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Ten Indonesian nationals have been charged with trying to smuggle thousands of dollars worth of shark fins out of Hawaii in their luggage. Read more

Ten Indonesian nationals have been charged with trying to smuggle thousands of dollars worth of shark fins out of Hawaii in their luggage.

A criminal complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court accused the suspects of smuggling and violating the federal Lacey Act, which bans trafficking of illegal wildlife. The state passed its own law eight years ago banning possession of shark fins.

According to court documents, the men were in a group of 18 Indonesian nationals aboard the Kyoshinmaru #20 fishing vessel about 12 miles off Oahu who took a water taxi to shore Thursday. They received approval from a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent to depart for Indonesia through the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport, and during a security screening at the airport, the dried shark fins were found in their bags, according to the complaint.

Federal wildlife officials recovered 962 shark fins weighing a total of about 190 pounds. In an affidavit, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent estimated the fins had a street value of $7,000 to $58,000.

Agents determined some came from oceanic whitetip sharks, a vulnerable species according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature. Federal law bans the trade of such sharks without documentation, allowing officials to charge the defendants with the smuggling offense.

When questioned, one defendant told officials the men had cut off fins from live sharks and threw the animals back in the water. Conservationists say the injured sharks cannot swim and suffer unnecessarily as they sink to the bottom.