HOKKAIDO (TR) – The Otaru Coast Guard has arrested seven men for smuggling a massive haul of poached sea cucumbers into a Hokkaido port under the cover of darkness, reports the Yomiuri Shimbun (Sep. 3).
The suspects, whose ages range from 27 to 52 and include a 48-year-old unemployed Otaru resident, are accused of illegally harvesting approximately 475 kilograms of sea cucumbers off the coast of the city’s Shukutsu area.
The poaching allegedly took place between 6:55 p.m. on Monday and 12:35 a.m. the following morning.
The illicit operation unraveled early Tuesday when Coast Guard officers on a routine patrol spotted the men acting suspiciously at Otaru Port in Arihorocho. The crew was caught in the act of transferring the illegal catch from an unlit boat into a waiting station wagon.
Following their arrest on Tuesday, authorities revealed that the syndicate had utilized unauthorized diving equipment during their nighttime raid.
The next day, the Otaru Coast Guard sent the seven men to the Otaru Branch of the Sapporo District Public Prosecutors Office. They face charges of violating the Fishery Act, specifically for the unauthorized harvesting of designated aquatic animals and operating without a permit.
