1 00:00:02,800 --> 00:00:05,960 Speaker 1: School of humans. 2 00:00:10,039 --> 00:00:13,920 Speaker 2: It's five in the morning, November twenty fifth, twenty nineteen, 3 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:17,720 Speaker 2: and Ivonne Guthman, a thirty two year old fisherman from 4 00:00:17,800 --> 00:00:24,720 Speaker 2: Mexico's Baja Peninsula, looks out onto Tortugas Bay. The Pacific 5 00:00:24,840 --> 00:00:28,680 Speaker 2: rolls gently at his feet. The first glimmers of sunrise 6 00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:33,920 Speaker 2: reveal a patchwork of boats on the horizon. The waters 7 00:00:33,920 --> 00:00:37,920 Speaker 2: here are popular among sports fishers. Giant schools of black 8 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:41,120 Speaker 2: sea bass and fat and yellowtail lure anglers from hundreds 9 00:00:41,159 --> 00:00:46,000 Speaker 2: of miles away. That's what brought Guthman here, and now 10 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 2: he and five other fishermen prepare their boat and begin 11 00:00:50,600 --> 00:01:02,400 Speaker 2: motoring out onto the water. Destination Isla de Stedros, a 12 00:01:02,400 --> 00:01:04,920 Speaker 2: two hour trip from the docks. The island is a 13 00:01:05,000 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 2: rocky spit of land home to just a few thousand people. 14 00:01:09,240 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 2: A few years back, Mitsubishi built a company town here 15 00:01:12,360 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 2: to store salt. But most locals depend on the fishing industry. 16 00:01:17,600 --> 00:01:21,360 Speaker 2: And then there's the few who rely on the islands well, 17 00:01:21,600 --> 00:01:30,520 Speaker 2: let's just call it the underground economy. The Sinaloa Cartel, 18 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 2: arguably the most powerful and dangerous drug trafficking syndicate in 19 00:01:34,440 --> 00:01:39,119 Speaker 2: the West, calls Sadros their turf, but the cartel does 20 00:01:39,160 --> 00:01:42,920 Speaker 2: not own a monopoly on these waters. Some drug traffickers 21 00:01:42,920 --> 00:01:46,319 Speaker 2: know SROs as a frontier, a place where small time 22 00:01:46,400 --> 00:01:50,360 Speaker 2: drug runners and splinter groups can get their start. Yvonne 23 00:01:50,360 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 2: Gooseman and his fishing buddies they know this, but they're 24 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,840 Speaker 2: fishermen and they stay in their lane, or at least 25 00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:02,760 Speaker 2: that's what they tell people, because on that November day 26 00:02:03,320 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 2: they don't cast their lines into the water. Instead, they 27 00:02:07,320 --> 00:02:11,960 Speaker 2: steer their boat toward the northern point of Sadrus. They 28 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:17,480 Speaker 2: cast anchor slosh onto shore and begun unloading dozens of 29 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,800 Speaker 2: black plastic tubs. Within minutes, they're tossing hundreds of small 30 00:02:22,919 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 2: succulents into the boxes, and little do they know they 31 00:02:27,800 --> 00:02:33,200 Speaker 2: are being watched by evening search and rescue teams are 32 00:02:33,240 --> 00:02:37,240 Speaker 2: looking for the fishermen. One is found dead with a 33 00:02:37,240 --> 00:02:40,640 Speaker 2: bullet hole in the back of his head, another alive 34 00:02:40,680 --> 00:02:45,240 Speaker 2: with a gunshot wound to his arm, and Yvonne Gusman well, 35 00:02:46,160 --> 00:02:51,000 Speaker 2: they find him weeks later, his decaying body bloated, bobbing 36 00:02:51,040 --> 00:02:54,760 Speaker 2: on the surface of the bay, his legs tightly wound 37 00:02:55,000 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 2: with rope. In this episode, plant poaching collides with organized crime. 38 00:03:02,960 --> 00:03:07,040 Speaker 2: How cartels, mobs, and criminal syndicates might be connected to 39 00:03:07,200 --> 00:03:16,720 Speaker 2: some of your favorite plants. I'm Summer rain Oaks from 40 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:22,359 Speaker 2: School of Humans and iHeart podcasts. This is bad seeds. 41 00:03:32,680 --> 00:03:35,960 Speaker 2: On is La de Seyros, there's a threatened succulent called 42 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:40,320 Speaker 2: siempre viva or dudley A pachyphytom. It looks like a 43 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,680 Speaker 2: starry clump of sea an enemies with delicate hints of 44 00:03:43,720 --> 00:03:47,640 Speaker 2: green and chalky white leaves. It's endemic to the island, 45 00:03:48,040 --> 00:03:52,080 Speaker 2: meaning it only grows there, and in recent years in 46 00:03:52,120 --> 00:03:55,960 Speaker 2: East Asia, a single wild Dudleya has been selling for 47 00:03:56,000 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 2: two hundred dollars a pop, and that's been attracting people 48 00:03:59,720 --> 00:04:04,280 Speaker 2: who are hungry to make money, including Mexico's drug cartels. 49 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:10,560 Speaker 1: Criminal activity and criminal networks are often driven by generating 50 00:04:10,600 --> 00:04:12,200 Speaker 1: profit making money. 51 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:15,880 Speaker 2: You may remember Jenny Felt them from the Wildlife Justice Commission. 