2 indicted in export of O'ahu live coral
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
A criminal conspiracy that authorities say involved the shipment of close to 100 tons of living Hawaiian coral and "live" marine rock from Kane'ohe Bay to California during the 1990s unraveled when a box labeled "smoked seafood" broke open at the airport.
Airport officials called state Department of Land and Natural Resources officials when they noticed the contents were living marine specimens — and not what the label said. A subsequent investigation showed that the rock had been harvested — and in some cases chipped out of the reef — at Kane'ohe Bay, said Bill Devick, administrator of the state Division of Aquatic Resources.
On Wednesday, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles indicted John Marquardsen, 50, of Hale'iwa, and a California man as part of a 49-count indictment on charges of conspiracy, illegal trafficking in wildlife and falsely describing the contents of the shipments on commercial airliners. Three other men have pleaded guilty to participation in the operation.
Marquardsen is accused of collecting the coral in Kane'ohe Bay, and Rodolfo Tagle, 50, of Santa Ana, Calif., of accepting shipments in Los Angeles, which were then sold to retailers. They are expected to be arraigned this month in the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. The maximum penalty for each count is five years in prison.
The investigation, conducted by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Department of Land and Natural Resources' Division of Conservation and Resource Enforcement, and California law enforcement officials, found that the live specimens were distributed to dealers in the marine-aquarium trade in Southern California.
DLNR director Peter Young said it is illegal to take coral, which he described as "a building block of the Islands."
"It is critically important to protect our coral reefs. Coral is a living organism and a system that nurtures other aquatic life," Young said.
The Kane'ohe harvesting venture is believed to have taken and shipped to the Mainland roughly 100 tons of live coral as well as other live rock — a term for any hard material with living marine life in or on it. As many as 71 air shipments over several years were identified, with a value of an estimated $1 million, according to the U.S. attorney's office for the Central District of California.
The office said the coral and rock were sold to retailers after arrival at the Los Angeles International Airport.
The U.S. attorney's office estimated the damage to the O'ahu reef at more than $5 million.
Another Honolulu resident, King Wong, 56, is awaiting sentencing in the case after pleading guilty to conspiracy. He was accused of helping Marquardsen package the coral for shipment, and preparing the shipping paperwork that described the coral as smoked fish and other smoked seafood.
Two California defendants have pleaded guilty and were sentenced to five years probation for assisting Tagle at the California end of the effort.
Reach Jan TenBruggencate at jant@honoluluadvertiser.com or (808)245-3074.
