Are Mexican avocados the world's new conflict commodity?

The fruit’s global surge in popularity has fuelled exports and attracted violent cartels to the trade in ‘green gold’

The 19 mutilated bodies, nine hanging semi-naked from a bridge in the Mexican city of Uruapan, were initially thought to be the result of a clash between rival drug gangs. But the Jalisco New Generation cartel, which claimed the murders in August, is believed to be fighting for more than drugs. It wants dominance over the local avocado trade.

Mexico is the world’s biggest producer of avocados. Exports of the “green gold” from the state of Michoacán, which produces most of Mexico’s avocados, were worth $2.4bn last year.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/2F1qiNp
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