Something Else Is Getting Smuggled In From Mexico

It's a type of cross-border smuggling many people probably don't know exists: cactus smuggling. Writer Charlie McCann tags along on an unusual road trip across Mexico with a band of cactus lovers who quietly break the law. The story in 1843 details how the group—led by a California nursery owner obsessed with succulents—hunts for rare desert plants and seeds that can fetch high prices among collectors. Their mission is technically illegal: collecting wild cacti and sneaking them across borders. Yet the smugglers insist they're not villains but conservationists, rescuing species that might otherwise vanish from fragile habitats. "I'm lucky enough to believe that what I'm doing is helping nature," says the nursery owner, identified by the pseudonym Ran Fowler.

Others aren't so sure about that, and McCann explores the ethical gray zone and the rift within the plant community. Self-described "ethical poachers" say restrictive laws hinder real conservation, while scientists and younger hobbyists quoted in the piece see that rationalization as rooted in colonial-era plant theft—the same collector culture that has wiped out wild populations. By the time Fowler returns to the US with his undeclared cuttings, McCann leaves readers with a pointed question: Given that most of the seeds and cuttings harvested on the excursion were not taken explicitly for conservation, "was this ethical smuggling, or just smuggling?" Read the full piece.