Pubdate: Mon, 01 Apr 2002 Source: New York Post (NY) Copyright: 2002 N.Y.P. Holdings, Inc. Contact: http://www.nypost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/296 Author: Bill Hoffmann Note: Per MAP editor's follow-up contact with quoted source, source did not suggest that tuna boats operated by drug cartels fished in a different manner than 'legitimate' fisherman in Mexican waters. Source suggested that all fishing boats operating in these waters were fishing in a manner that threatened dolphin populations, and that remedy was uniformly barring imports of tuna from Mexico and elsewhere which are produced by 'dolphin-unfriendly' methods. DRUG LORDS SLAUGHTER DOLPHINS The world's growing illegal-drug trade is claiming innocent new victims: tens of thousands of dolphins. The playful sea mammals are being slaughtered by Latin American gangs using the fishing industry as cover for smuggling cocaine into the United States and other countries. Federal agents say crime syndicates in Colombia and Mexico have bought tuna fleets and canneries in South and Central America. The boats are used to transport cocaine and the fishing companies provide a means of laundering the profits. "The drug cartels don't care how they catch the tuna, so they don't fish in a dolphin-friendly way," Ben White of the Washington-based Animal Welfare Institute told London's Sunday Telegraph. - --- MAP posted-by: Jackl