NE NEWS SERVICE
RAMESWARAM, SEP 19
Sea cucumber valued around Rs one crore and suspected to be smuggled to Sri Lanka was recovered here by the Tamil Nadu Forest Department and the Indian Coast Guard here, officials said.
According to a senior Forest official, during patrolling, a boat was found moving about in a suspicious manner near Pamban here and the Coast Guard was also informed.
In a swift operation, the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) team at Mandapam have seized two tonnes of banned sea cucumber. Working on a tip-off about illegal transhipment of sea cucumber received in the wee hours, the ICG team swung into action and tracked a suspect boat involved in likely smuggling. ICG teams were deployed in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay areas to effectively cordon the likely escape by sea route.
#ProtectionofEndangeredSpecies @IndiaCoastGuard hovercraft boarded a suspicious
05 miles south of #Mandapam, TN #19Sep & seized 2000kg #SeaCucumber under wildlife Protection act 1972.
— Indian Coast Guard (@IndiaCoastGuard) September 19, 2021
The boat was intercepted at 10.30 am on Sunday and boarded by a team of Coast Guard. “The boarding team of ICGS H-183 recovered 200 gunny bags of sea cucumber weighing 2000 kg. The boat was found anchored about 15 kms off Vedalai South of Mandapam without its crew. The boat alongwith seized sea cucumbers in 200 gunny bags have been brought to south Mandapam and handed over to forest Officials. The value of seized sea cucumbers is reported to be about eight Crores INR.
On investigation, it was revealed that the consignment was planned for transhipment across the International Maritime Boundary Line during night. Sea cucumbers are in high demand in China and Southeast Asia. However, India is treating it as a species listed under schedule I of Wildlife Protection Act of 1972.
When personnel checked the unmanned boat, they recovered 2000 kg of sea cucumber from the unregistered craft, they said, adding, a probe is on, adds a release from Defence PRO.
