Monkey in "bullet-proof" vest found dead after bloody cartel shootout in Mexico

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Mexican narcos' fascination with exotic animals was on display this week after a spider monkey dressed up as a drug gang mascot was killed in a shootout, a 450-pound tiger wandered the streets in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, and a man died after trying to pet a captive tiger in a cartel-dominated area of western Michoacan state.

Like scenes out of a narco television series, exotic animals have been long been part of the Mexican criminal underworld.

Photos from the scene of a shootout Tuesday in Texcaltitlan with police in which 11 drug gang members died, showed a small monkey - dressed in a tiny camouflage jacket and a tiny "bullet-proof" vest - sprawled across the body of a dead gunman who was apparently his owner.


Authorities in the State of Mexico confirmed the authenticity of the photos, and said it was unclear whether the monkey - which was also wearing a diaper - died in the hail of bullets that killed his owner.

"A primate was killed at the scene, which was presumably owned by a criminal who was also killed at the scene," state prosecutors said in a statement, adding "an autopsy will be carried out on the animal by a veterinarian specialized in the species" and animal-trafficking charges would be considered against the suspects who survived the shootout.

Then on Wednesday, the Attorney General for Environmental Protection said it had seized a tiger in Tecuala, in the Pacific coast state of Nayarit, near the border with Sinaloa, which is home to the cartel of the same name.

The office said it acted "after receiving reports about a Bengal tiger that was wandering the streets of Tecuala," and found that the animal was being illegally kept there.

Those reports were based on a video posted on social media earlier this week, showing a young woman shrieking as she came across the tiger on the street in a residential neighborhood. "Be quiet, it might come close," a woman can be heard saying on the video.

Authorities said the tiger's claws and fangs had been removed, and a man can be seen later in the video casually tossing a rope over the tiger's neck and leading him away.

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