52 00:04:16,279 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 1: If people are willing to pay high prices for these things, 53 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: criminal networks will want to supply that They will find 54 00:04:23,360 --> 00:04:27,400 Speaker 1: a way to provide that service, regardless of whether it's 55 00:04:27,440 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: legal or not. 56 00:04:29,480 --> 00:04:32,599 Speaker 2: In fact, this Dudleya has been luring criminals for a 57 00:04:32,680 --> 00:04:38,040 Speaker 2: while now. In twenty seventeen, the news outlet Masnotsios reported 58 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:41,320 Speaker 2: that the Mexican military had stopped a tractor trailer driven 59 00:04:41,360 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 2: by three Korean nationals and a Mexican. When they pride 60 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,680 Speaker 2: opened the back doors, they found nearly five thousand Dudley 61 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 2: apachef item one million dollars worth of poached succulents, but 62 00:04:54,000 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 2: that was small fry. More recently, the plant's been targeted 63 00:04:58,120 --> 00:05:00,800 Speaker 2: by major players in the world of organized crime. 64 00:05:01,640 --> 00:05:05,200 Speaker 1: Yet we had been saying in our own investigations with 65 00:05:05,279 --> 00:05:10,000 Speaker 1: wildlife crime was increasing intersection of wildlife crime with other 66 00:05:10,080 --> 00:05:13,480 Speaker 1: types of crime as well. If there are easy ways 67 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:17,240 Speaker 1: to make money and ways to summit the regulatory system 68 00:05:17,279 --> 00:05:21,080 Speaker 1: around it, that's when other criminal groups might be interested 69 00:05:21,120 --> 00:05:25,960 Speaker 1: to exploit those networks. 70 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,800 Speaker 2: In other words, organized crime syndicats have been diversifying their 71 00:05:29,839 --> 00:05:35,880 Speaker 2: portfolios beyond drugs. Some cartel's mine iron, others steal gasoline 72 00:05:35,920 --> 00:05:40,880 Speaker 2: and grow avocados. The Cineloa cartel has an alarmingly large 73 00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:46,279 Speaker 2: stake in Mexico's legal seafood industry, and now they're moving 74 00:05:46,320 --> 00:05:52,039 Speaker 2: into succulents. In the case of the missing fishermen, rescuers 75 00:05:52,040 --> 00:05:55,279 Speaker 2: would find two of them alive not far from where 76 00:05:55,279 --> 00:06:00,200 Speaker 2: the succulents grow. One was uninjured, but the other was 77 00:06:00,240 --> 00:06:04,600 Speaker 2: stained in blood, clutching a bullet wound. Not far from them, 78 00:06:04,800 --> 00:06:08,920 Speaker 2: officials found dozens of tubs filled with dudley a pachyphytum, 79 00:06:09,760 --> 00:06:13,440 Speaker 2: and near those bins was the lifeless body of one 80 00:06:13,480 --> 00:06:20,839 Speaker 2: of their friends, faced down on the rocks. The survivors 81 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:24,839 Speaker 2: told authorities everything that they had been hired by El Creq, 82 00:06:25,640 --> 00:06:29,440 Speaker 2: a sub chapter of the drug cartel. This group, according 83 00:06:29,480 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 2: to the Mexican newspaper and Signata, is involved in quote 84 00:06:33,520 --> 00:06:38,279 Speaker 2: drug trafficking, drug dealing, homicides, and illegal marketing of the 85 00:06:38,360 --> 00:06:44,440 Speaker 2: endemic plant siempre viva. The cartelts believed uses its vast 86 00:06:44,480 --> 00:06:48,360 Speaker 2: smuggling network to send these plants abroad with poached dudleya, 87 00:06:48,480 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 2: traveling to Tijuana, then LAPAs, then to Mexico City, and 88 00:06:53,000 --> 00:06:56,400 Speaker 2: then onward to China or Korea and onto the windowsills 89 00:06:56,400 --> 00:07:01,919 Speaker 2: of unsuspecting succulent collectors in Reais. The cartels are reportedly 90 00:07:02,000 --> 00:07:04,919 Speaker 2: paid in supplies that can be used to synthesize drugs. 91 00:07:05,560 --> 00:07:09,360 Speaker 2: It's basically a barter system. All of this, if I'm 92 00:07:09,360 --> 00:07:13,920 Speaker 2: being honest, sounds weird. Organized criminals and botany sound like 93 00:07:14,040 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 2: such unlikely bedfellows, but the truth is plants launched organized 94 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 2: crime as we know it. And I'm not talking about 95 00:07:23,600 --> 00:07:27,240 Speaker 2: marijuana or cocaine or all the other plants fueling the 96 00:07:27,240 --> 00:07:36,120 Speaker 2: international drug trade. I'm talking lemons. We're in Sicily the 97 00:07:36,240 --> 00:07:42,120 Speaker 2: nineteenth century and citrus fruits are in high demand. Scientists 98 00:07:42,200 --> 00:07:45,480 Speaker 2: recently discovered that vitamin C and lemons and oranges can 99 00:07:45,520 --> 00:07:49,440 Speaker 2: prevent scurvy, and now the shipping industry is knocking down 100 00:07:49,480 --> 00:07:52,080 Speaker 2: doors to get its hands on some cold, hard fruit. 101 00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:59,120 Speaker 3: In these early days, it turned out that Sicily was 102 00:07:59,160 --> 00:08:02,440 Speaker 3: one of the few places is where oranges and lemon 103 00:08:02,560 --> 00:08:03,200 Speaker 3: were grown. 104 00:08:04,200 --> 00:08:07,239 Speaker 2: That's doctor Ola Olson, by the way. He's a Swedish 105 00:08:07,280 --> 00:08:10,520 Speaker 2: economist and an expert on the weird link between lemons 106 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:11,400 Speaker 2: and the mob. 107 00:08:12,240 --> 00:08:16,440 Speaker 3: Cecily could relatively quickly then answer to this greater demand, 108 00:08:16,720 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 3: and this led to kind of a boosting demand that 109 00:08:19,880 --> 00:08:24,280 Speaker 3: happened in a very weakly institutionalized community. 