Furniture Business Admits Smuggling Endangered Abalone and Sea of Cortez Totoaba
SEAFOODNEWS.COM [AP] - July 22, 2015
Federal prosecutors say a Los Angeles-based furniture business has pleaded guilty to smuggling endangered seafood.
The U.S. attorney in San Diego said in a statement that Kaven Company and its owner Kam Wing Chan admitted Tuesday to buying endangered abalone and Totoaba in Mexico, bringing them to the United States then exporting them to China.
In one instance, Chan acknowledged buying 37 pounds of dried abalone and 58 Totoaba swim bladders to the U.S. using the cover of his furniture business, then shipping them to a relative in China.
Totoaba was listed as endangered in 1979. Due to poaching and its relatively small habitat, the species is now nearing extinction. Totaba is found only in Mexico's Sea of Cortez. The largest member of the croaker family, they can grow to six feet long, weigh over 200 pounds...
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