Over 2 tonnes of smuggled frozen fish seized in Magadan Oblast; two off-road vehicles carrying 110 bags of undocumented catch

A batch of smuggled frozen fish has been seized in Magadan Oblast, Russia. According to the Magadan Oblast branch of the Russian Federal Service for Veterinary and Phytosanitary Surveillance, law enforcement officers seized over 2 tonnes of smuggled fishery products at the "Armansky" border checkpoint in the oblast, in an operation carried out jointly by the branch, border guard personnel and Ministry of Internal Affairs officers.

During the inspection, law enforcement officers checked two UAZ off-road vehicles traveling from the village of Balangannoye to the oblast capital Magadan, and found 110 bags of frozen fish inside. The two drivers were unable to provide any documents proving the legal origin of the fishery products. According to the statement, in such cases drivers usually claim the cargo is not theirs and that they were merely hired to transport it to Magadan, where the real owner would pick it up.

The seized cargo was subsequently sent to the Ust-Magadan fish processing plant for safekeeping. Upon counting, the bags contained 1,129 kg of pink salmon and 1,033 kg of grayling, totaling over 2 tonnes.

According to the branch, since the beginning of the year its fisheries supervision department has identified 946 violations, held 692 people administratively liable, and imposed fines totaling more than 630,000 rubles; seized over 7 tonnes of caviar and about 109 tonnes of fish; filed damage claims exceeding 1.2 million rubles; confiscated 539 fishing gear items; and referred materials on 32 criminal cases to law enforcement agencies for the initiation of criminal proceedings.