200,000 Shark Fins Seized

200,000 shark fins worth $1.5m have been seized in Ecuador before being illegally exported to China

Police raided nine properties in the Ecuadorian port city of Manta and six people have been arrested and face charges of damaging wildlife. 

Interior Minister Jose Serrano announced the seizure on Wednesday, saying that the operation was a hughe blow for the illegal shark fin trafficking network.

'We must end these criminal networks that are only interested in their own economic interests and are destroying the eco-system,' Serrano said.  

Shark fishing in Ecuador is prohibited and shark meat can only be sold legally when the shark is caught as bycatch and landed with all fins attached.