Fifty arrests made in glass eel smuggling raid: European law enforcement worked across several European countries to discover a vast glass eel smuggling operation worth $1.5 million. Glass eels are wild baby eels, which are becoming increasingly rare. Glass eels are highly priced in Asian markets, for example for aquaculture farms. Smuggling these protected species is a lucrative business in Europe, since it is illegal to export eels. This is just the tip of the iceberg: the glass eel trafficking business is estimated to have grown to over $3 billion in size over the past few years.

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Picture Credit Susanne Kuehne

Posted on 21 June 2021