Fisheries Ministry gripped by scandal over smuggling of blue fin tuna to Turkey

The Criminal Court of the central city of Guelma has reopened again, the burning file related to the smuggling of blue fin tuna, on the basis of a previous ruling handed down by the Annaba criminal court issued in 2010, by sentencing all the defendants standing trial, including a Turkish businessman and several Algerian fishermen, as well as the former Secretary-General of the Ministry of fisheries and a former central manager at the same Ministry to three years in prison.

According to the prosecution, the scandal was exposed by the judicial coast guard police in charge of monitoring the eastern coast of Annaba, when they received a swift notification from the fisheries Ministry indicating that Turkish ships were seen fishing blue fin tuna, in the Rass Al Hamra coastal area.

In their speedy intervention, the coast guards discovered three Turkish fishing boats sailing on the spot and two Algerian fishermen, who were about to load illegally 210 tons of blue fin tuna on board a Turkish ship anchored nearby.

The defendant, a Turkish businessman “CH. H. OGLU” recognized having loaded the smuggled blue fin tuna fished inside Algerian maritime waters into his ship on the basis of a financial deal concluded beforehand with an Algerian fisherman, who was ostensibly in possession of a fishing license, issued by the Directorate of fisheries of the province of Tipaza.

He also discounted the smuggling charges leveled against him, arguing that the Turkish ships entered Algerian maritime waters with a license to purchase a sizable quantity of blue fin tuna from a certified Algerian fisherman but the court decided otherwise by ruling that such a shady transaction was utterly unlawful.