4,000kg suspected shark fins offloaded in M'sia
Published on: Thursday, September 06, 2018
Selangor: A container headed for Hong Kong from Chennai suspected to hold 4,000kg of shark fins was offloaded in Malaysia Tuesday at the request of Indian authorities following raids over the weekend in which 8,000kg of the fins was seized. According to the Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI), the contents of the container had been declared as "dried ray skin". A report by the Times of India said this was a tactic used by smugglers since India's ban on the export of shark fins in 2015.
ADVERTISEMENT
Quoting Sharafat Ali, a "kingpin" known to have hired shark hunters and who was arrested in the raids, the report said the fins would be sun-dried at a warehouse in Sewri, Maharashtra, for about a week. "They would then be sent to Veraval in Gujarat for polishing and processing, after which they would be brought back to Sewri and sent to Chennai and some places in Kerala. At these points, the fins would be packaged, labelled as 'dried ray skins' and loaded into containers," the source told FMT. Ali and three others were booked under India's Customs Act and are currently at the Arthur Road jail. The warehouse in Sewri was one of two locations raided by the DRI on Saturday and Sunday. The other location was a warehouse in Veraval, Gujarat. Both are owned by Global Impex Trading Company. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
