JAPAN|
It is shocking to know that Japan’s coast guards busted 11 poachers as they were found with sea cucumbers worth 1,500 pounds! This happened with the Coast guard officers were on their patrol duty off the coast of Hokkaido. They arrested all the 11 men who were found amid a sea cucumber heist.
- It was a great act of the Japanese coast guard to get hold of poachers who were attempting to run away with nearly $20,000 of sea cucumbers.
- This incident happened at the port city of Rumoi, Hokkaido. They received a tip of this crime being conducted.
- Sea cucumbers are an expensive delicacy in East Asia, and these men were found stealing more than 1,500 pounds worth of sea cucumbers.
During a massive sea cucumber heist, eleven men were arrested off the coast of Hokkaido in northern Japan on July 8. It was a daring nighttime act to run off with 1,500 pounds of contraband, as reported by Hokkaido news channel HTB News.The Japanese coast guard team received a tip-off, positioned at the port city of Rumoi, Hokkaido. The tip-off stated that a group of people was collecting sea cucumbers about a quantity of 13 huge crates!
Sea cucumbers are a culinary delicacy in East Asia, especially China. It was reported by Insider last year that sea cucumbers can cost over $3,000 a kilogram. Some specific varieties of sea cucumbers are even packaged and gifted on special occasions. Japan Today reported that the coast guard officers caught 11 suspected poachers between 19 and 53.The Rumoi coast guard further reported to Hokkaido’s online news site UHB News News Japan that they saw men who were dressed in their diving suits and gear along with their submersible machines. This was a planned operation with divers on board to go down into the sea, and they also had people outside to keep an eye on and cars ready to run off.
The price of the sea cucumbers that were conspired for stealing was worth 2.2 million yen (or $19,966) per HTB News.The poaching of abalones and sea cucumbers has become a “serious problem,” as stated by Japan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries. The law says that people caught poaching the creatures could be sentenced to jail of three years or fined up to $270,000.
In 2018, there was yet another attempt to steal sea cucumbers off Hokkaido. Per Kyodo News, a crime syndicate was nabbed near Ishikari city as they were trying to illegally poach 992 pounds of these marine delicacies. The creatures were found, but as per Hokkaido police, the poaching problem is enormous, and only a few cases are coming to the surface.