa business facility found 270 of them preserved in a commercial shipment of frozen fish fillets. .

The black market trade in prohibited fish is a lucrative trade, and Totoaba guts are called “water cocaine” because of their high value in China.

The wealthy are reportedly willing to shell out millions of pounds for one of these dry bags.

The smuggling attempt is currently being investigated by the US Fish and Wildlife Service and Homeland Security.