With prices skyrocketing in Taiwan and China for eel fry and sea cucumbers, Japanese crime syndicates stand to make a killing through poaching and smuggling operations.

All that's standing in their way is the Japan Coast Guard.

In April and May, officers from the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters arrested 10 people, including gang members based in Naha, for trying to smuggle eel fry to Taiwan.

It was the first time smugglers of eel fry have been caught by the regional coast guard, which mainly patrols waters around Okinawa Prefecture.

The suspects allegedly tried to export about 130 kilograms of eel fry from Ishigakijima island, Okinawa Prefecture, in a fishing boat on April 8.

Eel fry was trading in Taiwan for between 400,000 yen and 500,000 yen per kilogram at the time, about 50 percent higher than in Japan.

The haul would have fetched the equivalent of 60 million yen in Taiwan.

Among those arrested were eel farmers from both Taiwan and Japan.

Although the export of eel fry is effectively banned from December through April, the suspects told investigators that demand remained high in Taiwan during the closed season.

Supply of eel fry in Taiwan was tight because large numbers of juvenile eels had been exported from Taiwan to Japan, the suspects said.

Investigators said the crime ring was well-coordinated and that each member had a specific role in what appeared to be a very complicated smuggling operation.

For example, the group transported about 60 cartons of eel fry by air from Kansai International Airport to Naha.

An eel wholesaler from Tokushima had bought the eel fry in the Shikoku and Kyushu regions. The cargo was then transported to Ishigakijima by ferry.

Taiwanese eel dealers had planned to smuggle the eel fry into Taiwan on a fishing boat provided by a senior gang member.

The group apparently chose the sea route because authorities were tightening security around air transportation hubs.

At Narita Airport, authorities in 2006 blocked 24 attempts to export a combined 2.4 tons of eel fry illegally. The volume of eel fry involved was the largest ever, officials said.

In Hokkaido, meantime, poachers have shifted their targets to sea cucumbers from sea urchins and crabs.

In 2006, officers from the First Regional Coast Guard Headquarters arrested 22 people on suspicion of illegally catching a combined 55 tons of sea cucumbers.

The regional coast guard, which is in charge of waters around Hokkaido, arrested a group of seven led by a gang member in June on suspicion of poaching about 700 kg of sea cucumbers off Date, Hokkaido.

The crime ring was found to have illegally caught 33 tons of the marine product, worth about 49 million yen, since May 2005.

In Aomori Prefecture, too, police uncovered a poaching ring involving a gangster.

A growing number of poachers are targeting sea cucumbers because demand is growing in China.

In 2006, 27,700 kg of dried sea cucumbers were exported from Japan to China, double the amount in 2004, according to Finance Ministry statistics. Market prices surged to 33,000 yen per kilogram from 23,000 yen during the same period.

The regional coast guard said poachers only need scuba gear to catch sea cucumbers, while large-scale special equipment is needed for crabs.(IHT/Asahi: June 18,2007)