illegal black Coral shipment seized by us Customs Officials

Recently I posted about my discovery of black coral and the dilemma I was facing on whether or not I could in good conscious buy a living specimen for our tank.  Just this week black coral made headlines with this smuggling bust by the US Department of Fish and Wildlife.

Two Taiwanese nationals pleaded guilty today in federal court in the U.S. Virgin Islands for conspiracy to ship internationally protected black coral into the United States in violation of federal wildlife statutes, the Department of Justice announced.

According to plea agreements filed with the court, the Chus ran a business named Peng Chia Enterprise Co. Ltd. that supplied materials including black coral to customers outside of Taiwan for jewelry design and manufacture. At times prior to 2007, the Chus were issued CITES export permits by the Taiwanese government in order to ship black coral overseas. Since 2007, however, they have been unable to obtain permits because they are unable to produce a legitimate certificate of origin.

Both Chus admitted that in order to supply a company based in the Virgin Islands with black coral, they would falsely label shipments in order to conceal the coral from U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. The conspiracy included travel to a warehouse in mainland China to choose coral from a Chinese supplier and the use of an intermediary to ship the black coral from Hong Kong to Company X in St. Thomas. The scheme took place for at least two years prior to the customs seizure of an August 2009 shipment destined for Company X.

On Aug. 19, 2009, Peng Chia sent a shipment comprised of 10 boxes of black coral that were labeled "plastic of craft work." A U.S. Customs’ Contraband Enforcement Team flagged the shipment as suspicious and contacted U.S. Fish and Wildlife (USFWS) from San Juan, Puerto Rico. As a result, USFWS, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement opened a joint investigation, "Operation Black Gold," that led to the arrest of the Chus in January 2010. Analysis by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s National Forensics Laboratory in Ashland, Ore., revealed that shipment from the Chus contained internationally- protected black coral. Today, the Chus admitted that from 2007 to 2009, they sent more than $194,000 worth of black coral to Company X.

According to the plea agreements, Ivan Chu has agreed to serve 30 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine. Gloria Chu has agreed to serve 20 months in prison and pay a $12,500 fine. Both defendants would also be prohibited from shipping coral and other wildlife products to the United States for a three-year period after their release from prison. A sentencing date has been set for June 23, 2010.

From US Department of Justice news release March 11th 2010.