Police have arrested 27 eel traffickers and seized 254 kg of contraband eels in an international investigation dubbed operation "Lake" that started almost 2 years ago, French authorities said in a statement on Friday.
Police discovered that four tonnes of eels had been fraudulently exported between 2021 and 2023 for a profit estimated at nearly 1,186,000 euros, the statement said.
The European eel is classified as "critically endangered" by the International Union for Conservation of Nature so its fishing is regulated and subject to strict quotas.
