Colombian authorities seized 3,493 shark fins and 117 kilos (258 pounds) of fish swim bladders at Bogota’s El Dorado International Airport that were bound for Hong Kong, the capital’s government said Friday Sept 24. Thanks to amazing marine biologist Diego Cardeñosa‘s important DNA testing work, it allowed Columbia authorities to identify quickly the CITES-listed and threatened sahrk species. Well done Diego! Thanks for your update below…
“Yesterday I participated in a #shark fin seizure at the internacional airport of Bogota, #colombia. The cargo had Hong Kong as the final destination and the fins were already processed. This seems to be a new thing for wildlife traffickers to avoid visual identification by law enforcement officers. Thankfully, the molecular techniques designed during my PhD allow us to identify this highly processed products to the species level and identify CITES-listed and threatened species. It has been a pleasure to collaborate with Colombian institutions and apply my knowledge and techniques in my own country. Excellent work by law enforcement in the early detection of these crimes against wildlife.” – Diego Cardeñosa
