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Mexico has declared war on a smuggling that is breaking the Chinese market: the “Cocaine del Mar”

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A little over a year ago, in June 2024a Mexican National Guard team was watching the Tlaquepaque bus station in Jalisco, when something curious happened. Suddenly one of the dogs trained to detect drugs began to sniff two cardboard boxes located in the officia of a messaging company. As they approached, the agents found that it smelled strange, as a “decomposition product”, so they decided to open the packages. Inside there was no coca, nor hashish, nor weapons, but 80 vexigas Fish dehydrated. The fact is that these buches belonged to a very specific species, the Totoaba Macdonaldiand were not any pieces either. As much as they had bad appearance and poured those 80 veils, which together weighed around 18 kilos, they could have sold for 360,000 dollars In the Chinese black market. For something they are known as “Cocaine of the sea”. Totoaqué? Totoaba Macdonaldi. His name may not be familiar to us in this part of the world, but he is well known in his place of origin, in The coasts of Mexico. To be more precise the species is endemic to the Alto Gulf of California and attracts attention for its size. A totoaba can reach the two meters100 kg of weight and 30 years of life. If for something it is (sadly) famous however it is for its swim bladderor buche, the organ that facilitates flotability. Why’s that? Because in certain regions of China it is considered a treasure, a Delicatesen coveted by their alleged Medicinal properties and that quotes stratospheric values in the black market. Among other uses and despite the fact that there are no solid investigations that demonstrate their goodnessin the Asian giant Totoaba buches are used to make soups that supposedly improve articular pains and relieve the discomfort of pregnant. It is so popular in the country that they are even used as an investment, luxury gift or even dowry. And how much does it cost? Quite. It is not easy to specify it because the price of Totoaba’s bladder is closely linked to the Chinese black market, but a quick search arrives on Google to confirm that it is a luxury merchandise. In 2017 the BBC I calculated that the kilo of Buche could easily exceed 8,500 dollars. The same figure contributed recently the Nikkei agency in An article On the vexigas introduced to smuggling in the Asian market. Others go further and talk about $ 20,000 per kilo, 2,200 euros for just 100 grams or even 40,000 euros for the vexigas of the most desired and most desired specimens. There are those who even slide figures still higher. Is it a problem? Yes. The high demand has submitted to the species at such a pressure that the Mexican government has had to take action on the matter. In the 70s prohibited its fishing, in 1991 It was officially declared in danger of extinction and its name has passed, among other documents, to the list of the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES). It also appears in the “Red List” of the Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), whose last evaluation is 2020. There is a vulnerable species. And how is it now? In A statement Published at the end of June, the Mexican government recalls that in the twentieth century Totoaba fishing grew “without control to reduce its population and take it to the edge of extinction” and recognizes that the species is still stalked by smuggling. However, there are some signs that invite moderate optimism. Protection measures and especially repopulation work are helping “little by little” to recover the species. A month ago, in fact, the authorities released 40,000 young in Baja California Sur. In total, in that region about 270,000 have already been released. Are there more measures? Yes. Mexican authorities also carry out controls such as the one that allowed to requisition 80 bucho Last year at the Jalisco Bus Station. Not long after the National Guard and the Customs Agency intercepted another 75 pieces In the Customs of Sonoyta, Sonora. Last March the authorities presumed A new ‘blow’ When removing hundreds of meters from Enmalle networks and dozens of copies of Totoaba on the coasts of the Alto Gulf of California. And at the political level? The species is also part of the Mexican political debate. Over the last years the authorities They have been profiling The legal framework that protects the species and in spring a government commission approved A reform package For that same purpose. Your goal? Regulate the tariff codes that would apply to an export, maintaining, ensures digital road map, the veto to the commercialization of buchors. A few weeks ago the Nikkei agency revealed That Mexico has decided to partially raise the veto to the export of the species, although it speaks exclusively of the meat of specimens of fish farm. The measure is accompanied by a stricter monitoring of the merchandise to prevent its smuggling. Cocaine of the sea? Maybe it sounds excessive, but in recent years the totoaba has earned the nickname of “Cocaine of the sea”. And it makes enough sense. Not only for his high pricealso for the consequences of demand in China. The lucrative business of the Totaba fish illegally and its price in Asia has caught the attention of organizations dedicated to drug smuggling. “The posters realized that these Chinese merchants won a lot with the jellyfish, the Totoaba buche, the sea cucumbers, the abult … and these economies began to penetrate to dominate them,” Explain to The country Felbab-Brown, from the Brookings Institute and an organized crime expert. At the beginning of the year the CBC chain revealed A report of the agency and border services of sample how the networks of Chinese organized crime and the Mexican cartels are resorting to the Canadian ports to exchange buffers and precursors of the fentanyl. Are there more factors at stake? The answer is affirming again. There is another involuntary protagonist who … Read more

