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Take Two

CA authorities catch multimillion-dollar fish bladder smuggling ring

By Take Two Staff
Published Apr 29, 2013
This March 2013 image provided by the U.S. attorney's Office shows Totoaba bladders displayed at a U.S. border crossing in downtown Calexico, Mexico. Seven people have been charged in a scheme to sell the bladders of an endangered Mexican fish considered a delicacy for use in Chinese soup, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday.
This March 2013 image provided by the U.S. attorney's Office shows Totoaba bladders displayed at a U.S. border crossing in downtown Calexico, Mexico. Seven people have been charged in a scheme to sell the bladders of an endangered Mexican fish considered a delicacy for use in Chinese soup, U.S. prosecutors said Wednesday.
(
HOPD/AP
)

Take Two translates the day’s headlines for Southern California, making sense of the news and cultural events that affect our lives. Produced by Southern California Public Radio and broadcast from October 2012 – June 2021. Hosted by A Martinez.

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CA authorities catch multimillion-dollar fish bladder smuggling ring

We've heard of poachers hunting rhinos for their horns and elephants for their tusks, but now in southern California, they're going after a fish called the totoaba for their bladders.

Last week, federal agents seized over 200 of these bladders from a home in Calexico. On the black market, they could have fetched as much as $3.6 milllion.

We called up Jill Birchell from the office of Law Enforcement with US Fish and Wildlife Service to find out what this fish is and why it's in such high demand.