Not sure if this has been posted. The part of the article that really makes me upset is "The man was arrested and then granted conditional release
after paying a $600 fine". $600 fine, that's a joke!
"Mexico City police found 416 totoaba swim bladders, prized for their purported rejuvenating qualities, in passenger’s suitcasesMexican
authorities have arrested a Chinese airline passenger after a strong smell emanating from his suitcases led to the discovery that he was transporting
body parts from hundreds of endangered fish.Police at the Mexico City international airport “found 416 totoaba swim bladders in [the passenger’s]
two suitcases,” the prosecutor general’s office said in a statement on Wednesday.The totoaba’s swim bladder – an organ certain fish species
use to control their buoyancy – is prized in Chinese traditional medicine for its purported rejuvenating qualities, and can fetch up to $20,000 on
the black market.The man was arrested and then granted conditional release after paying a $600 fine, the statement said.The critically endangered
totoaba is native to the Gulf of California, off Mexico’s western coast.Authorities say drug cartels and heavily armed poachers are involved in
trafficking its swim bladder, dubbed the “cocaine of the sea”.The nets used to catch the totoaba have also contributed to the demise of another
critically endangered species, the vaquita marina, the world’s smallest porpoise. Researchers estimate just 30 of them now remain."
I'm just glad the Chinese bastard got caught. And in knowing he probably lost a ton of money that he paid for the bladders.
I wish he could have seen jail time...
Cut out his bladder and make him eat it.
John
[Edited on 4-30-2018 by John Harper]Paco Facullo - 4-30-2018 at 12:20 PM
I find it odd , why is it always something that is endangered like rhinoceros horns or tiger paws etc, why couldn't it be something like seagull
beaks or sea lion flippers ?
But then again if it was , there seagulls and sea loins would then be endangered...
You can't win over stupid superstitions. And the sad fact is most it is just to get someones dick hard. Really sad ...............BajaBlanca - 4-30-2018 at 01:43 PM
Well, perhaps conditional release means he has to stay in Mexico (good luck with that) and face a trial?
WHY is it ........................
MrBillM - 4-30-2018 at 02:03 PM
...................... That the authorities in Mexico are adept at delivering extreme (terminal) justice in dealing with political
troublemakers, but can't seem to do the same where it would be justified ?
If a few of these characters ended up as "heads in a bag" by the roadside, others might rethink their illegal occupations.
Certainly those minus their heads would not continue their misdeeds.Hook - 5-1-2018 at 07:45 AM
I'm just glad the Chinese bastard got caught. And in knowing he probably lost a ton of money that he paid for the bladders.
I wish he could have seen jail time...
It makes little difference that he was Chinese, really.
What about all the Mexicans that actually harvested the totuaba? This wasn't a clandestine Chinese fishing op. Mexicans got the money and didnt get
caught. They are still there to do this again.
The system is just completely rotten. Only money talks. I see little true conservation ethic down there. Certainly not in the fishermen nor those
"chosen" (not trained) to enforce the regs. Too much desperation forces people to do desperate things. Like rape an ocean. Like try and cross a
dangerous country and border with their families.
Think about it. This guy wasnt caught by fish and game. It was Aduana, at the border. Hundreds of illegally taken fish somehow manages to elude those
who's charge it is to enforce it.
