By Tim Ingles
SUCRE, Bolivia | Fri Oct 21, 2011 2:36pm EDT
(Reuters) - Bolivian authorities begin a crackdown on underground alpaca breeding operations.

Bolivian vice president Álvaro García spoke for president Evo Morales and has declared authorization to shut down illegal alpaca breeding operations that have been plaguing the country lately, stating that they are "a threat to animals and humans alike". In the past week alone, over five underground alpaca black markets were shut down by Bolivian authorities, resulting in the arrests of an estimated twenty-three people.

Bolivian president Evo Morales had let lapse a rule put in place by his Democratic predecessor in January that restricted private breeding and purchase of alpacas and stripped ownership rights from people convicted of animal cruelty, stating that funding would be diverted from tracking down underground alpaca markets to the war on illegal narcotics. After a referendum passed by the Bolivian Congress last week, the law was set to be enforced again.

Animal welfare groups have pleaded in the past for tighter restrictions on private ownership and breeding of alpacas, but the Bolivian Constitution declares it to be unconstitutional. Evo Morales has been pushing for an amendment to the elastic passage since March 2011, and the amendment was finally passed today.