110 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:27,320 Speaker 2: In the mid eighteen hundreds. The state was too weak 111 00:08:27,480 --> 00:08:32,040 Speaker 2: to police the people, so rogues, marauders, brigands and highway 112 00:08:32,080 --> 00:08:36,640 Speaker 2: bandits plagued the countryside. Living in Sicily was every man 113 00:08:36,720 --> 00:08:37,479 Speaker 2: for himself. 114 00:08:37,920 --> 00:08:41,239 Speaker 3: The general environment at this time was a very unstable, 115 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,440 Speaker 3: weakly institutions, lot of mistrust in government. 116 00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:48,440 Speaker 2: For lemon farmers, the picking season was a time to 117 00:08:48,600 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 2: watch your back. A smart poacher could steal a year's 118 00:08:53,000 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 2: harvest in just a night or two. Unable to rely 119 00:08:57,120 --> 00:09:02,079 Speaker 2: on the state for protection, farmers grabbed shotguns and built walls. 120 00:09:02,679 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 2: But this wasn't enough. The bandits kept coming, and growers 121 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:09,520 Speaker 2: began looking for alternatives. 122 00:09:10,520 --> 00:09:15,640 Speaker 3: The people who cultivated citrus then needed to employ different 123 00:09:15,679 --> 00:09:20,640 Speaker 3: types of security personnel, and often this personnel came from 124 00:09:21,000 --> 00:09:24,960 Speaker 3: groups that had established themselves locally as some kind of 125 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:28,319 Speaker 3: strong men that could bring some order to the kind 126 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:32,320 Speaker 3: of local chaotic situation. When this sort of state could 127 00:09:32,320 --> 00:09:34,680 Speaker 3: not really do that efficiently. 128 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:40,840 Speaker 2: Hiring local roughnecks worked, at least for a while. Sicilian 129 00:09:40,920 --> 00:09:45,199 Speaker 2: lemon production actually skyrocketed three thousand percent over a decade. 130 00:09:45,840 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 2: Profits stored until the men hired to do the security well, 131 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:52,320 Speaker 2: they began demanding a bigger piece of the cut. 132 00:09:52,679 --> 00:09:56,480 Speaker 3: So in this institutional vacuum. This is together with this 133 00:09:56,760 --> 00:10:01,080 Speaker 3: huge demand for citrus fruits. That's why we believe that 134 00:10:01,120 --> 00:10:02,120 Speaker 3: the mafia rose. 135 00:10:04,160 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 2: The guards watching the lemon groves began organizing and extorting farmers, 136 00:10:09,160 --> 00:10:12,640 Speaker 2: stealing from their trees and selling the lemons in private. 137 00:10:13,480 --> 00:10:16,840 Speaker 3: They actually infiltrated in this way, both acting as middlemen, 138 00:10:16,960 --> 00:10:21,079 Speaker 3: but also acting more directly in the harbors, in the ports, 139 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:26,400 Speaker 3: monitoring and also squeezing rents out of the trade in 140 00:10:26,440 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 3: different stages, so to speak, both directly and indirectly. 141 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:40,959 Speaker 2: The consequences for not cooperating could be dire. In eighteen 142 00:10:41,040 --> 00:10:44,959 Speaker 2: seventy two, one lemon grove owner, a doctor Golotti, fired 143 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:48,760 Speaker 2: his warden for stealing fruit. He hired a new guard, 144 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:53,040 Speaker 2: but then the warden's friends shot the new security. Detailed 145 00:10:53,120 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 2: dead menacing letters poured into Golotti's home demanding that he 146 00:10:58,160 --> 00:11:04,760 Speaker 2: rehire his old help. Intimidation, it turns out, worked. The 147 00:11:04,800 --> 00:11:08,240 Speaker 2: middlemen of the lemon trade group together swore oaths and 148 00:11:08,360 --> 00:11:13,280 Speaker 2: soon controlled much of the fruit supply chain. Some mafioso's 149 00:11:13,480 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 2: were so well organized that they were able to wrest 150 00:11:16,760 --> 00:11:22,400 Speaker 2: property from the farmers themselves. Eventually, the group expanded beyond fruit. 151 00:11:22,960 --> 00:11:26,440 Speaker 2: They got involved with local sulfur mines, and when Florida 152 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:30,000 Speaker 2: overtook Sicily as a new citrus hub, these groups up 153 00:11:30,480 --> 00:11:34,520 Speaker 2: well how do I put it new business opportunities. 154 00:11:34,600 --> 00:11:38,600 Speaker 3: Like smuggling of people or smuggling of arms. I would 155 00:11:38,600 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 3: say it's pretty is standard that these groups try eventually 156 00:11:42,200 --> 00:11:46,959 Speaker 3: to diversify as potentially one first origin in a sense, 157 00:11:47,040 --> 00:11:49,640 Speaker 3: but then they quickly move on to other goods. 158 00:11:50,520 --> 00:11:55,160 Speaker 2: The point is organized crime and the plant and wildlife trade. 