Police have busted a ring of poachers who have caught more than 173 tons of crab in Russia's Far East, the country's interior ministry said on Friday.
The ring included 20 ships under the flags of Russia, Cambodia and Belize.
"They poached more than 173 tons of snow crab and horsehair crab worth approximately 43 million rubles [$1.3 million]," a statement from the ministry's economic security department said.
The poached crab was sent to Japan and Korea, and payments for the product were sent to bank accounts in Russia, the United States, Canada, South Korea, Denmark, Germany, Latvia, Estonia, Hong Kong, the Netherlands, Japan, China, and Cyprus.
Russia's Natural Resources Ministry said in November penalties for poachers would be toughened.
MOSCOW, December 3 (RIA Novosti)
