The criminal group Los Viagras and two allied cells warned lemon growers that, starting this Wednesday, the extortion fee will increase to 4 pesos per kilo. Otherwise, “we already know what’s going to happen to us,” they say.
On Tuesday afternoon and evening, Los Viagras and their associates informed the lemon packers—in charge of collecting and paying the extortion fees—that the fee will go from 2 pesos (1 for production and the other for marketing) to 4 pesos per kilo.
“The packers are calling us and saying that now we’ll pay double, because those bastards Los Viagras, with El Botox, El Barbas, and El Jandos, have already asked for double what we were paying. If we don’t give it to them, we already know what’s going to happen to us,” said one producer.
The farmer explained that until last week, the packing houses and marketers were paying them 8 pesos per kilo of lemons, and everything was fine until then.
However, these criminal organizations, starting with last Friday’s harvest, have been demanding 2 pesos per kilo (one per kilo cut and one per kilo sold).
“But now they’ve informed us that for this Wednesday’s harvest, the packing house will be paying us 4 pesos, so I’m telling you, they’ve already asked for double,” another producer explained.
He explained that, in this sense, the producer is the one who will once again pay this criminal tax, since the packing houses and marketers charge it in the purchase price and can’t do anything.
“I’m already thinking about stopping tomorrow’s harvest again, because it’s tough. Imagine if we pay 2 pesos per kilo to the cutter and one more for freight; well, we’ll only be left with one peso, and then add 3-4 pesos in production costs, and we’ll end up owing,” lamented a third producer.
According to citrus growers, this extortion charge is aimed at producers and packers in some areas of the municipalities of Apatzingán and Buenavista, where these groups allied with the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, with which they form the Michoacán New Generation Cartel, have a presence and power.
When asked about this, state authorities announced that, together with the federal government, they have already prepared a series of actions to prevent, first, the price of lemons from skyrocketing, which would harm families, and second, the return of extortion and criminal subjugation of the citrus sector in the state.
Source: eluniversal