159 00:11:55,840 --> 00:12:00,920 Speaker 2: They are more intertwined than you can imagine. Militant groups 160 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:04,840 Speaker 2: in East Africa, fron terrorists through ivory poaching the Talipan 161 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 2: made hundreds of millions controlling Afghanistan's poppy harmist A few 162 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,640 Speaker 2: decades ago, insurgent maoists in Nepal beefed up their wartime 163 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 2: bank accounts by selling a pricey fungus called cordyceps that 164 00:12:17,440 --> 00:12:21,680 Speaker 2: and I'm not making this up, grows on caterpillars, and 165 00:12:21,760 --> 00:12:27,640 Speaker 2: detective agencies know this. Since twenty seventeen, sting operations staged 166 00:12:27,640 --> 00:12:31,280 Speaker 2: by Interpol's Wildlife Crime Working Groups have arrested more than 167 00:12:31,480 --> 00:12:36,600 Speaker 2: three thousand people, and when the dollars are counted, wildlife 168 00:12:36,679 --> 00:12:42,360 Speaker 2: smuggling only lacks behind human firearms and drug trafficking. The 169 00:12:42,440 --> 00:12:46,480 Speaker 2: United Nations projects that wildlife crime will continue to increase 170 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,400 Speaker 2: five to seven percent each year. And yet, despite this 171 00:12:51,559 --> 00:12:56,200 Speaker 2: long history, and despite the obvious growth, efforts to stop 172 00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,520 Speaker 2: it have been pretty wimpy at best. 173 00:13:00,240 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: Environmental crime isn't prioritized by law enforcement compared to other 174 00:13:04,400 --> 00:13:06,960 Speaker 1: types of crime. You know, it sounds a rasourced compared 175 00:13:06,960 --> 00:13:10,000 Speaker 1: to other crime types. If the penalty is not even 176 00:13:10,760 --> 00:13:13,960 Speaker 1: one tenth of the profit, which is often the case, 177 00:13:14,280 --> 00:13:16,720 Speaker 1: it's just a cost of doing business. At the end 178 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:20,000 Speaker 1: of the day, will have no impact in stopping or 179 00:13:20,040 --> 00:13:21,120 Speaker 1: deterring that crime. 180 00:13:22,520 --> 00:13:27,600 Speaker 2: Turns out, crime does pay. And if succulents and lemons 181 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:31,240 Speaker 2: are enough to lure cartels in the mob, just imagine 182 00:13:31,240 --> 00:13:34,559 Speaker 2: what it must be like when an individual plant can 183 00:13:34,600 --> 00:13:40,240 Speaker 2: fetch fifty thousand dollars. A look inside the syndicates stealing 184 00:13:40,240 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 2: the most expensive plants on the planet. When we return, 185 00:13:54,080 --> 00:13:57,280 Speaker 2: I want you to close your eyes and imagine. Imagine 186 00:13:57,280 --> 00:14:01,120 Speaker 2: the world sixty five million years yars ago to the 187 00:14:01,160 --> 00:14:06,920 Speaker 2: age of dinosaurs. You're surrounded by jungle. It's muggy, the 188 00:14:07,000 --> 00:14:12,880 Speaker 2: sweat is beating on your brow. Above, winged reptiles sore below. 189 00:14:13,240 --> 00:14:17,559 Speaker 2: Giant beetles and primitive possums scurry through the undergrowth nearby, 190 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,600 Speaker 2: munching on some plants is one of my favorites, the 191 00:14:20,720 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 2: long necked Alamosaurus. But I want you to imagine the 192 00:14:25,440 --> 00:14:30,160 Speaker 2: plant life too. It's so green. There are ferns and 193 00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 2: conifers and Ginko's galore, some of the world's first flowering plants. 194 00:14:35,320 --> 00:14:40,120 Speaker 2: Beautiful pink blossoms are taking room. And then you notice 195 00:14:40,240 --> 00:14:44,000 Speaker 2: this strange stubby tree that is. 196 00:14:43,960 --> 00:14:48,520 Speaker 4: A cycad s perfessional is looked like a palm. 197 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:52,120 Speaker 2: That's Anders Lindstrum. He's a botanist at the nong Nutched 198 00:14:52,120 --> 00:14:55,680 Speaker 2: Tropical Garden in Thailand, home to the largest collection of 199 00:14:55,760 --> 00:14:58,400 Speaker 2: cycads in the world, which I had the pleasure of 200 00:14:58,480 --> 00:14:59,880 Speaker 2: visiting a few years back. 201 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,000 Speaker 4: The main difference between a psycha and the palm is 202 00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 4: I will reproductive structure. Palms have actually flowers, but the 203 00:15:08,520 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 4: fertile structure of psychad are looking like pine cones. 204 00:15:13,080 --> 00:15:16,320 Speaker 2: These palmy greens are some of the oldest plants in 205 00:15:16,360 --> 00:15:17,240 Speaker 2: the world. 206 00:15:17,400 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 4: They're ancient blond groups that spat back to the dinosaur time, 207 00:15:22,800 --> 00:15:27,480 Speaker 4: and they have survived and actually flourished off to the dinosaur. 208 00:15:28,400 --> 00:15:34,480 Speaker 2: Honders call cycads living fossils, and that means they could 209 00:15:34,520 --> 00:15:39,760 Speaker 2: command a high price a single cycad can fetch upwards 210 00:15:39,800 --> 00:15:44,239 Speaker 2: of one hundred thousand dollars. If you tallied the profits 211 00:15:44,520 --> 00:15:47,880 Speaker 2: from all the cycads poached over the last two decades, 212 00:15:48,520 --> 00:15:53,240 Speaker 2: you'd have more than six hundred million dollars. A lot 213 00:15:53,280 --> 00:15:57,720 Speaker 2: of those thefts have happened in South Africa. That country 214 00:15:58,000 --> 00:16:02,480 Speaker 2: is home to a tenth of all sieicad species. In 215 00:16:02,520 --> 00:16:06,880 Speaker 2: the two decades leading up to twenty fourteen, endangered psycads 216 00:16:06,920 --> 00:16:11,520 Speaker 2: there declined ninety percent. In the words of the Global 217 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 2: Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. 