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.
Oh, yes, I think Spell Checker enjoys laughing at its victims’ red faces.
I wondered about that. $35K apiece seems a might steep. But 94 cents per fish seems a wee bit low. You could probably get that for their teeth.
Some years ago my wife had a business of selling fancy fish tanks...really neat ones. Lived in Nebraska then. We knew an aquarium fish wholesaler in Kansas and we shopped there when we needed fish for a show, where we would have the aquariums set up in a display (furniture marts, fairs etc). They had piranhas there too...legal in Kansas and Nebraska. One time there we were looking at the tank with the piranhas in it and I put my hand into the tank. They ignored it. Left it there for a minute or so. Would not do that if I had a cut that was bleeding...they would have been all over it.
And no, I am not crazy. I know that I can do certain things that seem dangerous but are not. Many years ago, in high school, we had a science fair and the physics teacher got some liquid nitrogen and liquid oxygen from the cryogenics lab at Iowa State for another student and I to use for demonstrations in the science fair.
We did all the good stuff, like making a hammer out of mercury, making rubber nails, and pounding the rubber nails into a board using the mercury hammer. We took a hollow rubber ball, bounced it, immersed it in liquid nitrogen, then threw it against the wall...it shattered. And so on...
Then I immersed my hand in the liquid nitrogen...to quite a reaction from the audience. Then after a few moments I pulled my hand out, wiggled my fingers to show them that it had not become like the mercury hammer, rubber nails or the rubber ball.
We had several sessions during that science fair with different audiences, and I repeated that ‘hand in the liquid nitrogen’ for each audience. I still have all my fingers, and they work just fine...as I type this with all fingers of both hands working (and yes, I was one of those guys 60+ years ago who took typing in high school - might be the best class I ever took!).
The same as for jackasses who want pythons, alligators, exotic cats, etc.,—to show off, and then discard.
It's for those who can't afford a shark with a frikin' laser.
Yes, that’s extremely weird.
I know in British Columbia there have been reports in the Fraser River of these things making it there for a bit.
I’m agreed, I loved Gary Larson’s comics, they’re hilarious.
I had actually seen that neuroscience story before. Fascinating. Raises all sorts of interesting questions, doesn’t it?
Makes me wonder if some of our politicians aren’t missing that small broccoli shaped piece of conscience in the frontal lobe. Lends new meaning to a frontal lobe surgery aka ‘lobatomy’? If they don’t have it, that means they are a psychopath or sociopath, and that is not good news for the rest of us.
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