Mexican cartels coerce undocumented laborers to cultivate marijuana plantations

Cartels in Mexico have discovered that using undocumented laborers to cultivate marijuana plantations helps them avoid detection and arrest. By monitoring plantations in forested areas along the border, especially in California, cartel members working in areas such as Los Angeles, Sinaloa, and Tijuana are able to evade capture. According to Univision Noticias, many undocumented individuals are promised future jobs as farmers and are then taken to drug plantations. Others are threatened or intimidated to work. Some report being forced to work at gunpoint. Because workers are undocumented, it is unlikely they would contact authorities for fear of deportation. Read Article