218 00:16:14,400 --> 00:16:19,160 Speaker 5: The illicit psycad trade in South Africa has grown so organized, lucrative, 219 00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:22,200 Speaker 5: and harmful that the authorities have identified it as a 220 00:16:22,240 --> 00:16:27,200 Speaker 5: priority wildlife crime alongside rhino, elephant and avaloni poaching. 221 00:16:28,320 --> 00:16:31,800 Speaker 2: In fact, it's gotten so bad that some estimates suggest 222 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:35,920 Speaker 2: that psychads are now the most endangered living organism in 223 00:16:36,000 --> 00:16:40,320 Speaker 2: the world. In some parts of South Africa, the rarest 224 00:16:40,360 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 2: wild cycads are now microchipped just in case they're ever stolen, 225 00:16:45,720 --> 00:16:49,800 Speaker 2: but thefts continue. One allure is, of course their rarity, 226 00:16:50,160 --> 00:16:52,080 Speaker 2: but also their longevity. 227 00:16:53,200 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 4: Because they grows so slow, you can keep them probably 228 00:16:55,600 --> 00:16:58,600 Speaker 4: your lifetime, in your living room, and they will never 229 00:16:58,640 --> 00:17:02,320 Speaker 4: outgrow your living room, so it's like a piece of 230 00:17:02,960 --> 00:17:06,639 Speaker 4: vintage art or something. The plant you own is one 231 00:17:06,720 --> 00:17:10,240 Speaker 4: hundred or two hundred years old and therefore very expensive. 232 00:17:10,680 --> 00:17:14,159 Speaker 4: So unfortunately, a lot of people see that as an investment. 233 00:17:14,680 --> 00:17:16,680 Speaker 4: They pay a lot of money for these plants, and 234 00:17:16,720 --> 00:17:19,800 Speaker 4: they keep it their role life. In the end of 235 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:22,080 Speaker 4: their life, they can still sell the plant. Further. 236 00:17:23,000 --> 00:17:25,960 Speaker 2: This desirability prompted the New York Times back in two 237 00:17:26,000 --> 00:17:29,320 Speaker 2: thousand and five to proclaim that psychads were quote the 238 00:17:29,359 --> 00:17:34,760 Speaker 2: botanical equivalent of a garage full of rolls royces. A cult, 239 00:17:34,760 --> 00:17:37,879 Speaker 2: the Time said, has grown up around these plants that 240 00:17:37,960 --> 00:17:41,399 Speaker 2: include a cadre of bad guys who smuggle for profit. 241 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,879 Speaker 2: These crooks are not drug cartels doing plant crime on 242 00:17:45,920 --> 00:17:50,960 Speaker 2: the side. These are full time psycad syndicates, and they're 243 00:17:51,000 --> 00:17:54,480 Speaker 2: doing the dirty work of smuggling these plants overseas with 244 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:56,400 Speaker 2: devastating consequences. 245 00:17:57,240 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 4: An area it has a couple one hundred plants, maybe 246 00:17:59,720 --> 00:18:02,720 Speaker 4: of some specie, and they have been there for ages, 247 00:18:02,760 --> 00:18:06,120 Speaker 4: of course, but then the people coming and poach them, 248 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:10,760 Speaker 4: and the regeneration is very low. Usually out of three 249 00:18:10,840 --> 00:18:14,920 Speaker 4: four hundred seeds days. Yes, a few percent that actually 250 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:18,520 Speaker 4: survive into majority. So when you're going to many of 251 00:18:18,600 --> 00:18:22,879 Speaker 4: these populations, if you take out the big plants that 252 00:18:23,040 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 4: set the seed and there is no seedlings to start with, 253 00:18:27,280 --> 00:18:30,880 Speaker 4: then the whole population has collapsed. When you take out 254 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:35,280 Speaker 4: the mature plants, you basically cut the throat of the 255 00:18:35,320 --> 00:18:36,080 Speaker 4: whole population. 256 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,200 Speaker 2: These plants have been part of the Earth's ecosystem since 257 00:18:40,240 --> 00:18:46,119 Speaker 2: the dinosaurs. They've survived mass extinctions and global catastrophes, but 258 00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:50,040 Speaker 2: they may not survive human greed, which is why. In 259 00:18:50,080 --> 00:18:52,359 Speaker 2: two thousand and one, agents with the US Fish and 260 00:18:52,400 --> 00:18:58,879 Speaker 2: Wildlife Service courted one of the psychad syndicates responsible. The 261 00:18:58,920 --> 00:19:02,360 Speaker 2: mission was dubbed Opera Botany. Special agents opened a fake 262 00:19:02,440 --> 00:19:06,560 Speaker 2: business called Hugh Enterprises, and, using aliases, began seeking out 263 00:19:06,640 --> 00:19:10,040 Speaker 2: rare and illegal psycads. Their bids caught the attention of 264 00:19:10,119 --> 00:19:15,120 Speaker 2: smugglers Rolf Bauer and Yonfonfieren in South Africa. The men 265 00:19:15,200 --> 00:19:18,720 Speaker 2: were surprisingly open about how they smuggled endangered cycads into 266 00:19:18,760 --> 00:19:22,119 Speaker 2: the US. They poached the plants from the wild, and 267 00:19:22,200 --> 00:19:26,480 Speaker 2: before transporting them over seas, stripped the cycads of their leaves. 