As the Puerta del Sol is a tree desert, Madrid has had an idea for this summer: putting awnings

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With the thermometer Nailing with the 40ºC of maximum and a sun of rigor, if there is something sued today in the streets of Madrid is shadow, a shelter in which to enjoy a refreshing truce before continuing on their way to the office, house or the institute. To create one of those ‘Climate shelters’ In the urban heart, a few weeks ago the City Council He started installing Toldos in the middle of the Puerta del Sol, 32 panels with which he wants the square to stop being a pan. The problem is that its installation has unleashed a considerable stirboth for the solution itself and its cost. Shadow, where is there a shadow? The Puerta del Sol is an emblematic, sculptural place, forced to Thousands of tourists Every year and central node of Madrid. The problem is that something key is missing, especially in summer: shadow. Your around 12,000 m2 They are a wasteland in which it is difficult to protect themselves from the sun, a problem when the city faces a heat wave like the one in these days. There are those pulling irony It refers to the square as ‘La Sartén del Sol’. Why is there no shadow? Because it was never considered necessary. The City Council argues that in its 163 years of history the square never had “elements of shadow”, although there are who holds that in his day he had some trees and more than a century ago he already incorporated awnings. Historical debates apart, the Consistory assures that today the configuration of the Plaza conditions what can be done or not in it: below, scarce 20 cm of the pavementrests a slab that separates the square from one of the largest subway stations in the city, in addition to galleries. And why is it important? Simple. Because what is done in the square should take into account the huge structure that opens below. Martínez-Almeida team remember That a few years ago it was studied to plant trees in the only area of ​​the square that does not have infrastructure under the pavement, but the Municipal Historical Heritage Commission ended up lying the initiative. The reason? The vegetation perhaps threw some shadow and refresh the environment, but the idea did not respond to historical or urban criteria. He simply proposed to plant trees where he could, without contributing more reasons. What if we put awnings? In the absence of trees, good are Quita and Pon, a solution that is already used in the street of other Spanish cities punished by the sun, such as The center of Seville either Malaga. That is the idea that the City Council was raised, which launched its administrative machinery to project, hire and install a system of panels that cover part of the square. They wait, but the fabrics began to settle Two weeks ago. The awnings, 32 in total, are manufactured with Microperforated PVC ivory and have been arranged in such a way that they offer shade to pedestrians that walk from Alcalá to Arenal. To hold them, anchors were installed on the facades, tensioners and stainless steel masts in some granite banks. The idea is to use a threaded tubes system to place and remove panels throughout the year, as is done in other cities in the south. Why is there debate? For several reasons. Input by the solution itself and its effectiveness. “They are not a simple ornament or a whim: they are a late and expensive response to an urban policy of the PP, which for years turned our public spaces into authentic cement plates,” criticism in The country Pedro Barrero, socialist spokesman in the Commission of Works and Equipment. To that debate contributes that the square was reformed Just a few years ago With one millionaire investment without those guaranteed works shadows in the environment. Another background debate is whether the square may or may not host trees, beyond the handicap that the subway station is underneath, or if there are better alternatives to the awnings. The City Council insists in which the configuration of Puerta del Sol dates back to the nineteenth century and this will be “the first time you have shadows in its 163 years of history.” The proposal also received the approval of the Historical Heritage Commission. The big question is … Is it used for the 12,000 m2 of the square a solution that has demonstrated useful for narrow streets? Are there more factors? Yes. The price. The installation of the awnings will require considerable investment, around 1.5 million of euros that add to the cost of the reform of a few years ago. In networks there are who questions That a million and a half are reversed to a work that, in the end, will mean the installation of about thirty PVC awnings. From the City Council they clarify that to carry out the project they have had to carry out studies and undertake works that are not appreciated with the naked eye, such as adapting the banks, emptying them and providing them with steel plates to ballast the anchor of the masts. The goal? Ensure that the canvases endure wind gusts without the foundation affecting the structures located under the square. Images | Madrid City Council In Xataka | People have started rowing to touch their ass to the statue of the bear in Madrid. Makes as little sense as it seems

Boadilla del Monte wants to be a pilgrimage place. So he has decided to build a 37 -meter colossal

