Law enforcement officers intercepted a vehicle carrying an illicit catch of smelt at a fish processing facility in the Ust-Bolsheretsky district of Kamchatka Krai. The operation took place in the settlement of Oktyabrsky, where police and national guard units detained a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. The vehicle was driven by a 38-year-old man with a prior criminal record for theft and drug trafficking. A search of the interior revealed 3,500 Asian rainbow smelt – weighing a total of 511 kilograms.
The driver had purchased the seafood from a 51-year-old unemployed resident of Yelizovo, who poached the smelt along the western coast of the Sea of Okhotsk. The financial damage inflicted on the aquatic biological resources is estimated at 985,000 rubles.
Authorities confiscated the illegally caught fish alongside the boat, outboard motor, and fishing net used in the poaching operation. The initiation of formal criminal proceedings is currently under review.