US halts avocado inspections in Mexico’s top producing state
A safety scare in a single of Mexico’s biggest avocado-producing states has abruptly stopped US inspections, threatening to disrupt shipments of the standard fruit into America.
The US Embassy announced Wednesday all US authorities operations in Michoacán had been suspended because of what it described as a “threat to US interests.”
The transfer contains a pause on the federal inspections required before Mexican avocados may be exported to the United States.
The US suspended avocado inspections in the Mexican state of Michoacan as a result of a menace. WKYC
Michoacán Gov. Alfredo Ramírez Bedolla said the inspections have been quickly halted to guard personnel following current arrests tied to an extortion investigation.
The governor said officers’ precedence was to “ensure the security conditions necessary for these operations to resume normally,” noting related suspensions have occurred before.
The stoppage might shortly ripple via the avocado provide chain. Mexico offers roughly 80% of the avocados imported into the United States, with Michoacán serving as the nation’s largest export hub for the crop, often referred to regionally as “green gold.”
Americans’ avocado obsession relies upon closely on Mexico. The US imported a file 2.87 billion kilos of recent avocados last 12 months, about 83% of them from Mexico. While California produces about 90% of the nation’s homegrown avocados, its crop isn’t practically large enough to fulfill the nation’s urge for food.
Mexico is the largest producer of avocados in the world.
The US Department of Agriculture stations inspectors in Mexico to look at orchards and packing amenities, guaranteeing exported produce meets US requirements and is free of dangerous pests. Security issues have pressured related inspection suspensions in the past.
The avocado commerce has turn into a multibillion-dollar business.
Mexico exported about $3.65 billion value of avocados to the United States in 2025, and shipments during the first 4 months of 2026 climbed roughly 35% in contrast with the same period a 12 months earlier.
The western Mexican state is also a hotspot for organized crime.
The US suspended avocado inspections in the Mexican state of Michoacan as a result of a menace. WKYC
At least 4 drug cartels — designated as overseas terrorist organizations by the Trump administration — operate in the area, profiting not only from narcotics trafficking however also from extortion schemes focusing on the profitable avocado industry.
Michoacán State Security Secretary Antonio Cruz told The Associated Press that one of the current arrests concerned Alfonso Fernández Magallón, better generally known as “El Poncho,” an alleged cartel chief accused of working in the avocado-growing area surrounding Los Reyes.
US Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson praised the weekend arrest.
The US authorities had beforehand supplied a $5 million reward for info resulting in Fernández Magallón’s seize.
Cruz said authorities weren’t conscious of any direct threats or incidents involving US avocado inspectors. Even so, officers dispatched about 300 safety personnel to the Los Reyes space as a precaution.
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