On Monday, The Daily Signal posted an article about the role avocados are playing in the fight against Mexico’s cartels.
The article reports:
All the Republicans in California’s congressional delegation are advocating for tighter restrictions on the Mexican avocado trade in an effort to thwart Mexican drug cartels.
“Cartels should not be able to use their influence over Mexico’s avocado supply chain to game the American market. Period,” Rep. James Gallagher, R-Calif., told the Daily Signal. “Sudden import surges are driving down prices and putting American avocado production at risk. We need fair trade rules that protect lawful American growers.”
Gallagher’s statement to the Daily Signal comes days after he, alongside fellow California Republican Reps. Jay Obernolte, Ken Calvert, Young Kim, David Valadao, Darrell Issa, and Vince Fong, sent a letter to President Donald Trump’s administration urging the federal government to put an end to the potentially deadly trade.
“That’s why I penned a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, calling for reasonable and enforceable limits on avocado import surges as part of negotiations over the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA),” Gallagher continued.
As it stands, Hass avocados from the Mexican states of Michoacan and Jalisco, known as drug cartel hotspots, are allowed to be sold in the United States as long as they comply with regulations from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.
Reports estimate that around 90% of all avocados in U.S. markets come from Mexico.
In their letter, the lawmakers added that Mexican drug cartels, which have allegedly stolen avocado farms from law-abiding Mexican citizens, are now profiting from the sale of those avocados while interfering with U.S. Department of Agriculture inspections and controlling transportation routes.
To further support its argument, the letter also cited the fact that Mexico’s government has been forced to deploy its military to avocado-harvesting regions across the country.
It seems odd to be talking about avocados in relation to Mexican cartels, but this is another example of the consequences of not being self-sufficient. We are now going to have to achieve avocado independence along with energy independence.