Case library · The Black Market
Five Hundred a Trip
United States v. Tsimbal (2002)
Charge: Smuggling & money launderingCourt: U.S. District Court, S.D. FloridaState: FloridaDocket: The Black Market
Did the wholesaler run the courier operation himself, or simply buy roe that other people had already brought in?
The facts
A wholesaler brought in more beluga roe in a single year than the source country's entire legal export quota for that year. Couriers were recruited for about five hundred dollars a trip and given plane tickets, hotels in Europe and Florida, and suitcases already packed with black-market roe. Some of it traveled in tins labeled as cheap lumpfish. The proceeds moved out through European bank accounts.
You have the facts the court had. Guilty or not guilty? Call it in the game with your friends, then see what the court actually decided. Wrong call, you drink.
Citation: United States v. Tsimbal (S.D. Fla. 2002)
Read more at justice.gov. The source reveals the outcome.