The Indicator from Planet Money When cartels start to diversify
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Oct 8, 2025 Cartels are moving beyond drugs, venturing into wildlife trafficking, impacting ecosystems like never before. With issues like narco-degradation, trafficking harms both biodiversity and local environments. Recruitments driven by poverty and violence illustrate the harsh realities faced by communities. As cartels launder money through deforestation and illegal practices, the demand for both drugs and wildlife continues. The discussion also covers the fate of seized animals like capybaras, highlighting the broader implications of these criminal enterprises.
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Unexpected Capybara Seizure
- Costa Rican police seized a car containing crack, marijuana, and five capybaras, marking the country's first recorded capybara trafficking case.
- The animals were in rough shape; one died and four were rehabilitated and moved to a new habitat.
Wildlife Trade Meets Drug Cartels
- Wildlife trafficking increasingly intersects with the drug trade as cartels diversify operations into exotic animals.
- This diversification contributes to 'narco-degradation,' a form of environmental harm tied to illegal drug economies.
Cartels Fuel U.S. Drug Crisis
- Mexican cartels like Sinaloa and Jalisco dominate cocaine and fentanyl flows to the U.S., driving high overdose deaths.
- Cartels' scale and product mix have raised the transnational drug trade to new levels of harm and profit.
