moar on the Mexican avocado racket
https://inteligencia.io/money/avocado-cartels/
In 2017, avocado imports to the United States were worth well over $2 billion—and the vast majority came from Michoacán.
As early as 2007, mobsters recognized an emerging opportunity, as Michoacán became the first state in Mexico that the U.S. Department of Agriculture allowed to send unlimited imports of avocados over the northern border.
The export market quickly blossomed. Within three years, Michoacán was sending four out of every five avocados it harvested to the U.S. These days, Mexican avocado exports to the U.S. are worth about $2.2 billion.
Avocados soon became more lucrative to Michoacán than marijuana, which drew the attention of various mafia groups, like La Familia Michoacána, and the cartel’s leader, Nazario Moreno Gonzalez.