Russian authorities open criminal case over large-scale illegal crab trade

Russian investigators have opened a criminal case into the creation of a criminal organisation and the illegal harvesting of Kamchatka crab worth more than one billion rubles (approx. $13.9 million) in the Khabarovsk region.

The Investigative Committee of Russia for the Khabarovsk region and the Jewish Autonomous Region said six residents are suspected in the case, Caliber.Az reports, citing Russian media.

“They are suspected of committing a crime under Part 1 of Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. <…> The investigation established that from January 2023 to March 2026, one of the residents of the region created and led a criminal organisation aimed at the illegal harvesting of Kamchatka and blue crab inhabiting the Okhotsk Sea subzone of the Ayano-Maysky district,” the statement noted.

According to investigators, the group was structured into divisions handling different stages of the operation: catching live crab, sorting, boiling, and producing falsified documentation; processing and packing illegal products in a workshop in the village of Ayan without labelling; and distributing the finished goods within the region.

Over three years, more than 250,000 kilograms of live crab were allegedly caught. The total damage to the state is estimated at over one billion rubles.

By Bakhtiyar Abbasov