The Marine Police of the Coastal Security Group (SCG) on Friday seized about 110 kilograms of sea cucumbers, endangered species protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972, and detained one person who was planning to sell them to a smuggler.
Acting on a tip-off, a special team led by Inspector of Police P.S. Ramesh Kumar, seized the raw and processed sea cucumbers from the possession of S. Akbar Ali in Kilakarai. The accused had hidden the sea cucumbers in the backyard of his house at Bharathar Street.
He was handed over to the Forest Department officials, who arrested him under Sections 9, 39, 50 and 51 of the Wildlife Protection Act. He was produced before a local magistrate and remanded in judicial custody, Forest Ranger S. Ganesalingam said.
After producing the seized sea cucumbers before the court, the forest personnel destroyed them by burning.
The accused had procured the endangered species from fishermen over a period of time and processed them for selling to a smuggler, he added. Fishermen, who inadvertently catch the species while fishing, should let them back into the sea, but many fishermen sold them to the smugglers to make money, he said.
