200,000 shark fins seized in Ecuador
AP
May 29, 2015, 9:19 am
Police in the Ecuadorian port city of Manta have seized about 200,000 shark fins destined to be illegally exported to Asia, where they would fetch up to $US1.5 million ($A1.96 million).
Colonel Rommel Tapia, head of the judicial police in Manta, said nine properties were raided and six people were arrested on Thursday, including one of Chinese nationality.
Those arrested face charges of damaging wildlife.
Interior Minister Jose Serrano told the Democracia radio station that authorities in Ecuador had "dealt a major blow to an international network that trafficked shark fins".
The fins are often used to make shark fin soup, a traditional Chinese dish.
Manta is 260 kilometres southwest of the capital, Quito.
