100 kg of sea cucumber seized off Mandapam

About 100 kg of sea cucumber, an endangered coral reef species, which was meant to be smuggled into Sri Lanka from Mandapam coast near here was seized and five arrested in this connection, marine police said today.
The marine police, during a routine patrol duty checked and confiscated it from a boat off the Mandapam coast last night, they said.
Five persons from Mandapam region have been arrested in connection with this and their boat seized, they added.
Sea cucumbers, which play an important role in maintaining the marine ecological system, have been classified as endangered species and their harvest banned under the Wildlife Protection Act.