Bloody toll of Mexican criminals’ fixation on exotic pets

By MARK STEVENSON
Associated Press

MEXICO CITY (AP) — 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 (200 kilogram) 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. Photos from the scene of a shootout Tuesday 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.