Interest in having cacti as houseplants grew around the world — and so did cactus theft. From the American Southwest to South Africa, desert plants have been targets of plant poaching.

The Crested Saguaro Society began searching the approximately 100,000-square-mile desert for crested saguaros — the largest cactus in the US, which often grows over 40 feet tall and is adorned ...

In the Sonora Desert in Arizona, the saguaro cacti grow tall and live long. One cactus known to locals as "Strong-Arm" stood more than 40 feet high and had 34 arms. Strong-Arm lived an estimated ...