'It's aquatic cocaine': Mexican smugglers are now selling FISH BLADDERS for thousands of dollars

A bladder from the endangered Totoaba fish from the Gulf of California sells between $7,000 and $14,000

Soup containing a bladder may go for $25,000 in China

In Mexico, a man allegedly murdered Samuel Gallardo Castro in June due to an outstanding $1million fish payment, and last year four traffickers were busted

Mexican regulators seized illegal totoaba bladders worth an estimated $2.25million in 2013 alone

The bladders of endangered fish from the Gulf of California reportedly sell for thousands illegally.



A Totoaba fish bladder sells between $7,000 and $14,000 - and soup containing the organ may go for $25,000 in China, according to a Mexicali Digital report.

Totoaba bladders travel to the United States and and eventually reach Asia, the website reported.



Totoaba bladders: This undated image provided by the U.S. Attorney's Office shows totoaba that have been gutted to harvest their bladders

According to the Smithsonian Institution's website, one totoaba bladder can attract a $5,000 payoff in the United States, and more than $10,000 in Asia.



Both Mexican drug cartels and US smugglers have transported the fish, according to Fox News Latino.



In Mexico, Samuel Gallardo Castro was allegedly murdered in June due to an outstanding $1million fish payment, and last year four traffickers were busted, Fox said.



Mexican regulators seized illegal totoaba bladders worth an estimated $2.25million in 2013 alone.



In the United States, seven defendants were charged in four separate complaints with unlawful trade in wildlife.



Tasty treat: Soup containing a totoaba bladder may go for $25,000 in China

Fishy: This March 2013 image provided by the U.S. attorney's Office shows Totoaba bladders displayed at a U.S. border crossing in downtown Calexico, Mexico

Jason Xie, 49, of Sacramento was accused last year of taking delivery of 169 bladders on March 30 2013 in a hotel parking lot in Calexico, about 120 miles east of San Diego. Xie told investigators he was paid $1,500 to $1,800 for each of 100 bladders in February.



Anthony Sanchez Bueno, 34, of Imperial was charged with the same crime after authorities said he drove the 169 bladders across the downtown Calexico border crossing in three coolers. He told investigators he was to be paid $700.



Song Zhen, 73, was accused of storing 214 dried totoaba bladders in his Calexico home.



'It's aquatic cocaine,' Jay Barlow, a marine mammal expert at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, told the Associated Press. 'With two days of fishing, you can buy a new pickup truck.'

