Nearly 600 kg of sea cucumber, an endangered coral reef species, which was meant to be smuggled into Sri Lanka was seized near on Monday and one person was arrested in this connection, Marine police said.
Acting on a tip-off, a team of Marine Police recovered the sea cucumber hidden in a sack buried off Thiruvadanai coast in this district, and confiscated it on Monday morning, they said.
Sea cucumbers, which play an important role in maintaining the marine ecological system, have been classified as endangered species and their harvest has been banned under the Wildlife Protection Act.
