The Civil Guard dismantles a poaching group that captured 300 kilos of fish in Tabarca and smuggled them into Murcia

In the dead of night, the Civil Guard's Integrated Exterior Surveillance System (SIVE) detected unusual activity. A rigid inflatable boat was leaving the Tabarca marine reserve and entering the Murcian coast via the Mar Menor. Officers from the Armed Institute followed the 'rubber' until it reached the Los Nietos Yacht Club in Cartagena.

The Civil Guard officers from the Murcia Fiscal and Borders Patrol surprised the three poachers with a large quantity of fish and another individual, an accomplice of the former, who was helping them transport the illicitly caught product, according to the Armed Institute.

The officers seized the boat and the equipment and materials used for the alleged illegal activity detected, as well as the fish found on the boat. For the assessment of the catch, the collaboration of the Murcia Region Fisheries Service was enlisted, which identified all the species and prepared a valuation report on the damage caused in the Tabarca marine reserve.

During the operation, the Civil Guard officers seized around 300 kilograms of fish, including species such as grouper, pollock, cigarrón, royal bream, octopus, and corvina, as well as the boat and fishing gear used for the now clarified criminal activity.

Specialists from the Investigation Team of the Civil Guard's Nature Protection Service (Seprona) took charge of the investigation and, once all necessary evidence was gathered, arrested the four suspects as alleged perpetrators of the crimes of belonging to a criminal group and against flora and fauna.

The distribution of fish for consumption, caught illegally and without the required sanitary controls, poses a considerable risk to public health. Marine reserves of fishing interest aim to increase the mass of breeders, so poaching causes a serious imbalance in natural ecosystems, eliminates the generation of life within them, and limits the reproduction and recruitment of new members to the population that contribute to the creation of the "reserve effect."