- by cnn
- 18 Apr 2024
Mexican narcos' fascination with exotic animals has been on display this week after a spider monkey dressed up as a drug gang mascot was killed in a shootout, a 200kg tiger wandered the streets in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, and a man died after trying to pet a captive tiger in a cartel-dominated area of western Michoacán state.
Eleven suspected gang members died in the shootout on Tuesday in the state of Mexico, which surrounds the capital. Photos from the scene showed a small monkey dressed in a tiny camouflage jacket and a tiny "bulletproof" vest sprawled across the body of a dead gunman.
Authorities in the State of Mexico confirmed the authenticity of the photos.
"A primate was killed at the scene, which was presumably owned by a criminal who was also killed at the scene," state prosecutors said in a statement, adding: "An autopsy will be carried out on the animal by a veterinarian specialized in the species." They said animal-trafficking charges would be considered against the suspects who survived the shootout.
Then on Wednesday, the attorney general for environmental protection said it had seized a tiger in Tecuala, in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, near the border with Sinaloa, which is home to the cartel of the same name.
The office said it acted "after receiving reports about a Bengal tiger that was wandering the streets of Tecuala", and found that the animal was being illegally kept there.
Those reports were based on a video posted on social media earlier this week, showing a young woman shrieking as she came across the tiger on the street in a residential neighborhood. "Be quiet, it might come close," a woman can be heard saying on the video.
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