Mexico News Report

You can’t make this stuff up.

Mexican and Chinese criminals have teamed up to form a new criminal organization – the “Dragon Cartel”, which is moving the “cocaine of the sea” (the swim bladder of the endangered totoaba fish) through Vancouver and other Canadian ports in exchange for fentanyl precursor chemicals.

The totoaba fish is endemic to Mexico’s Sea of Cortes (also known as the Gulf of California or the Vermilion Sea), which lies between the Mexican mainland and the Baja California peninsula.

The totoaba is endangered and has been prohibited from being fished since 1975. But that hasn’t stopped poachers from continuing to catch it.

The totoaba swim bladder is in high demand in China and elsewhere in Asia. It’s consumed as a food, and used in traditional medicine and cosmetics. Totoaba swim bladders can fetch tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram.

The totoaba trade is so lucrative that the fish is called the “cocaine of the sea”, fetching tens of thousands of dollars per kilogram.

This in turn has almost led to the extinction of another endemic Sea of Cortes species, the vaquita, a type of porpoise. Vaquitas get entangled in nets intended for the totoaba and, being mammals, they drown if they’re underwater too long. (See Can Mexico’s Vaquita Porpoise Survive?)

The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), has a recent report on this lucrative international criminal enterprise.

A CBC article, by Michelle Ghousoub, is entitled How Mexican cartels and Chinese criminal networks are moving ‘cocaine of the sea’ through Canadian ports.

Here’s how the article explains it: “Chinese organized crime networks and Mexican cartels are using Canadian ports to trade highly lucrative fish bladders for the precursor chemicals needed to produce fentanyl, according to a memo from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). It said organized criminal networks transport the fish — called totoaba — from the West Coast to China, while the chemical precursors to make toxic drugs are sent through Canadian ports.  The report from the CBSA, first obtained by Radio-Canada through a freedom of information request, said Canada is being used as a ‘transit point’ for the illegal product — though the quantity of fish passing through Canada and the amount of fentanyl precursors being exchanged for it, were not included in the report.  The document, originally published in French in October of 2024, says, ‘Chinese organized crime, in collaboration with Mexican cartels, facilitates the illicit movement of totoaba. Illicit wildlife trafficking networks are of a poly-criminal nature and engage in serious criminal behaviour.’ ”

What does “poly-criminal mean?

“Poly-criminal groups refer to networks that traffic more than one illicit commodity, such as counterfeit goods or illicit drugs.”

“The CBSA report indicates that a new criminal network known as the ‘Dragon Cartel,’ comprised of Chinese and Mexican nationals, has been created to deal specifically with totoaba trafficking. The seven-page document says western ports are a target, and that ‘people in Canada regularly engage in the illicit import, export and breeding of protected species.’ ”

Vancouver, Canada’s biggest port, is important in this criminal endeavor.

“Luis Horacio Nájera, a Mexican journalist who has investigated cartel activity, said the Vancouver port, in particular, is vulnerable to criminal activity because it connects the West Coast ports of Manzanillo [in Mexico] and Los Angeles to Asian and European markets.”

“ ‘As the world is globalized, organized crime is also globalized,’ he said.”

That’s for sure.

“ ‘This is kind of the strategic point for doing this exchange of illegal goods, and they found the opportunity, the possibility and the infrastructure to do these illegal trades in Vancouver.’ ”

“A 2023 press release from the U.S. Treasury Department also found Vancouver has become a “strategic” post for the Sinaloa cartel in the distribution of fentanyl.”

It’s difficult to find the totoaba swim bladders.

“Nájera said Canadian authorities will face an uphill battle cracking down on the totoaba trade because of the huge amount of cargo passing through ports, combined with the difficulty of identifying illegally traded bladders amid other legal fish products.” 

“ ‘It is hard because this is not cocaine, right? Cocaine is usually packed solid. It’s easily identifiable at some point. This is fish — and how do you know which fish is this or that?’ ” he said, adding the CBSA may need to invest in specialized training and infrastructure to identify smuggled products.”

“ ‘When you have a container full of tilapia or octopus or whatever among these cargoes, you can smuggle these totoaba bladders.’ ”

“According to the CBSA report, totoaba swim bladders are often smuggled alongside frozen fish and squid.”

“And while often transported in coolers and backpacks, criminal networks are expanding their methods to include smuggling them in gasoline tanks, spare tires, and hidden vehicle compartments.” 

So there is now a criminal network moving the swim bladder of an endangered fish from Mexico to China via Canada, in exchange for fentanyl. This threatens two endemic endangered species, besides the damage fentanyl does to so many people.