12 Indicted On Charges Of Illegally Trading Shark Fins, Drugs

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September 3rd, 2020

In this Jan. 29, 2020, photo made available by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, confiscated hammerhead shark fins are displayed at the Port of Miami. Federal authorities say they indicted 12 people and seized nearly $8 million in cash, jewels and precious metals after disrupting a criminal enterprise that dealt drugs and sold illegally harvested shark fins to buyers overseas. U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine in Savannah, Georgia, told a news conference Thursday, Sept. 3, 2020, that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uncovered the conspiracy while investigating the illegal practice of cutting the fins off live sharks and dumping them back into the water to die.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service / via AP

Federal authorities said Thursday that they have charged 12 people and seized nearly $8 million in cash, jewels and precious metals after disrupting a criminal enterprise that dealt drugs and sold illegally harvested shark fins to buyers overseas.

U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine of Georgia’s Southern District said that what began five years ago as a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service investigation into illegal shark fin trading led to authorities “dismantling a major conspiracy” also involved in illegal marijuana trafficking and money laundering.

“This operation is about much more than disrupting the despicable practice of hacking the fins off of sharks and leaving them to drown in the sea to create a bowl of soup,” Christine told a news conference in Savannah.

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