27 people arrested in Gipuzkoa, Navarra, Galicia and the French Basque Country for illegal eel trafficking

A total of 27 people have been arrested in Gipuzkoa, Navarra, Galicia and the French Basque Country in a macro-operation against the illegal trafficking of eels in which some thirty simultaneous searches have been carried out in homes, companies and clandestine nurseries in which They have seized 1.5 tons of live specimens.

The operation, which has been carried out jointly by the Civil Guard and the French National Gendarmerie, has been coordinated by Europol and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), according to sources from the Spanish Benemérita.

Returned to the natural environment

In addition to the live eel fingerlings, which were intended for sale in Asian countries, several tons of frozen batches have been seized, without traceability or sanitary controls, unsuitable for disposal in the food chain. Assets worth more than 2 million euros have also been seized.

The recovered eel has been returned to the natural environment to preserve its survival and simultaneous records have been carried out at homes, company headquarters and clandestine nurseries in Spain and France, with ramifications in Belgium and Poland, and in which these eels have been arrested. 27 people accused of crimes of belonging to a criminal organization, trafficking of protected species, smuggling and money laundering.

The judicial procedure has been led by the Investigating Court No. 4 of San Sebastián, in coordination with a similar procedure instructed by the JIRS (Specialized Organized Crime Court) of Bordeaux.

precarious critical situation

The investigations began in 2021 thanks to the police collaboration between the Nature Protection Service (SEPRONA) and the French customs service, the OCLAESP of the French Gendarmerie, when a series of irregularities were detected in the trade of European eel (guilla eel eel) in different stages of development (fry-elvers and adults-eel).

Due to its precarious situation, classified as critical by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), this species is included in CITES Appendix II (Annex B of Community Regulation 338/97), which means that its trade Within the EU it is subject to fishing and distribution quotas, but its export outside the EU is totally prohibited.

As the police sources have explained, despite this ban, it is a “highly valued” product in some Asian countries, where its price reaches values of up to 5,000 euros per kilo, therefore, “for years, it has been has been detecting criminal groups and organizations dedicated to stealing batches of live eels and sending them to clients in Asia”.

modus operandi

The alleged criminal organization, with transnational establishment, was based between the north of Spain (Gipuzkoa and Pontevedra) and the south of France (Aquitaine), whose leaders controlled the entire eel supply and distribution chain outside the controls of the administration.

This group, made up of both fishermen and commercial managers and wholesalers, was in charge of removing live eels from the legal circuit to supply them to citizens of Chinese origin, who had clandestine nurseries in the Paris area, in France and Antwerp, in Belgium.

From there, they organized trips for people to Asia, who, through different European airports near the nurseries, carried luggage containing eel specimens.

During the investigation, it was found that up to 14 tons of juvenile eel and 31 tons of adult eel were removed from the legal circuit, which in the legal market would have reached a value of more than 6.7 million euros.

As for those arrested, there are eight people arrested or investigated between Guipuzkoa (6), Navarra (1) and Pontevedra (1) and the actions in the different companies and warehouses involved have had the support of the Guipuzkoa Provincial Council and the Xunta de Galicia.

The apprehended live eel specimens are in a Navarrese government fish farm, in agreement with the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge, and their release into the natural environment is planned to preserve their survival.