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Boadilla del Monte is known by the Palacio del Infante Don Luisyour source of Three pipes or the Convent of the incarnation, among other monumentsbut if the plans of an association of Catholics in the area go ahead in a short time it will be for something different: an effigy colossal of Christ that will overcome in size a The famous figure that crowns the Cerro Corcovadoin Rio de Janeiro. Your drivers, yes, will have nothing easy. They need to raise 17 million of euros. Not only do they want their sculpture to be the largest of its kind. They aspire to be a representation based on The holy sheet and with a huge mobile heart. Breaking molds. Throughout the world there are many, many effigies of Jesus, but few as iconic as the Redeemer of Corcovado, in Rio de Janeiro, a huge monument of Around 30 meters high (almost 40if the pedestal is taken into account) that was inaugurated In 1931. In Spain there is, however, who wants to make the competition with an even greater monument: a sculpture of Christ with open arms of 37 m high and 60 wingspan. With you, the Christ of Boadilla. The initiative starts from the Association of Devotos Heart of Jesus of Boadilla, a Catholic group that He wants to lift in that municipality of the Madrid community “The Sacred Heart of the world”. Its intention is to build the effigy between M 50, the Financial City and M 501, on a field of public ownership. For now, They assurehave the Plecet of the City Council, which in 2019 approved the project No opposition. A colossal work of 17 million. The location is not, however, the largest challenge of the company. Its drivers calculate that to get it ahead they need close to 17 million euros16 for construction itself and the remaining million to face “the management, communication and financing of the project”. They also want to raise them through donations from individuals or private organizations, without public funds or any institution such as the Catholic Church. For the moment, Precise The worldthey are quite far from that figure: today their crowdfunding has managed to gather around 95,000 euros. An objective: June 2030. The association not only handles an approximate budget. On its website also includes A schedule How you want to carry out the project. The first phase of financing started at the beginning of the year and will run until February 2026 with the aim of leaving the sculptural project ready, the general preliminary project and starting the crowdfunding campaign. During that first stage they hope to gather 135,000 euros. The second aspires to add five million, will last until June 2028 and will focus on the architectural project and permits. The objective of the association is that the construction of the effigy can begin in mid -2027 and the works last for about three years. If the Planning, It could be inaugurated during June 2030. For this, it will be necessary to carry out the third phase of the financing, of 11.86 million. The collective Recognize in any case that are “self -imposed” deadlines. “Nothing will prevent anticipating the result or that it suffers some delay.” And how do you want to do it? The monument draws attention for its size (37 meters high and 60 of size), but also for its approach. Input and although the association acknowledges that it has not yet defined “the constructive phase”, its Initial idea It is that the effigy combines various materials: the trunk and head would be built with reinforced concrete and arms extended with fiberglass or carbon. The most striking thing is what there will be within the figure. The interior of the effigy can be visited and will include a huge golden heart of around 2.5 meters in diameter that will rise and fall during the day. “Every morning, when the first rays of the sun cross the sore of its side and illuminate the heart, it will slowly descend to the ground with a pulleys mechanism. Then, when the night falls, the heart will return to its anatomical position and retro-pile it will light and light up,” They explain From the association. “With scientific methods”. It is not the only surprise. To shape sculpture, those responsible have decided to take as a reference a symbol of Christianity: Turin’s shroud. “The Holy sheet will be our guide to model sculpture and rebuild with scientific methods the true face of the man who left his mark on the canvas,” they claim. “The wounds and the site of the side will become cracks for which the light will cross the monument. The music will accompany us during our visit and we will listen to the heartbeat.” Your goal, emphasize The association is to create “a world pilgrimage place”, joins huge effigy that becomes the largest “largest heart in the world”. The nuance is important because if we talk about Christ’s sculptures, in general, there are much greater monuments. Not long ago Indonesia inaugurated a colossal statue of the “Salvador” of about 60 meters high In the same country there is another effigy, Buntu Burakearound 40 m. Images | Heart of Jesus Boadilla In Xataka | Cáceres is building a gigantic Buddhist statue 47 meters high (for some reason)

Navigating from Madrid to Lisbon, the pharaonic real dream that gave rise to the failed Channel del Manzanares

