Anti-drugs police in Mexico have seized a menagerie of 21 big cats and a host of other animals from a ranch in a town dominated by a drugs cartel.
Officers confiscated 10 tigers, six jaguars and five lions from the estate in the township of La Barca, in the Mexican state of Jalisco, in the middle of Jalisco New Generation Cartel territory.
Three of the seized tigers are cubs, according to local media.
The region is notorious for its mass graves and cartel executions.
The police did not say who owns the land but the raid came just a week after the US authorities revealed that one Sinaloa boss often fed his enemies to his tigers.
Mexican police said that also seized two antelopes, a llama, two red deer, two eagles, one emu, three caracara birds, one raven, two pelicans, three vultures, nine red-backed parakeets, one cacomixtle, four Kramer parrots, two multicoloured parakeets, and two raccoons.
Newsflash obtained a statement from the Mexican general prosecutor’s office on 22nd April, saying: “The Attorney General’s Office of the Republic (FGR), through the Specialised Regional Control Prosecutor’s Office (FECOR), in the Jalisco Delegation, completed a search warrant issued by the District Control Judge Specialized in the Accusatory Criminal System, to a property located in La Barca, Jalisco, in which they seized various wild animals.”
They said they spotted the ranch while carrying out surveillance on a dirt road and had “sighted a property on which there were different animals.”
The statement added: “Consequently, they made it known to the Federal Public Ministry (MPF), who requested the search procedure for said property, which was executed by the Federal Ministerial Police (PFM), of the Criminal Investigation Agency (AIC), with the support of specialised experts from the institution.
“Two antelopes, a llama, 10 tigers, three of them cubs, were seized at the site; six jaguars, five lions, two red deer, two eagles, one emu bird, three caracara birds, one raven, two pelicans, three vultures, nine red-backed parakeets, one cacomixtle, four Kramer parrots, two multicoloured parakeets, and two raccoons.”
The investigation is ongoing.
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Marija Stojkoska, Agency: Newsflash
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