SAN MANUEL CORTES, Honduras — A U.S. investigation into alleged money laundering for drug traffickers by one of Honduras’ most powerful families has resulted in some unusual victims: thousands of hungry crocodiles.
At least 7,500 crocodiles on a private farm in northern Honduras have been poorly fed in recent weeks because of a lack of resources, authorities and employees at the property said. The bank accounts of the farm’s owner, the Rosenthal family, were seized during a probe into accusations they were operating a money laundering network linked to drug trafficking.
Farm employees told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the animals went without food for more than a month but, thanks to donations, were finally fed over the weekend.
Worker Antonio Mejia said at least 200 small crocodiles had died, but Pablo Dubon, northern regional director of Honduras’ Forest Conservation Institute, said he doubted that claim.
Mejia said the crocodiles were supposedly raised for their skins.
The workers said there were about 9,000 crocodiles at the farm, but authorities said the number probably was closer to 7,500.
“There have been difficulties in feeding (the crocodiles),” Dubon told the AP by telephone.
He said he asked private companies to donate money to buy food for the crocodiles, and on Sunday officials obtained about 23,000 pounds of food, mostly chicken.
Also going hungry at the farm were 12 mammals, including lions and monkeys.
The crocodiles normally chow down on almost any kind of meat — they usually get chicken guts, heads, feet and spoiled chicken — and Mejia said they need a total of 9,000 to 12,000 pounds of food a day.
Farm worker Marco Lazo said sometimes a horse is chopped up and thrown into the mix. “They have gone hungry for about 45 days” before the donated food arrived Saturday, he said.
Drug kingpins have a long history of operating money-losing businesses in Latin America, because it allows them to launder drug money as legitimate.
Even the employees at the crocodile farm acknowledged it was a strange business operation.
Although the farm includes an area where crocs are slaughtered and skinned supposedly for sale, Mejia said that since it opened in 1989, only two shipments of skin or meat have been exported.
