In October 2025, usfws wildlife inspectors seized roughly 50,000 dried shark fins across 20 shipments at multiple U.S. ports - totaling more than 1,600 pounds valued at over $1 million. The coordinated enforcement action was part of Operation Thunder, a global effort to combat illegal wildlife trade. The first shipment was discovered by inspectors in Anchorage, Alaska, sparking a wider investigation. Their work led to the interception of additional shipments moving through Anchorage, Alaska; Louisville, Kentucky; and Cincinnati, Ohio while they were transiting from Mexico to Hong Kong. The shipments, each disguised as car parts, were found to be linked to a larger trafficking network. The staggering number of fins were predominantly from silky sharks and bigeye thresher sharks, both protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). All fins were seized for multiple violations of wildlife laws – another strong step forward in ...