Six men were caught yesterday by the Maritime Police of Lagos and Portimão illegally catching a rare type of deep-water red coral, using sophisticated deep-diving equipment.
According to the Maritime Police, the suspects – three Portuguese and three Spaniards – had mounted a very sophisticated operation, as they even had the support of a hyperbaric chamber, installed on board one of the Spanish vessels, allowing dives to depths of 90 meters .
About 32 kilos of red coral, several hundred years old, were also seized (this estimated age calculation took into account the size of the specimens captured and the normal growth rate of 1 cm every 10 years).
During the operation to combat the depredation of protected natural resources, the maritime authority also apprehended the three vessels – one Spanish and two Portuguese-, and constituted defendants for the six men suspected of committing the crime of damage to nature.
The deep water red coral is a rare species, used in jewelry, with an estimated market price of 1000 euros per kilo, in raw state, and can reach values between 20 and 30 thousand euros, per kilo, after being worked.
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