WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) – If you buy mangos or avocados from Mexico, odds are your money has gone to a cartel says Congressman Vicente Gonzalez (R-Texas).
Violence in Mexico stopped the shipment of avocados and mangos from a Mexican state for about a week.
The stoppage highlights the challenges of growing produce in that part of Mexico.
“You should be rest assured that it is,” Gonzalez said.
Farmers in Michoacan, Mexico have said they have to pay security fees to drug gangs to avoid getting kidnapped or killed.
“You're paying more for your avocados and your mangos and for products that are coming across the border, because they've got to cover that cost,” said Gonzalez.
Gonzalez says the recent challenges with mango and avocado shipments from Michoacan highlight the problem.
“Cartels have enriched themselves. They've made billions of dollars taxing businesses,” he added.
Before avocados and mangos make it to the U.S. officials from the USDA have to inspect the plants.
On Friday, June 14th, the ambassador to Mexico said two USDA inspectors were assaulted and held.
The USDA says it stopped plant inspections for about a week until this past weekend.
The outgoing Mexican president said in a press conference Monday he wished the U.S. consulted with the Mexican government before stopping inspections.
“It's not free trade if you're having to pay for security somehow,” said Gonzalez. He hopes the new Mexican president will work more closely with the U.S. on security so agriculture can keep moving safely.