In response to the dire circumstances facing the vaquita as by-catch of the illegal totoaba trade, in 2017 Earth League International (ELI) commenced an intelligence gathering operation called Operation FAKE GOLD. Since then, ELI has been discreetly investigating totoaba trafficking and the Vaquita situation, mapping and researching the entire illicit totoaba maw (swim bladder) supply chain, from the Baja California peninsula in Mexico to Southern China’s Guangdong Province, and identifying all the most important players.
ELI investigative and research operations identified 14 different totoaba/wildlife international trafficking networks operating between Mexico, the U.S. and China, and over 40 Persons of Interest (high-level international wildlife traffickers and middleman), with links to Mexican organized crime and a significant convergence with other serious crimes, such as money laundering, human smuggling, drugs and corruption.
FAKE GOLD is an ongoing operation, currently providing U.S. and Mexican authorities with Confidential Intelligence Briefs (CIBs) and intelligence updates in order to support the investigative work of law enforcement agencies and facilitate the arrest of the key players. Given the nature of this delicate and dangerous project, part of our activities are confidential and shared only with our law enforcement partners
Totoaba Cartels
The vaquita, the world’s smallest and most endangered porpoise, is nearly extinct due to China’s demand for the swim bladders, or ‘maws,’ from a giant Mexican fish called the totoaba. By-catch from the Illegal fishing of totoabas with the use of gillnets is killing vaquitas. In fact, the use of gillnets for illegal totoaba fishing is endangering the entire marine ecosystem of the Upper Gulf of California. The International Committee for the Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) estimated that, as of November 2016, no more than 30 vaquitas remained. Analysis of 2017 acoustic monitoring data showed that the decline of the vaquita has continued unabated.
The retail price of totoaba maw on the black Chinese market has been recently quoted up to USD 46 per gram in China. The price of gold is currently hovering around USD 40 per gram. This is why totoaba maw can be considered ‘fake gold’ and why the totoaba fish became swimming gold for Mexico’s fishermen. A fisherman in San Felipe, Mexico, can earn more in one night catching a few totoabas than they may otherwise earn in a year.
Through Operation Fake Gold, Earth League International has identified what can only be described as “Totoaba Cartels” in Mexico. The totoaba cartels specialize in the poaching and trafficking of totoaba swim bladders – the bottom half of the supply chain. The chain starts in the villages of San Felipe and Santa Clara along the Gulf of California coast, but moves quickly to central smuggling operations in cities like Tijuana and Mexicali.
Our investigation has found that the cartels fund the Mexican fishers and fishing cooperatives, and then sell the swim bladders to a group of well-connected Chinese traders and businessmen residing in Mexico. It is those Chinese traders that facilitate the smuggling of totoaba maws to China – the top of the supply chainWe identified the complex factors surrounding the extinction of the vaquita and the destruction of an incredibly important ecosystem. It is not only about the fate of the vaquita, but of the entire eco-system of the upper Gulf of California. Efforts now must shift toward the protection of the Gulf of California in general. The Gulf contains incredible marine life that will also be destroyed by the continued use of gillnets and the continued exploitation of its wildlife.
Our Team has worked tirelessly in the field to gather the intelligence needed by authorities to disrupt the totoaba illegal supply chain, and ultimately, curb illegal fishing in the Gulf of California. Much of the detailed data gathered during Operation Fake Gold only appears in a Confidential Intelligence Brief (CIB) that has been prepared and submitted to law enforcement authorities in Mexico, China, and the United States. The CIB contains all the non-redacted data gathered regarding the key players, their networks and enablers, and the complete modus operandi of these traffickers and traders, including concrete evidence of illegal activity uncovered during the investigation, as well as hundreds of photos and hours of relevant undercover footage.
Download the report here: Operation Fake Gold Report
