smuggling dragon fish

Pair charged with smuggling dragon fish into U.S.

BY JOSEPH MALLIA |newsday June 25, 2008 Two Long Island men were arrested at the Canadian border trying to smuggle four endangered exotic fish known as the Asian dragon fish, or arowana, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said yesterday.

The two men concealed the dragon fish, which retail for as much as $10,000 each on the black market, in the trunk of their car, said Kevin Corsaro, chief Customs and Border Patrol officer at the agency's Buffalo office.

Robert Battaglia, 40, and Richard Feustel, 59, had the fish in water-filled bags hidden in the spare tire well of their car, Corsaro said. Feustel, of Middle Island, and Battaglia, of Ronkonkoma, could not be reached for comment yesterday.

The two appeared in court earlier this week in Buffalo, Corsaro said.



Asian arowana fish are covered under the Endangered Species Act in the United States and cannot be possessed without a permit.


They have a special cultural significance in areas influenced by Chinese culture. The fish are considered lucky because of their resemblance to the Chinese dragon, Corsaro said.

The smuggling charges carry a maximum penalty of $250,000 and a maximum sentence of five years imprisonment per fish, a customs agency statement said.

Corsaro provided Newsday with a photo of the four fish, each in its own clear plastic bag, cached in the car trunk alongside a packet of what appeared to be fish food.

It was on Saturday at the Lewiston Bridge Crossing in upstate New York when border patrol officers first questioned Battaglia and Feustel as they tried to re-enter the U.S.

Their answers seemed suspicious, so a border patrol officer searched their car and "discovered four live Asian arowana fish (Scleropages formosus) concealed in the spare tire well," Corsaro said.

Under interrogation by border patrol and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents, Battaglia said he was asked by a friend in New York City to buy the fish and bring them back to the city, Corsaro said.

Battaglia said he was promised two arowanas as payment for smuggling the contraband fish, which he bought for $1,000 each from a Toronto pet store, Corsaro said.

The color of the arowana depends on what specific region of Southeast Asia it comes from, Corsaro's statement said.

Both Battaglia and Feustel were arrested by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and charged with illegal importation of wildlife articles, Corsaro said.

The fish were turned over to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to be used as evidence, he said. A Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman was not available for comment Tuesday.

"The trafficking of endangered fish and wildlife decreases the population of these already threatened species," James T. Engleman, Customs Border Patrol director of field operations for the Buffalo field office, said in a statement.