Posted on 01/29/2014 2:31:14 PM PST by nickcarraway
He instructed an overseas distributor to label the fish as silver tetras, prosecutors said
A New York City man is accused of smuggling nearly 40,000 piranhas into the U.S. by having them mislabeled as harmless aquarium fish, prosecutors said.
Joel Rakower and his fish distribution company pleaded guilty Wednesday and agreed to pay more than $70,000 in fines and restitution.
Authorities said Rakower admitted buying the aggressive fish from a Hong Kong supplier that he instructed to falsely label the shipments as silver tetras, a more common household fish.
He began importing the mislabeled fish in 2011, shortly after New York City prohibited possession of piranhas, and continued through 2012, prosecutors said.
In all, he smuggled 39,548 piranhas, worth $37,376, that were then sold to fish retailers throughout the U.S.
Twenty-five states either ban or regulate piranhas, which could pose a serious risk to ecosystems if they got into native waters.
I don’t know if piranhas could survive the cold winter waters of most of the country.
Not to mention that they eat flesh...my God, what was that idiot thinking?
This guy’s a REAL POS, isn’t he...
These are freshwater carnivores, that, if they got into the lakes and rivers in this country, would decimate - hell, Annihilate - indigenous fish populations. Not to mention making swimming and other water recreation extremely hazardous.
But hey... as long as HE makes a buck, it’s OK...
Hope they throw the frigging book at his ass.
What is the attraction or reason to want a piranha?
But what are all the Evil Genius Villains supposed to lower their arch-enemies into a tank of now?
Gold fish?
Have you no imagination???
They're worth less than a dollar apiece, according to the article. I wonder what's the point?
“What is the attraction or reason to want a piranha?”
Not sure. A guy use to sit next to me when I was in college and he had one. One day, he told me how he would throw in a mouse and the piranha would strip it to the bone.. slowly (because he had only one piranha). Thank goodness it was the end of the semester.. he creeped me out.
RE Point:
Dunno... maybe the point WAS to decimate our waterways - and part of our food supply... Who knows... the guy’s a shitball for sure though.
I put nothing past ANYONE these days.
No.. throw his ass in a pond with a few hundred of his fish.
That's not impossible.
“...he told me how he would throw in a mouse and the piranha would strip it to the bone.. slowly ...”
That’s one sick SOB.
Not real fond of mice myself, but I sure as HELL ain’t fond of seeing something tortured without a fighting chance.
My brother had an aquarium of about 10 pirana’s when we were in high school. He fed them but they still took chunks out of each other. After about 2 months he only had one. That one lived for about 2 years. It got to be pretty good size. He fed it raw hamburger. It was the only fish in his 100 gallon tank. We live in Minnesota so even if it had somehow escaped it wouldn’t live through the winter.
Evil has no conscience, and neither does the guy who contaminates waters with these flesh eating fish, that children might play in.
The problem is I have a vivid imagination.
What law firm were they going to work for?
It could be a lot worse than reducing our waterways by 10%.
Interesting point. I never thought of it, but I wonder if this ass hat has any particular religious preference?
That’s how I felt. Something just way “off” with him.
When did you open up the newspaper and find out he was a serial killer?
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