It is a first check on January 8, carried out by the Arcachon brigade on the A63 which will allow the investigation to start. By examining the commercial vehicle, “the service noted the presence of numerous plastic bales enclosing polystyrene insulation plates. After having carried out a trench, the agents continue the control and then discover under a cavity of bales an installation allowing the oxygenation of a tank which can accommodate live fish or other species, ”details the customs in a press release, dated this Thursday.
Customs officers also got their hands on three frozen plastic bags containing nearly 30 kg of glass eels or pibales. The two occupants of the vehicle checked were placed in customs detention, having been unable to provide proof of an authorization to possess these protected species.
A clandestine storage place in the Paris region
On the instructions of the Mont-de-Marsan public prosecutor’s office, the Bordeaux judicial investigation service (SEJF) continued the investigations which made it possible to dismantle, in the Paris region, “a place of clandestine storage of glass eels which was used regularly and the seizure of 150 kg of additional glass eels with the support of the French Office for Biodiversity”, specifies the press release. A judicial investigation was opened at the Jirs (specialized interregional jurisdiction) of Bordeaux and the two drivers were indicted and placed in pre-trial detention.
Only professional fishermen, subject to quotas, can fish and market this species whose survival is in danger, recalls the customs. Its rarity makes it a product that sells for between 700 and 900 euros per kg in France and up to 5,000 euros in Asia.