Mexican authorities arrested a Chinese airline passenger after a strong smell emanating from his suitcases led to the discovery that he was transporting body parts from hundreds of endangered totoaba fish.

Police at the Mexico City international airport "found 416 totoaba swim bladders in (the passenger's) two suitcases," the prosecutor general's office said in a statement Wednesday.

The totoaba's swim bladder -- an organ certain fish species use to control their buoyancy -- is prized in Chinese traditional medicine for its purported rejuvenating qualities, and can fetch up to $20,000 on the black market.

The man was arrested and then granted conditional release after paying a $600 fine, the statement said.

The critically endangered totoaba is native to the Gulf of California, off Mexico's western coast.

Authorities say drug cartels and heavily armed poachers are involved in trafficking its swim bladder, dubbed the "cocaine of the sea."

The nets used to catch the totoaba have also contributed to the demise of another critically endangered species, the vaquita marina, the world's smallest porpoise. Researchers estimate just 30 of them now remain.

Related Links
Darwin Today At TerraDaily.com

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

Grassland plants react unexpectedly to high levels of carbon dioxide
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Apr 23, 2018
Plants are responding in unexpected ways to increased carbon dioxide in the air, according to a twenty-year study conducted by researchers at the University of Minnesota and published in the journal Science. For the first 12 years, researchers found what they expected regarding how different types of grasses reacted to carbon dioxide. However, researchers' findings took an unanticipated turn during the last eight years of the study. Researchers planted 88 plots with two different types of gr ... read more