Man sentenced in LA for smuggling fish into US

By The Associated Press
Thursday, December 31, 2009 at 7:17 a.m.

LOS ANGELES — A man who tried to smuggle six endangered fish into Los Angeles has been fined $7,500 and sentenced to six months of house arrest, two years probation and 200 hours of community service.

A federal judge this week in Los Angeles sentenced 35-year-old Ricky Vu of Garden Grove.

Federal prosecutors say Vu hid six Asian Arowanas, also known as dragon fish or lucky fish, in his luggage on a commercial flight Sept. 28 from Indonesia. They are illegal in the United States without a permit and worth thousands of dollars on the black market.

Authorities says the fish, which can grow to 3 feet long, were found alive in bags of water when his luggage was searched.

Vu pleaded guilty in October to a misdemeanor charge of illegally importing the endangered fish into the United States.
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Information from: The Orange County Register, http://www.ocregister.com

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2009 ... h-into-us/