Nicaragua Cocaine Business: Chasing the White Lobster

In the impoverished town of Tasbapauni on the Caribbean coast of Nicaragua there lies a community of poor hardworking lobster fishermen who, in recent years, have been blown out of the water by encounters with the elusive white lobster. What could this loco coco albino sea creature possibly be and why is it so amazing, you ask? Well, the white lobster isn't exactly a living organism but it does seem to have a mind and spirit of its own. 


As you may have heard at some point during your tenure on this earth, Colombia's largest export is the white lady, the devil's dandruff, cocaine. The most common way for the Narco's to transport huge quantities of the merchandise to us Americans (the number one consumers of coke in the world by a long shot) is to race it north hugging the coast of Central America in a route known as the "country road." Sometimes, of course, when the feds get wind that one of these cartels are passing through it will result in a chase and the merch might get tossed off the side of the boat or the boat might crash spilling its contents into the depths of the Gulf. Eventually some of these packages will move with tides close enough to shore to find their way into the hands of a lucky fisherman, who upon finding one will have the opportunity to live like a king. 


Ted Hayman, the fisherman with the supposed largest white lobster haul so far, found a package weighing 485lb. He bought a 3 story house and a new tile floor for his hometown church with the money. Needless to say he is a local hero.

The Man the Myth the Legend: Ted Hayman now rollin' on Dubs.
photo courtesy of Colors Magazine

Despite the fact that these finds are bringing MUCH needed money into poor latin coastal towns, obviously there is a downside. Some locals are already hooked on the drug and other geniuses mistaking coke for baking powder, tried cooking with it and died from overdose. I poached a lot of my facts from this article in an online edition of The Guardian. 


Crazy stuff right?! Next time you go snorkeling while on vacation in Nic or Costa Rica keep your eyes peeled and you might be the next lucky producer of la adorada langosta blanca!

Lobby Lob Lob. Not the one you are looking for but white and weird, nonetheless.