MEXICO CITY — The United States has suspended imports of Mexican avocados after a US Department of Agriculture official received a threat.

In a Feb. 12 statement, Mexico's Agriculture Ministry said that the US Department of Agriculture’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA-APHIS) decided to pause until further notice the avocado inspection activities in Michoacan, the only state allowed to ship avocados to the US, according to a story on cnn.com.

The USDA officer was doing inspection work in Uruapan, Michoacan, when he received a threatening call to his official cell phone.

APHIS-USDA reported that an investigation is currently underway to assess the threat and determine the necessary measures to guarantee the physical integrity of all of its personnel working in Michoacan.

A meeting was held between APHIS personnel and representatives of the Association of Avocado Exporting Producers and Packers of Mexico (APEAM) with local and state police to address the issue.

"The APEAM is actively participating in coordination with the authorities of both countries to resolve the problem in order to reinforce internal practices and processes that guarantee the traceability of the fruit. The facts mentioned here have already impacted the economy of the entire program, affecting the industry and the more than 300,000 jobs that depend on it. We encourage all those actors in this value chain to take extreme care and vigilance to preserve such an important export program," APEAM said, according to CNN.