HomeNewsBriefCattle Rustling A Growing Concern in Nicaragua
BRIEF

Cattle Rustling A Growing Concern in Nicaragua

CONTRABAND / 19 JUN 2015 BY MICHAEL LOHMULLER EN

Nicaragua's government is facing growing calls to combat illegal livestock trafficking, an activity that frequently goes hand in hand with other types of organized crime in the region. 

On June 17, several Nicaraguan business associations released a joint document calling for the government to investigate contraband cattle trafficking in “blind spots” along the country’s borders with Honduras and Costa Rica, reported ACAN-EFE.

Nicaragua's chamber of beef exports, known as CANICARNE, has said cattle rustling is costing the state $276 million in lost tax revenue, according to La Prensa (see La Prensa's graphic on the costs of cattle rustling below). Some 300,000 heads of cattle had been illegally removed from Nicaragua between 2013 to 2014, according to documents that CANICARNE reportedly sent to the government. 

Nicaragua cattle trafficking

Meanwhile, CANICARNE president Raul Barrios has said that due to cattle rustling, Nicaragua's slaughterhouses are now processing 50 percent fewer cattle. The chamber's vice president has demanded a meeting with Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega to discuss the issue, saying the government's response to the problem has been inadequate.

According to a 2011 census, there are 4.12 million heads of cattle in Nicaragua.

InSight Crime Analysis

Cattle rustling is an ongoing problem in Nicaragua and one that merits more attention, especially given that elsewhere in the region, traffickers have used the cattle trade as a way to launder drug money -- sometimes even using the animals to smuggle drugs.

SEE ALSO: Nicaragua News and Profiles

Indeed, some Central American drug transport groups -- including the Leones in Guatemala; and the Cachiros and Valle Valle clan in Honduras -- started out as small-time cattle rustlers, stealing and reselling cattle in border regions. They then re-adapted these smuggling routes and contacts for the drug trade

Cattle rustling in itself is partly a response to market forces, with smugglers seeking out higher prices for the animals in neighboring countries. Nicaraguan police have said they've identified rustlers from Mexico and El Salvador.  

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

ELITES AND CRIME / 15 JUL 2021

In the process of expanding their influence, criminal groups often develop close ties with elites in an effort to gain…

CONTRABAND / 30 JUN 2021

In the absence of an adequate COVID-19 vaccination plan, criminal networks in Venezuela have seized upon ongoing mismanagement to steal…

COCAINE / 15 JUL 2021

The murder of a prominent folk singer in Guatemala thrust a Nicaraguan nightclub owner into the spotlight and revealed an…

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Paraguay Election Coverage Draws Attention 

5 MAY 2023

InSight Crime looked at the various anti-organized crime policies proposed by the candidates in Paraguay’s presidential election, which was won on April 30 by Santiago Peña. Our pre-election coverage was cited…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime Cited in OAS, CARICOM Reports

28 APR 2023

This week, InSight Crime’s work was cited nine times in a new report by the Organization of American States (OAS) titled “The Impact of Organized Crime on Women,…