Naval personnel attached to SLNS Welusumana in Northern Naval Area arrested 20 persons along with a haul of 220 kg of Sea Cucumbers, harvested illegally in Pallekuda beach area.
The arrested persons were released on the instruction of Assistant Director Fisheries Kilinochchi and the haul of Sea Cucumbers has been handed over to the Assistant Director Fisheries on Wednesday (9), navy media unit said.
Meanwhile in a separate operation naval personnel attached to SLNS Vijaya in Kalpitiya arrested two persons with an illegal haul of 621 kilograms of sea cucumbers at Kirimundalam, Kalpitiya, on Wednesday (9).
The sea cucumbers, estimated to be worth at least Rs. 10 million, had been smuggled from India via sea using small fishing craft and they were being made ready to be transferred ashore at the time of arrest, according to the navy media unit.
The arrested persons and the illegal sea cucumber haul were handed over to the officials of the Assistant Fisheries Inspector’s Office at Puttalam for legal action.
