Migrants get on a bus after accepting an offer from the Mexican government to leave a caravan bound for the U.S. and obtain humanitarian visas to transit Mexican territory, in Huixtla, Mexico Nov. 27. Reuters-Yonhap
Migrants get on a bus after accepting an offer from the Mexican government to leave a caravan bound for the U.S. and obtain humanitarian visas to transit Mexican territory, in Huixtla, Mexico Nov. 27. Reuters-Yonhap


Extortion of avocado growers in western Mexico has gotten so bad that 500 vigilantes from a so-called “self-defense” group known as United Towns, or Pueblos Unidos, gathered Saturday and pledged to aid police.

The vigilantes gathered for a rally in the town of Nuevo Urecho, in the western state of Michoacan, armed with AR-15s and other rifles, as well as a motley collection of shotguns.
They said that drug cartels like the Viagras and the Jalisco cartel have been charging avocado growers ‘war taxes’ of about $1,000 per acre ($2,500 per hectare).

Tired of the extortion demands and kidnappings, growers and farmers formed the group in 2020, and it now claims to have almost 3,000 members. (AP)


500 vigilantes gather in Mexico town, pledge to aid police
Source: Buhay Kapa PH