MEXICO CITY (AP) 鈥� A Mexican fisheries industry leader who complained of drug cartel extortion and illegal fishing was shot to death in the northern border state of Baja California, authorities said Tuesday.
Unidentified gunmen killed Minerva P茅rez, the head of the state鈥檚 fishing industry chamber, in what state prosecutor Maria Elena Andrade described as a direct assassination attack that riddled the victim with several gunshot wounds.
The killing Monday in the port city of Ensenada came just hours after P茅rez complained of widespread competition from illegal fishing.
But in the previous months P茅rez had also complained that drug cartels are extorting protection payments from fishing boats, distributors, truck drivers and even restaurants.
Andrade said, 鈥淲e are investigating all of the issues related to whether this was linked to conflicts involving fishing."
P茅rez had complained at a news conference that 鈥渋llegally fished seafood goes to the same markets as legal seafood, but without the production costs,鈥� or the environmental standards that limit net sizes to protect endangered or protected species, like sea turtles.
For example, P茅rez talked about 鈥渇ishing nets whose mesh isn't the right size.鈥� Nets with mesh that is too small or tight may sweep up juveniles or species that aren't the target.
Andrade said those complaints are part of the investigation into P茅rez's killing, but at present her earlier charges of cartel extortion are not.
鈥淲e are very strong on the issues surrounding fishing activities,鈥� Andrade said. 鈥淲e do not have any formal complaint about extortion payments.鈥�
Vanda Felbab-Brown, a senior fellow in the Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy and Technology at the Brookings Institution, said the case illustrates how unwilling the government has been to address repeated warnings about drug cartel involvement in seafood production and distribution in some parts of Mexico.
The government has been 鈥渃ompletely indifferent and deaf to pleas from within the industry 鈥� from small fishers to large industry actors to seafood processing plants 鈥� to provide protection against the cartels,鈥� Felbab-Brown said.
鈥淥ne would hope that the horrendous death of Minerva P茅rez will finally spur the government of Mexico into action,鈥� she added.
According to the Tijuana newspaper Zeta, P茅rez publicly complained earlier this year that drug cartels were demanding protection payments for every kilogram (pound) of clams, fish and other seafood bought or sold along the coast.
because they also operate smuggling activities there. And cartels in many parts of Mexico have to increase their income, demanding money from residents and business owners and threatening to kidnap or kill them if they refuse.
An employee at one seafood distribution company in Ensenada, who asked not to be quoted by name for fear of reprisals, said the extortion demands have long been common knowledge in the industry.
鈥淓veryone from the smallest fishing firm to the biggest companies鈥� are victims of gang extortion, the employee said.
It's not just seafood: Mexican gangs and other illegal actors have also .
President Andr茅s Manuel L贸pez Obrador has refused to confront the cartels under his 鈥渉ugs not bullets鈥� policy, which instead seeks to use government hand-out programs in hopes of gradually reducing the pool of people the drug gangs can recruit from.
L贸pez Obrador has insisted the policy is working despite figures released Tuesday showing his administration saw almost as many killings in June 鈥� 2,673 鈥� as in the month before he took office in December 2018, when the nationwide homicide figure stood at 2,726.
Fabiola S谩nchez, The Associated Press