268 00:19:27,359 --> 00:19:31,919 Speaker 2: Naked the endangered cycads were unrecognizable, allowing the smugglers to 269 00:19:31,960 --> 00:19:37,879 Speaker 2: mislabel them fooling customs, and it worked. In a July 270 00:19:38,000 --> 00:19:41,560 Speaker 2: two thousand one shipment, the smugglers flew one hundred and 271 00:19:41,640 --> 00:19:47,560 Speaker 2: fourteen rare Encephalardis Muncii under a different name. In the end, 272 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,080 Speaker 2: more than eight hundred and forty thousand dollars worth of 273 00:19:51,080 --> 00:19:56,480 Speaker 2: illegal cycads came through San Francisco International Airport and then 274 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:03,400 Speaker 2: came the state. The agents invited the smugglers to Las 275 00:20:03,520 --> 00:20:07,080 Speaker 2: Vegas as a thank you. After a few nights of partying, 276 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:09,240 Speaker 2: the men got into the car that they were told 277 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,800 Speaker 2: would drive them to the airport for a private flight. Instead, 278 00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 2: they got a visit from the fence. The eye don't mean, 279 00:20:21,520 --> 00:20:25,240 Speaker 2: but cases like this are the exception. Most pycad syndicates 280 00:20:25,280 --> 00:20:29,240 Speaker 2: work from Afar, much like the Mexican cartel enlisting poor fishermen. 281 00:20:29,520 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 2: Sycad crooks are now hiring locals to do the poaching. 282 00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,879 Speaker 2: But in Southern Africa, the ruse is exposing old fault 283 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,440 Speaker 2: lines of race and class. Most of the ringleaders are 284 00:20:40,560 --> 00:20:43,720 Speaker 2: rich and white, but most of the people on the ground, 285 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,760 Speaker 2: those at the greatest risk of getting busted, are poor 286 00:20:46,920 --> 00:20:51,240 Speaker 2: and black. One organized sycad ring in Zimbabwe, for instance, 287 00:20:51,400 --> 00:20:55,080 Speaker 2: was caught stealing eighty one cycads. More than half of 288 00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:59,320 Speaker 2: the poachers were unemployed locals, and the rates they earned 289 00:20:59,440 --> 00:21:03,080 Speaker 2: were a busy just six dollars for a three thousand 290 00:21:03,080 --> 00:21:07,720 Speaker 2: dollars plant, less than half a percent of the total cut. 291 00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,080 Speaker 2: We did dozens of interviews for this podcast, and that's 292 00:21:14,119 --> 00:21:18,480 Speaker 2: been a theme that as bad as poaching is, many 293 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,320 Speaker 2: of the people doing it aren't the ring leaders. Many 294 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:26,119 Speaker 2: are doing it out of desperation. But Anders has a 295 00:21:26,160 --> 00:21:28,879 Speaker 2: story of how he might be able to break that cycle. 296 00:21:29,480 --> 00:21:34,440 Speaker 4: There was a cyca from China, Cycas debuensis, and they 297 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:38,159 Speaker 4: said the population was like a thousand plants, and when 298 00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:40,960 Speaker 4: it was described, everyone went in to dig it with 299 00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:45,040 Speaker 4: the help of the locals because they needed money and everything. 300 00:21:45,600 --> 00:21:48,000 Speaker 4: And we went in there and we did an inventory 301 00:21:48,040 --> 00:21:51,360 Speaker 4: of the whatever plants were left in the wild, and 302 00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,280 Speaker 4: at the time we had less than one hundred plants left. 303 00:21:54,800 --> 00:21:57,679 Speaker 4: So what was the problem. Why why did the local 304 00:21:57,920 --> 00:22:01,280 Speaker 4: dig the plants? Oh they needed money, right, yeah, everyone 305 00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,560 Speaker 4: needs money, But for what This was a village shop 306 00:22:04,560 --> 00:22:07,800 Speaker 4: in the mountain, far away from everything. You can't just 307 00:22:07,840 --> 00:22:10,520 Speaker 4: go to a supermarket and buy a new car or something. 308 00:22:10,600 --> 00:22:12,960 Speaker 4: So what do you need the money for? Oh, the 309 00:22:13,119 --> 00:22:17,280 Speaker 4: kids needed school and the closest school was quite far away. 310 00:22:17,600 --> 00:22:21,000 Speaker 4: To get them to school was a major financial burden 311 00:22:21,080 --> 00:22:26,880 Speaker 4: for their village people. So we suggested that what only 312 00:22:27,119 --> 00:22:31,360 Speaker 4: get to school built nearby, actually right in the village. 313 00:22:31,880 --> 00:22:35,040 Speaker 4: And we also raised money from the Psychic Society in 314 00:22:35,040 --> 00:22:39,919 Speaker 4: the US and they provided the books, pencils, and so 315 00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:41,240 Speaker 4: on for their kids. 316 00:22:41,920 --> 00:22:44,880 Speaker 2: And after a lot of wrangling and hobnobbing, the school 317 00:22:44,920 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 2: was built. Parents weren't so desperate for money, and the 318 00:22:48,800 --> 00:22:52,080 Speaker 2: kids got to stay home, and the plants well, they 319 00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:53,280 Speaker 2: started to thrive again. 320 00:22:53,840 --> 00:22:56,320 Speaker 4: Now I believe it's over one thousand plants back in 321 00:22:56,359 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 4: the wild again. Everyone is happy. If we didn't step 322 00:22:59,840 --> 00:23:03,199 Speaker 4: in at that time, they probably wouldn't survive in the 323 00:23:03,240 --> 00:23:06,280 Speaker 4: long term. You can come in and say don't dig 324 00:23:06,320 --> 00:23:08,240 Speaker 4: this plant, don't do that. You know, you can fence 325 00:23:08,280 --> 00:23:11,159 Speaker 4: it all in and build a cage and whatever, or 326 00:23:11,200 --> 00:23:14,159 Speaker 4: you haven't solved the problem. Unfortunately, not a very common 327 00:23:14,200 --> 00:23:16,000 Speaker 4: approach in nature conservation. 