YUZHNO-SAKHALINSK, Russia, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- Police on Sakhalin Island, on Russia's far eastern coast, seized three tons of red salmon caviar in a protected wildlife reserve, officials said Friday.
Containers of the delicacy were found in a truck, and 11 "unemployed residents" were held at an illegal fish processing plant on the island's Schmidt Peninsula, police added.
A criminal case of illegal fishing, punishable by a possible two years in jail, was opened, the Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported Friday.
Sturgeon fishing in the wild is prohibited in Russia except for scientific and breeding purposes.
About 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of bootleg black caviar worth 2 million rubles ($60,854) was also discovered and seized Friday on the Khabarovsk-Moscow Trans-Siberian train. The caviar was found in the train's dining car, and police detained a suspected smuggler who worked in the dining car, RIA Novosti said.
