Citrus growers and state authorities estimate that criminal groups from the Tierra Caliente of Michoacán obtain nearly 3.6 billion pesos from extortion to lemon producers and packers in the Apatzingán valley.
However, these farmers are not the only group affected, since butchers, chicken sellers, grocers, gas dealers, tortilleros, papayeros, hose workers, bakers, those who sell construction materials and transport supplies to the region —dominated by United Cartels and the Nueva Generación Cartel— are also forced to pay fees to organized crime.
More than 900 thousand tons of citrus are produced each year, mainly in the municipalities of Apatzingán, Buenavista Tomatlán, Parácuaro, Aguililla, Tepalcatepec and Múgica, and criminal organizations such as Los Viagras, Blancos de Troya, Nueva Generación Cartel, Knights Templar, Cartel de la Virgen and the Tepalcatepec Cartel They charge two pesos per kilo of cut lemon and the same amount for each kilo that is packaged for marketing.
In Buenavista Tomatlán alone, the municipality with the highest citrus production in the country, around 286,260 tons are generated annually, which makes the town adjacent to Jalisco the epicenter of extortion by criminal cells, which for years have kept the productive sector devastated.
Producers and businessmen consulted by SUN, who requested anonymity for fear of reprisals, assure that fees and floor charges from organized crime represent between 60% and 70% of their annual profits.
However, they denounce, it is not only the extortion of lemon trees, but also of livestock farmers, butchers, tortilla makers, bakers, grocers and gas stations, “all sectors are affected by this.”
The price of lemon is governed by supply and demand, but in recent years its price has remained plummeting.
A few years ago, the price of lemon fell drastically, oscillating between four pesos per kilogram at wholesale, well below the cost of production.which keeps producers, cutters and marketers upset, as well as organized crime that pressures lemon trees to increase their cost.
Just last October 15, producers held a demonstration in the city of Apatzingán, within the framework of the national strike to rescue the Mexican countryside, in order to demand fair prices, since what they receive at this moment is far below production costs.
To express their discontent, the farmers threw kilograms of the fruit onto the street, shouting: “There it is, if you want it as a gift, there it is!”
Days before being murdered, Bernardo Bravo Manríquez, president of the Association of Citrus Growers of the Apatzingán Valley, assured that the Michoacan lemon, considered the economic engine of the Tierra Caliente region, is dying: “We need fair prices and accessible credit to keep our production and the well-being of our families alive,” and he stated: “If the lemon dies, Apatzingán goes down with it.”
According to data from the Association of Citrus Growers of the Apatzingán Valley, there are criminal groups that try to control the days of lemon cutting and the sales prices of citrus.
Currently, there are more than four thousand active lemon producers who sell between one thousand and one thousand 500 tons of lemon per year in the Tianguis Limonero of the municipality of Apatzingán; In less than 100 kilometers of the valley, there are more than 70 thousand hectares of lemon. The main supplier of lemon, especially in winter, is Michoacán.
The extortion of lemon trees has been mutating, to the point that a few years ago it caused the closure of companies, packing plants, and producers could not transport the product in regions of the state of Michoacán due to the stalking of criminals, at that time, the Knights Templar.
The Association of Citrus Growers of the Apatzingán Valley (ACVA) demanded that state and federal authorities organize the market, encouraging the cutting of lemons only three days a week as an urgent measure to organize their harvest and protect the workforce.
Likewise, he requested that there be security conditions that allow working freely and that the lives of day laborers and producers are not put at risk.
He pointed out that for 15 years they have been seeking to guarantee a market with traceability, orderly and fair, as well as security to work their land without fear and decent conditions for all families that depend on Mexican lemons.
“We will not back down until our demands are heard and attended to. The mobilization of the producers of the Association of Citrus Growers of the Apatzingán Valley (ACVA) reflects the fatigue and seriousness of the situation that exists for all the families that depend on the lemon sector.”
“We raise our voices to demand clear and forceful actions from the authorities of the three levels of government,” he said.
THE DATA
- Limoneros have been seeking for 15 years to guarantee a market with traceability, orderly and fair, as well as security to work their land.
- 900 thousand tons of lemon are produced per year, mainly in Apatzingán.
- 70% of the producers’ annual profits go to fees and floor charges.
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