Thieves hijack 13 semi-trailers with Yucatan octopus worth more than $2M USD

The trailers were transporting fresh octopus from Yucatan to multiple cities in the central zone of the country….

PROGRESO — ​​Organized crime has hit the Yucatán fishing industry and put the sector in Red Alert. In the last 30 days theives have stolen 13 trailers with octopus cargo that freezer enterprises from Progreso and Yucalpetén sent to the national market. The trailers’ cargo was destined for Mexico City, Guadalajara and Guanajuato, among other cities of the region.

In previous years there had been only one or two truck robberies, but in the recent spate there have been 13 stolen trailers. The crimes were committed on federal roads between Veracruz and Puebla, where groups of assailants aboard pickup trucks intercepted the trailers carrying the octopus; each trailer carried 25 tons valued at $3 million pesos ($157,000 USD); it was estimated that the total amount of what was stolen approaches $39 million pesos ($2.04 million USD).

According to information provided by people linked to the fishing sector, the trailer thefts began after September 19, the day that the earthquakes hit Mexico City, Puebla and Morelos, when theives also stole cargo shipments of humanitarian aid that were sent.

Shipments of octopus cargos were stopped temporarily but soon will be resumed in the custody of federal authorities. The shipments will be made in convoys protected by the Mexican Navy and the Mexican Army.

On the other hand, there is a lot of interest from Europe in acquiring large quantities of this sea product. By now the European market has already sent buyers to Yucatan looking for octopus. So far this year there were already sent to Europe 2,000 tons of octopus.

Source: yucatan.com.mx