Sao Paulo – The Federal Revenue Service, this Friday (27/9), confiscated around 100 kilograms of shark fins at a transportation company in the city of São Paulo. The fins are dried and packed in cardboard boxes.
According to the IRS, the cargo left Espírito Santo and was likely destined for export. The merchandise was confiscated and sent to the Brazilian Institute of the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (Ibama).
This is the third seizure in the country in September alone. In Ceará, nearly 300 kilograms of shark fins were seized in a police operation. A few days later, the IRS seized 230 kilograms of the product in Espírito Santo.
Shark fin soup is known on menus around the world as a “luxury soup” due to its high price, costing up to US$500 (R$2,716) per dish, according to the Recipe. Estimates suggest that one kilo of fins on the international market will reach US$3,000 (R$16,301).
Potential destinations for the merchandise are Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Vietnam. Asian cuisine considers shark fin to have aphrodisiac and medicinal properties.
