HONOLULU (AP) — Ten Indonesian fishermen arrested in Hawaii are accused of trying to smuggle nearly 1,000 shark fins from the U.S. to Indonesia.
According to court documents, they had been working on a Japanese boat and were headed home via Honolulu when airport security workers found shark fins in their luggage.
Court documents say there were at least 962 shark fins in 13 pieces of luggage. Authorities say some were from protected oceanic whitetip sharks.
It's against U.S. law to engage in international trade of a protected species without a permit. It's also illegal to possess, sell or distribute shark fins in Hawaii, which was the first state in the nation to ban the pricey delicacy often used in Chinese soups.
A detention hearing is scheduled for the fishermen Tuesday.
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This version corrects the amount of shark fins found in their luggage. There were nearly 1,000 find found, and authorities say some of them were from protected oceanic whitetip sharks.
