This photo released by Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department on May 6, 2020 shows dried shark fins seized on April 28, 2020. (PHOTO / INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT, HKSAR)

HONG KONG - Hong Kong Customs said on Wednesday that it had detected two smuggling cases of scheduled dried shark fins and made the largest seizure on record on April 28 and May 4.

Customs officers selected two containers arriving in Hong Kong from Ecuador for inspection and seized about 13 tons of suspected dried scheduled shark fins mix-loaded with non-scheduled shark fins inside each of the containers.

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Both cases broke the past record of similar cases counted in a single case by weight and value, Hong Kong Customs said

Both cases broke the past record of similar cases counted in a single case by weight and value, Hong Kong Customs said.

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) government's Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department estimated that the seized fins came from more than 30,000 sharks of endangered species.

After follow-up investigation, Customs officers arrested a 57-year-old male suspect in Hong Kong on April 29.

Investigations of both cases are ongoing.

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Under Hong Kong's Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person found guilty of importing or exporting an endangered species without a license is liable to a maximum fine of 10 million Hong Kong dollars (about US$1.29 million) and imprisonment for 10 years.