Coast Guard seizes sea cucumbers worth Rs 5 crore dumped in sea off TN coast by smugglers

MADURAI: Indian Coast Guard divers on Thursday recovered more than one tonne of sea cucumbers, worth Rs 5 crore, which smugglers had dumped in the sea off Vethalai in Ramanathapuram district of Tamil Nadu.
Sea cucumbers are protected marine species under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife Protection Act. They are poached from the shallow waters of the Gulf of Mannar by smugglers. They are boiled and dried before being shipped to Sri Lanka from where they are sent to Far Eastern countries. Sea cucumbers are used in Far Eastern cuisine as a delicacy.
Acting swiftly on input from sources, the Indian Coast Guard station at Mandapam deployed its quick reaction team to close in on the suspicious location. Approaching the location from the seaward side, Coast Guard response teams carried out a comprehensive search in the area using trained divers.
After an extensive search, 67 gunny bags weighing 1,137 kg were discovered by the divers. They were dumped by smugglers in the sea off Vethalai beach, south of Mandapam town, said a statement from the Coast Guard.
The seized sea cucumbers were handed over to the forest department for further legal action.
Coast Guard sources said this was the second seizure of sea cucumbers by the Indian Coast Guard near Mandapam in the last two months. Earlier, around 260 kg of banned sea cucumbers were seized by the Coast Guard from Edaiyarvalasai seashore on May 10.