328 00:23:16,880 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 2: But Anders thinks that over time that could change. More 329 00:23:20,920 --> 00:23:25,080 Speaker 2: conservationists are realizing that band aids don't work that. If 330 00:23:25,080 --> 00:23:28,160 Speaker 2: we want to stop the cycle, we need to address 331 00:23:28,320 --> 00:23:41,919 Speaker 2: the root causes of poaching. When Yvonne Guzman and his 332 00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:45,240 Speaker 2: fellow fishermen set out on that November day, they didn't 333 00:23:45,240 --> 00:23:48,800 Speaker 2: give much thought to the macroeconomics, the market implications, or 334 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:52,200 Speaker 2: the international supply chain. They were just trying to earn 335 00:23:52,200 --> 00:23:56,400 Speaker 2: a buck, and as news reports later showed, it appears 336 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 2: the money led fishermen to a fatal mistake. Reports suggest 337 00:24:01,400 --> 00:24:03,639 Speaker 2: that the men may have agreed to pick succulents for 338 00:24:03,680 --> 00:24:09,280 Speaker 2: not one, but multiple competing cartels. If true, it appears 339 00:24:09,280 --> 00:24:12,720 Speaker 2: that the word got out the fishermen had failed to 340 00:24:12,760 --> 00:24:17,400 Speaker 2: show loyalty, and so that day a boat of goons 341 00:24:17,560 --> 00:24:30,160 Speaker 2: ambushed them. In the end, two men, including Gusman, were murdered. Now, 342 00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:33,520 Speaker 2: admittedly succulents are still a pretty small part of the 343 00:24:33,600 --> 00:24:39,120 Speaker 2: cartel's portfolio, but stories like these are sadly becoming more 344 00:24:39,200 --> 00:24:45,880 Speaker 2: and more common, especially when you consider other plants, especially trees. 345 00:24:46,960 --> 00:24:50,119 Speaker 1: With our research, we found that there's quite a strong link. 346 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:54,160 Speaker 1: We've teamba crime and drug chaffee king. That link, he's 347 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:57,440 Speaker 1: really strong, particularly in Central and South America. 348 00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:00,000 Speaker 2: In fact, the experts already have a name for it. 349 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: Narco deforestation is sort of a term that's being used 350 00:25:04,920 --> 00:25:09,920 Speaker 1: more widely now. Forest's being cut for airstrips, for landing 351 00:25:09,960 --> 00:25:13,160 Speaker 1: planes to move product from where it's grown and producing 352 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:18,160 Speaker 1: into consumer markets. There's forest clearing that happens for cattle ranching, 353 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:23,080 Speaker 1: for laundering drug money. You've got forest areas being cleaned, 354 00:25:23,320 --> 00:25:27,719 Speaker 1: sometimes even in protected areas, to grow coca. 355 00:25:28,000 --> 00:25:31,239 Speaker 2: And some groups are just cutting and stealing trees for 356 00:25:31,280 --> 00:25:37,680 Speaker 2: the old fashioned reason to make money. Take Columbia. When 357 00:25:37,720 --> 00:25:41,160 Speaker 2: FARK signed a peace agreement a few years ago, smaller 358 00:25:41,200 --> 00:25:45,680 Speaker 2: crime syndicates groups like Los Bontieros and the National Liberation 359 00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:51,320 Speaker 2: Army swarmed in and started clearing land. Just recently, a 360 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:55,159 Speaker 2: criminal network was arrested for illegally chopping down eight hundred 361 00:25:55,160 --> 00:25:59,080 Speaker 2: and sixty five acres of forest in Central and South America. 362 00:25:59,520 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 2: Narco forestation has turned into a cottage industry. The timber 363 00:26:04,200 --> 00:26:07,560 Speaker 2: not only earns cartel's a tidy income, but also helps 364 00:26:07,640 --> 00:26:10,439 Speaker 2: hide the dirty dealings lurking in the shadows. 365 00:26:11,119 --> 00:26:13,879 Speaker 1: So the timber industry could be used as a kava, 366 00:26:14,040 --> 00:26:17,879 Speaker 1: for example, a concealment method. And we've wildlife trafficking. We 367 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,760 Speaker 1: often say that as well that team the companies can 368 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:22,719 Speaker 1: be used as front companies. 369 00:26:23,680 --> 00:26:27,200 Speaker 2: The reasons for it are by now obvious low risk, 370 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:35,080 Speaker 2: high reward. But as species disappear, organized criminals are expected 371 00:26:35,080 --> 00:26:37,920 Speaker 2: to make more than one hundred and nineteen billion dollars 372 00:26:37,960 --> 00:26:40,840 Speaker 2: this year in the illegal trade of plants and animals, 373 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,560 Speaker 2: but the ripple effects are worse. The estimated impact of 374 00:26:46,600 --> 00:26:51,080 Speaker 2: these environmental crimes is expected to cost more than half 375 00:26:51,160 --> 00:26:55,240 Speaker 2: a trillion dollars. Slaps on the wrist aren't going to 376 00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:59,320 Speaker 2: stop that kind of money, especially large cartels, which are 377 00:26:59,359 --> 00:27:01,840 Speaker 2: perfectly situated for this kind of business. 378 00:27:04,480 --> 00:27:07,120 Speaker 1: They must have a chain of people who are buying 379 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:11,840 Speaker 1: sourcing products, consolidating them to make those big shipments. People 380 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:16,000 Speaker 1: who are organized in terms of liaising, getting the logistics 381 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: together to move that shipment, getting it through a port 382 00:27:19,200 --> 00:27:21,680 Speaker 1: or an airport to move it internationally. 