updated 12/10/2023

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OCTOBER

• Basque country: release of one of the main suspects in the case of vast pibale trafficking

• Nationalwide Star Canada Corp. and one individual ordered to pay a total of $250,000 in fines for illegally importing endangered European Eel meat

• Two Belgian poachers admit to having caught 2,500 kg of eels in 10 years in France

SEPTEMBER

• Eight people sentenced for trafficking in glass eels in Charente-Maritime, Vendée and Loire-Atlantique

• Les Sables-d’Olonne. Heavy fines for trafficking in glass eels in South Vendée

JUNE

• Europol Operation LAKE VII: 256 eel smugglers arrested, 24 Million glass eels seized. 38 countries and agencies involved:

  Law enforcement casts net over 256 eel smugglers | Europol

  With an increase of over 50 percent in arrests and seizures, Operation LAKE’s latest season marked a new record as the most successful yet. Among the 256 arrested were nationals of China, Malaysia, France, Spain and Portugal, including two high-value targets and fifty of their closest associates.

F.Stein on Twitter: “Europol Operation LAKE VII: 256 eel smugglers arrested, 24 Million glass eels seized. 38 countries and agencies involved. ‼️ALL new records‼️(see figure). This is one of the world’s biggest wildlife crimes! pic.twitter.com/J6oGNL5Taw / Twitter”

Europol Operation LAKE VII: 256 eel smugglers arrested, 24 Million glass eels seized. 38 countries and agencies involved. ‼️ALL new records‼️(see figure). This is one of the world’s biggest wildlife crimes! pic.twitter.com/J6oGNL5Taw

“European trafficking ring dismantled”

• Joint operation by the Spanish Civil Guard, French National Gendarmerie, and the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) dismantles transnational eel trafficking ring.

• Seizures made during the operation include 1.5 tons of live elvers, assets worth €900,000, and cash amounting to €200,000.

• Total of 27 people arrested during the operation on May 10, 20 people placed in police custody the following days, and ten people prosecuted after 30 simultaneous searches conducted in Spain, France, Belgium, and Poland.

• Investigations into the eel trafficking ring were initiated in 2021 by SEPRONA, French Customs, OCLAESP, Europol and OLAF.

• Investigations ongoing