Feds Bust Alleged Multi-Million Dollar International Shark Fin Smuggling Ring - Mercury News

Shawn Heinrichs

Breaking news from this weekend: "A dozen people and two alleged front businesses have been named as criminal defendants in what federal authorities describe as an international conspiracy to illegally traffic shark fins and launder the millions of dollars it generated... The indictment against them alleges they formed 'front businesses' in California and Florida and 'smuggled' shark fins from Mexico to Hong Kong... Florida, however, has looser laws concerning shark fin trading, which is what the alleged co-conspirators took advantage of, according to the indictment. They formed Phoenix Fisheries in Florida to mask shark fin trading that was really going on in California, in violation of state law, according to the indictment."

#NoFinFL update:⁠ ⁠ The status of the Florida Fin bill is still in a holding pattern, just like hundreds of other legislative bills. The problem is not that the governor is neglecting the signing of bills, but that the Legislature has not been sending him bills that are not an absolute priority, that would distract him from their biggest issues, such as COVID and funding bills. ⁠ ⁠ Pressuring the governor will not work at this time because he does not have our bill. But don't despair! We are in the same boat as most of the bills that were passed. This is a highly unusual year and this has never happened before, so at this point, we must be patient. We will keep you updated at every turn along the way! ⁠ ⁠