Mexican soldiers. This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images]
Mexican soldiers. This image is unrelated to the article. [Getty Images]

The Mexican government has rushed 1,557 soldiers and National Guard personnel to Michoacan state — the world's largest avocado-producing region. The crisis was set off when the United States withdrew its inspectors from the area.

All Mexican avocados bound for the US market must pass inspection by US Department of Agriculture officials on the ground. On Thursday (local time), the US Embassy in Mexico announced it was suspending inspection activities in Michoacan, citing "threats targeting US interests." Washington has a standing policy of halting operations immediately whenever its inspectors face threats or the risk of attack, and this latest suspension follows that same protocol.

Michoacan is not only the heart of Mexico's avocado industry but also one of the country's most active strongholds for drug cartels and organized crime.

Mexico's avocado industry has long been accused of deep entanglement with organized crime. Cartels have repeatedly extorted protection money from growers, seized farmland by force, and kidnapped or killed people in the industry. Last November, the mayor of Uruapan — a vocal critic of cartel extortion — was shot and killed during a public event.

The US inspector withdrawal, in other words, is less a new development than the latest eruption of a security crisis that has been building in the region for years.

Mexican avocados [Getty Images]
Mexican avocados [Getty Images]

Mexico is the world's largest avocado producer. Last year it exported more than 1 million metric tons of avocados to the US, worth more than $3 billion. About two-thirds of that volume comes from Michoacan alone.

The US has pulled its inspectors before, and on that occasion roughly a week without imports was enough to send wholesale avocado prices in the US sharply higher. A prolonged inspection gap hits not only Mexican growers but American consumers at the checkout counter.

President Claudia Sheinbaum met directly with avocado producers and said she was drawing up a plan to significantly strengthen security around growing areas and packing facilities. "We will reinforce security in areas where National Guard deployment has not been sufficient," she said. The 1,557 troops now deployed are part of that plan.

The Mexican government also said it would work with Washington to bring the inspectors back as soon as possible, or replace them with Mexican government inspectors if necessary, she added.


mokiya@heraldcorp.com