Drug smuggling fish given fresh start at aquarium

Four fish used in a drug smuggling operation have been re-homed at the Blue Planet Aquarium, near Ellesmere Port in Cheshire.

The freshwater arowanas were used in an attempt to smuggle 17kg of cocaine, with a street value of £1.6m, from Colombia to the UK in 2011. The drugs were hidden in sealed bags containing more than 16,000 tropical fish, most of which died in transit, with only 34 surviving.



Aquarium curator David Wolfenden said: "Clearly the smugglers did not care at all about the fishes' welfare and the fact that nearly all of them perished during the smuggling operation is extremely sad.

"It's something of a miracle that any managed to survive the ordeal and we're glad they can now live out their time here with us in a large, purpose-built display."