Illegal Wildlife Trade Booming Across U.S.-Mexico Border
President Trump vows to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, but what about all the wildlife coming illegally across the border?
Traffickers from Latin America are desperate to get their product into the United States—so desperate they’ll risk the dangers of swimming across the Rio Grande with their contraband. But it’s not meth and it’s not cocaine. In one case, according to a special agent, it was about 25 parrots destined to be sold as pets. Smugglers used tire inner tubes to keep the box of birds afloat during the river crossing.
The southern border of the U.S. is a hot zone for wildlife smuggling, and while President Trump has vowed to stop illegal immigration from Mexico, it’s unclear what he intends to do to thwart the flow of illicit wildlife.
Of the nearly 50,000 illegal shipments of wildlife and wildlife products seized