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dixiegrrrrl

(60,010 posts)
Thu May 15, 2014, 02:52 PM May 2014

Lime shortage attracting Mexican drug cartels.

Bars across America are feeling the burden of a nationwide lime shortage. It came about as a result of the confluence of several unusual things: there was awful weather for lime growing this year; there is a citrus-greening disease called "huanglongbing" (really) going around; and lime farmers are being extorted by drug cartels in Mexico.

The bad weather and the huanglongbing epidemic began to increase the cost of limes earlier this year. Then, the problem was made worse by the drug cartels. The Knights Templar is a powerful drug cartel in Mexico and has set its sights on the farmers in Michoacán, one of the favored locations for lime growth. The limes there were able to escape the bad weather and huanglongbing, making them more valuable than usual. Because prices for limes became so high, cartels like The Knights Templar began threatening farmers, seizing groves, and even hijacking trucks. Lime farmers how hire armed guards to transport their coveted citrus.

While the Mexican government is calling for a cease fire, farmers are still at odds with drug cartels. They have also deployed the military to deal with the issue directly. That's right, there are Mexican soldiers defending the right to bear limes.
http://www.thewire.com/business/2014/05/heres-how-the-lime-shortage-is-affecting-bars-across-america/362049/
9 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Lime shortage attracting Mexican drug cartels. (Original Post) dixiegrrrrl May 2014 OP
You have to know where to draw the lime. Orrex May 2014 #1
Arrrrggggghhh! dixiegrrrrl May 2014 #2
funny, I stopped by bar yesterday to kick some golden tee ass snooper2 May 2014 #3
Technically, those were sublimes. Orrex May 2014 #4
They're getting nickeled and limed! Blue Owl May 2014 #5
Is the entire Mexican government corrupt? seveneyes May 2014 #6
Gee, seems the same way here, too. n/t dixiegrrrrl May 2014 #7
Not too many farms and shipping vehicles taken over by cartels here seveneyes May 2014 #8
99 cents PER lime in Chicago alcibiades_mystery May 2014 #9
 

snooper2

(30,151 posts)
3. funny, I stopped by bar yesterday to kick some golden tee ass
Thu May 15, 2014, 03:03 PM
May 2014

We were giving Jen the bartender shit on how shitty the limes looked that she was pulling out of a box

 

seveneyes

(4,631 posts)
6. Is the entire Mexican government corrupt?
Thu May 15, 2014, 03:29 PM
May 2014

It seems as if the cartels and criminals go unchecked by anything resembling a government.

 

seveneyes

(4,631 posts)
8. Not too many farms and shipping vehicles taken over by cartels here
Thu May 15, 2014, 07:16 PM
May 2014

But it could be they are withholding it from us.

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