TCM Gold Rush off the coast of Mexico
This tragic story starts with Chinese Croaker, a large species of fish off the waters of China. It was highly valued for its large swim bladder, sought for TCM bogus cures. To the extent that the Chinese Croaker went extinct.
What does TCM do when a valued species goes extinct? Well, the TCM doctors turn their attention to a similar species. In this case, the Totoaba, a large croaker living only in the Gulf of California off the coast of Mexico. When the TCM Mafia showed up offering large sums of money for the swim-bladder of the Totoaba, this sparked a gold rush among fishermen of this region. With up to US$47,000 offered for a single large swim-bladder of this Totoaba on the black market in China, this meant that it was worth more than the cocaine trade in Mexico. Exponentially more.
Despite the efforts of conservationists and lobbyists, the mix of Mexican cartels and Chinese TCM Mafia prevailed and the poaching of Totoabas continued—even inside marine-protected areas. And caught up in all this is the Vaquita, which is the smallest dolphin on the planet. Or was the smallest. The Vaquita is roughly the same size as the Totoaba, and was caught in the same illegal gillnets used by fishermen to trap Totoaba. So because it was by-catch in the hunt for Totoaba, the Vaquita has vanished. The Vaquita is now considered functionally extinct.
Here's where this story goes right off the rails. Rather than being paid in cash for the precious Totoaba bladders, Mexican cartels prefer to be paid in pre-cursor chemicals for Fentanyl. The chemicals are shipped from China and shipped into Mexico. Mexican cartels use these pre-cursors for mixing Fentanyl in powdered form, which is then smuggled across the border into the USA. The profits from sale of Fentanyl in the US are astronomical for the Mexican cartels. And the cost to the US is devastating. Fentanyl overdose is the number one cause of death in the US for people aged 18 to 45—killing over 90,000 people a year. Fentanyl is 50 times more powerful than heroin, and is highly addictive.