383 00:27:22,280 --> 00:27:24,880 Speaker 2: The bigger the group, the harder it is to find 384 00:27:24,960 --> 00:27:29,560 Speaker 2: who exactly is responsible. In fact, even when we know 385 00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:33,640 Speaker 2: these crimes are happening, it can be hard to stop them. 386 00:27:34,080 --> 00:27:40,040 Speaker 2: Take this case from twenty fifteen. So there is this containership. 387 00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:42,560 Speaker 1: Fully loaded with timber, and it's. 388 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:43,840 Speaker 2: Set to sail from Peru to. 389 00:27:43,840 --> 00:27:47,760 Speaker 1: The United States to Houston. Was it some final destination. 390 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:51,600 Speaker 2: Well, on that day it's supposed to depart, everything stops. 391 00:27:53,640 --> 00:27:57,240 Speaker 1: A public prosecutor came on board and tried to seize 392 00:27:57,400 --> 00:27:59,080 Speaker 1: a portion of the timber. 393 00:27:59,520 --> 00:28:02,040 Speaker 2: Apparently the word got out that some of the timber. 394 00:28:02,000 --> 00:28:04,480 Speaker 1: Fifteen percent of the total. 395 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,240 Speaker 2: Is illegal. The inspectors have a chat with the ship 396 00:28:08,280 --> 00:28:11,360 Speaker 2: captain and eventually they come to an agreement. 397 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:15,160 Speaker 1: Leave port, deliver the timber just returned with that fifteen 398 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: percent portion that was found to be illegal at the 399 00:28:18,640 --> 00:28:21,399 Speaker 1: end of the voyage. 400 00:28:23,119 --> 00:28:26,639 Speaker 2: So the ship leaves port and the investigators they start 401 00:28:26,680 --> 00:28:29,080 Speaker 2: looking deeper into the keyse They. 402 00:28:28,960 --> 00:28:32,000 Speaker 1: Were looking at all the documentation from the timber where 403 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:36,560 Speaker 1: it was extracted from to verify whether it was legal 404 00:28:36,680 --> 00:28:36,919 Speaker 1: or not. 405 00:28:37,840 --> 00:28:41,680 Speaker 2: What they find sharks them letting the boat go was 406 00:28:41,720 --> 00:28:42,960 Speaker 2: a huge mistique. 407 00:28:43,200 --> 00:28:47,200 Speaker 1: The entire shipment was actually illegal. Around ninety six percent 408 00:28:47,280 --> 00:28:48,360 Speaker 1: they found was illegal. 409 00:28:48,720 --> 00:28:50,200 Speaker 2: But now it's too late. 410 00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: The ship had sailed and eventually it was delivered to 411 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:54,800 Speaker 1: the United States. 412 00:28:57,560 --> 00:29:00,920 Speaker 2: It's worth noting that this has led to dozens of 413 00:29:00,960 --> 00:29:06,080 Speaker 2: court cases, many happening right now, and it seems likely 414 00:29:06,120 --> 00:29:10,360 Speaker 2: that whoever was behind this illegal harvest, they probably had 415 00:29:10,400 --> 00:29:13,640 Speaker 2: some kind of connection to the people on the inside. 416 00:29:14,400 --> 00:29:19,120 Speaker 1: If a company is paying to get a license in 417 00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:23,040 Speaker 1: a way that is outside of the official process, it's 418 00:29:23,160 --> 00:29:26,520 Speaker 1: very likely that that money has to flow up the 419 00:29:26,640 --> 00:29:30,400 Speaker 1: chain to the individuals signing off on that license or permit, 420 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:33,040 Speaker 1: which is a person you know sometimes right at the top. 421 00:29:37,440 --> 00:29:41,080 Speaker 2: You know the old phrase follow the money. Well, when 422 00:29:41,120 --> 00:29:45,720 Speaker 2: you follow the trail left by organized criminals, sometimes it 423 00:29:45,880 --> 00:29:47,959 Speaker 2: leads you to the halls of power. 424 00:29:48,440 --> 00:29:53,240 Speaker 1: There've been other allegations in other countries involving very senior officials, 425 00:29:53,360 --> 00:29:56,400 Speaker 1: very high level individuals. 426 00:29:55,680 --> 00:29:59,440 Speaker 2: To political leaders, and some of the companies you love 427 00:30:00,800 --> 00:30:01,360 Speaker 2: coming up. 428 00:30:01,800 --> 00:30:04,440 Speaker 4: I'm in a terrible trouble, and they deserve to get 429 00:30:04,440 --> 00:30:07,520 Speaker 4: into trouble. The corruption was so high level that the 430 00:30:07,560 --> 00:30:11,840 Speaker 4: paperwork could be really seem pristine enough. 431 00:30:12,000 --> 00:30:12,520 Speaker 5: They came in. 432 00:30:12,840 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 3: Everybody, we heard, we're being rated. 433 00:30:15,320 --> 00:30:18,800 Speaker 2: We're being rated. Everyone to the back. I'm Summer rain Oaks. 434 00:30:19,400 --> 00:30:25,960 Speaker 2: Join us again next time for Bad Seeds. Bad Seeds 435 00:30:26,000 --> 00:30:29,000 Speaker 2: is a production of School of Humans and iHeart Podcasts. 436 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:33,400 Speaker 2: I'm your host Summer rain Oaks. Lucas Riley is our writer, 437 00:30:33,880 --> 00:30:36,959 Speaker 2: Gabby Watts is our producer, and Amelia Brock is our 438 00:30:37,000 --> 00:30:40,920 Speaker 2: senior producer. Fact Checking is by Savannah Hugely and Zoe Farrell. 439 00:30:41,680 --> 00:30:45,360 Speaker 2: Original music is by Claire Campbell. Sound design and scores 440 00:30:45,400 --> 00:30:49,240 Speaker 2: by Jesse Niswanger. Our show art is by Pam Peacock. 441 00:30:49,920 --> 00:30:54,200 Speaker 2: Development was by Brian Lavin and Jacob Selzer. Special thanks 442 00:30:54,200 --> 00:30:58,959 Speaker 2: for a voice actor Miranda Hawkins. Executive producers are Brian Lavin, 443 00:30:59,240 --> 00:31:03,720 Speaker 2: Elsie Crowley, Brandon Barr, Virginia Prescott and Jacob Selzer.