numbers tell the story. and in the last 24 hours, just in the rgv sector, there have been more than 1500 apprehensions. but the number that matters isn t the apprehensions. these are individuals that want to surrender. it s the ones that don t want to be caught and the gotaways in this sector alone, in just the first two months, more than 11,000 known gotaways. but take a look at the video. we went out with this texas dps elite brush unit going after the runners. they are from all over world, from central america to africa, to haiti, to cuba, they are wearing camo gear, tactical boots, they do not want to be caught, and they run very aggressively. it is because of the drones that texas dps uses along with the helicopter, but we went out to experience it with them. it is hard work, it is difficult work, and you are in the middle of the neat going from mid might to six a.m. running through thorns, cactuses, there s
Plants that unfurl their petals only in darkness often condense the drama and poetry of their blossoming into one supercharged and unpredictable evening.
Science|Global Cactus Traffickers Are Cleaning Out the Deserts
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/20/science/cactus-trafficking-chile.html
Copiapoa cinerascens, a cactus, in Pan de Azúcar National Park in the Atacama Desert of Chile.Credit. Gretchen Mattison/Alamy
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Global Cactus Traffickers Are Cleaning Out the Deserts
A recent raid in Italy involving rare Chilean species highlights the growing scale of a black market in the thorny plants.
Copiapoa cinerascens, a cactus, in Pan de Azúcar National Park in the Atacama Desert of Chile.Credit. Gretchen Mattison/Alamy
May 20, 2021, 12:30 p.m. ET
Andrea Cattabriga has seen a lot of cactuses where they didn’t belong. But he’d never seen anything like Operation Atacama, a bust carried out last year in Italy. A cactus expert and president of the Association for Biodiversity and Conservation, Mr. Cattabriga often helps the police identify the odd specimen seized from tourists or intercepted in the post.
announcing yesterday they cut back on random traffic stops. this comes after months of pressure activists and los angeles times reports the cactuses are racist. joining me now, former l.a.p.d. detective. mark, what kind of message does a sense of the police on the front line? it s interesting, laura, when you read everything and all the statistics, nobody actually even addresses what the crime problem is that actually is creating the need for metro to go into a division. we are not talking about the crimes, or the description of the suspects. when i hear random traffic stops, i don t even know what that is. every traffic stop needs probable cause to actually stop that vehicle. whether it s a traffic violation and equipment violation, it looks like a vehicle that was
bill: narrow escape for a driver in tucson, arizona. check it out. you saw it there. giant cactuses in my windshield, mom. look at the size of that thing. the driver was not hurt. julie: i m so confused. how did the cactus end up in the windchill? bill: he hit a median driving down the highway. julie: and he s okay. that s what s shocking. bill: this is my day where this is not my day. bill: i m kind of thinking i m okay, i survived a flying cactus. julie: i ve never seen or heard a story of the cactus and a windshield. this is a first for us in america s newsroom or maybe an