CAPE TOWN: According to prosecutor of American court 3 Smugglers convicted of illegally harvesting rock lobsters in South Africa and importing them to the US. The court ordered them to pay a $22.4 million restitution order.
Arnold Bengis and Jeffrey Noll pleaded guilty in Manhattan Federal Court to conspiracy to commit smuggling and to violating the Lacey Act, which bans trade in illegally retrieved wildlife; David Bengis pleaded guilty to conspiracy to violate the Lacey Act. According to prosecutors, the men harvested rock lobsters along the coast of South Africa from 1987 to 2001, and shipped them to the United States through their company, Hout Bay Fishing Industries.
South Africa uncovered the scheme in 2001 when it seized a container of the lobsters. The country declined to prosecute the men, but charged Hout Bay with overfishing.
