In Mexico, an equipped monkey died in a shootout between drug cartels

Everyone is well aware of the addiction of drug dealers to exotic animals. What is only the famous Pablo Escobar Zoo worth, the hippos from which still cause problems for Colombians. But a private menagerie is the lot of special aesthetes. Most often, representatives of cartels acquire one or more animals that they carry with them as a mascot. It was such a mascot, a spider monkey, who died on Tuesday in the Mexican state of Mexico during another mafia showdown.

11 drug dealers were killed during a prolonged shootout. The police officers who arrived at the scene of the bloodshed were puzzled when they saw the 12th victim of the skirmish. It was a spider monkey wearing a camouflage uniform and a small bulletproof vest. The animal, struck by a stray bullet, sprawled on the body of a dead militant.

Photos of a strange gang member quickly flew around Mexican publications and, of course, got into social networks. The authenticity of the pictures was doubted by many — the equipped monkey looked too unusual. But the state authorities confirmed the accuracy of the information. The prosecutor 's office said in a statement:

Law enforcement officers also added that several militants who survived the shootout were arrested. They will be charged not only with their main activities, but also under the article punishing the trade in rare animals.

But that's not all. The next day in A Bengal tiger was seized in Tequale, in the state of Nayarit on the Pacific coast of Mexico. The Prosecutor General for Environmental Protection said that the police received an alarm signal. The residents of Tecuale were frightened by a tiger walking through the streets of the city.

The video with the animal appeared even in social networks. On one of them, a young woman first shouts, and then says to someone: "Be quiet, it may come closer." At the end of the video, you can see how a man casually throws a rope around the predator's neck and takes him away. The police found the beast and its owner — the man turned out to be one of the members of the Sinaloa drug cartel, whose headquarters is located in the state of the same name next door.

When examining the tiger, veterinarians found that it was an adult 200-kilogram male. Cruel owners removed his fangs and claws. But these are not all the stories with animals that happened that week. Two days later, a tiger attacked a man in the western state of Michoacan. The Unidos and Jalisco cartels have been operating there for many years. The incident occurred in the city of Periban, in a private household.

A video shot on a phone has been preserved, where a guy stretches his hand through the enclosure fence and calls a predator. As a result, the tiger grabs the limb with its teeth and begins to twist it under the terrible screams of the victim. The victim was taken to the hospital, but he died two days later. Security analyst David Saucedo claims that it was Pablo Escobar who in the 80s and 90s became the founder of the fashion for wild animals.

Drug cartels don't keep animals just for fun. Criminals often arrange brutal reprisals against unwanted people, throwing them into cages with predators. Saucedo cited the example of Heriberto Lascano, the head of the Zetas drug cartel. He fed his enemies to tigers or crocodiles. Fortunately, the bastard won't kill anyone anymore — he was shot by the police in 2012.