Summary:
Officials said the seized sea cucumber would be destroyed on Saturday. MADURAI: Marine police and forest department personnel seized 152kg of processed sea cucumber from M Gopu, 40, of Manangudi in Ramanathapuram district. Officials said the seized sea cucumber was caught in the Gulf of Mannar area that houses a few species of sea cucumber.The value of the ‘Holothuria scabra’ (commonly known as sea cucumber or sandfish) seized is Rs 10.64 lakh at Rs 7,000 per kg. “Holothuria scabra is a species protected under Schedule I of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972,” said forest range officer of Mandapam S Sathish.Gopu was taken to the Rameswaram court late in the evening on Friday. Preliminary inquiries revealed that the accused had been booked and arrested earlier for a similar offence.Forest department sources said the seizure was made by the Pudumadam marine police on the Thalaithoppu seashore and that the accused was smuggling it to Sri Lanka ..