France breaks up eel smuggling ring serving Asia and heading for China and Thailand

Over four years, investigators uncovered a network in France and Spain that exported 46 million tonnes of the threatened eel species. - Europol via The Straits Times/ANN

PARIS, June 12 (AFP): French officials said Friday they had broken up a smuggling operation that shipped millions of baby eels to Asia where they are a prized delicacy that can command up to US$5,000 euros per kilogramme.

The inquiry began in 2017 when customs officers seized nearly 800 kilos of the silvery eels near the southwestern city of Bordeaux destined for China, as well as 200 kilos near Charles de Gaulle airport outside Paris, headed for Thailand.