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The Manzanares river in Madrid has become one of the protagonists of recent days. March is being an extremely rainy month, so much that it has caused Solar energy ceases to grow in Spainbut has also caused the River overflow throughout the country. One of those rivers is Manzanares, which is usually a thread of water and Now it’s a torrent. But the river has not only become news for the increase in flow, but because during the works of Metro line 11 they have found a section of the real historical channel of Manzanares, an ambitious project that It was centuries on the table and that had a target target: join Madrid, Lisbon and Seville by boat. Felipe II’s dream Felipe II It is not just one of the most remembered kings in Spain: it may also be from Europe. Under his reign, The Spanish Empire reached its peak And it was a monarch interested in finance projects of several sciences. He also liked the sea, starting maritime engineering projects, stimulating the creation of large warships and the most ambitious of all: the idea of ​​making The main rivers of the peninsula were navigable. Another detail for which Felipe II is remembered is for the move of the capital of the country: he decided that Madrid would be the ideal location, so he transferred the court in full. But of course, Madrid did not have direct access to the sea and this was something important, especially for trade and those expansionist ambitionsso the project To open Madrid to the sea, he made eyes to the king. And the task fell into the hands of the Italian engineer Juan Bautista Antonelli. Nothing, something simple: Tajo, Duero, Guadalquivir and Ebro, among other rivers, would become navigable, with channels among them that would allow Madrid to have a way out of the sea and a river connection with some of the main cities of the country. For commerce, this was an extremely juicy idea between cities and between Madrid and European, Chinese, African and Indian cities. Fourth Lock of the Real Canal del Manzanares Felipe supported the project And he released funds to be carried out, but it was not going to be simple: a slope of more than 600 meters had to be saved and the necessary adjustments first to open Madrid and, later, that the 600 kilometers that separates the capital from the Atlantic coast were completely navigable. HE I would continue The route of the river and They would create 10 locks between the Toledo bridge and the Vaciamadrid jetty, many for a distance of just 20 kilometers. The capital would join with Aranjuez and, through the Tagus, it would have an exit to the Atlantic by Lisbon. A road was also projected to Seville. He did not set. Although the works are They started Among the Madrid and Alcantara Madrid nuclei, the money was not unlimited and the cocktail of technical difficulties, issues with private properties and, above all, The financing of the invincible Navycaused the money to be redistributed and the interior navigation project was saved in the drawer. He also influenced that, in 1588 Antonelli died and, in 1598, Felipe would. Madrid with double exit to the sea Later it was tried to recover, but the decisive moment came under the reign of Carlos III. Businessman Pedro Martinengo took the witness and presented In 1769 the project to recover the ambitious plan of Felipe II. The construction began in 1770 when Carlos III approved the proposal and the initial funds were in charge of Martinengo himself and private investors he had gathered. Under the direction of the businessman, the project advanced completing eight of the ten planned locks, but the costs were being tremendous and ran out of funds to continue. Martinengo had ruined, but Carlos III liked the projectso bought and thus officially became the Real Canal del Manzanares. The tenth lock Nor do we think that the monarch invested too much: he maintained what there was. Nor is it that he caught the economy at its most buoyant time and the river itself was not the most appropriate for navigation, since it needed water transvases to be able to operate correctly. Some companies were established, such as furnaces, but the channel was being underutilized. With Carlos IV, the thing didn’t improve either. Again, invested just as to maintain it, But in 1799 the disaster arrived: strong rains took part of the Gasco dam, a new construction on the Guadarraman that was the one that was taking the money. Another lock This set of misfortunes, and seeing that the Manzanares channel had been stagnant decades without contributing what was promised, caused the abandonment of the project until the arrival of a Fernando VII who tried to recover it, building the ninth and tenth lock and carrying the work until the vicinity of Vaciamadrid. But the work was not finished. Progress arrived Upon stopping, the channel was degrading, but the last nail in the coffin was the passage of time. In the time of Felipe II, the project could make sense. With Carlos III too, but already entered the 19th, things had changed a lot. The development of roads and, above all, the arrival of the railroad made the priorities change. Why keep investing a fortune to open Madrid to the sea when there were faster than the ship to transport goods? Apart from what The Manzanares channel looked like a money background wellin 1851 the Aranjuez train was inaugurated and, although with Isabel II some boats had sailed through the channel, in the second half of the 19th century it was decided to cut the tap of the funds. When not staying and being water is for a long time, health problems began to appear. The channel became a danger and, although maintenance work began again, around 1860 it was decided Cancel Definitely the pharaonic project. The irony: the railway bridge over the Manzanares … Read more

Alejandro del Rey achieves his first victory of the year and marks a recital of Spanish golf in the second tournament of the DP World Tour

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Alejandro del Rey achieved his first victory on the DP World Tour this Sunday in an authentic recital of Spanish golf, where David Puig and Iván Cantero also finished among…

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