Polish authorities foiled the smuggling of more than a thousand corals from Indonesia

The Mazovian National Revenue Administration (KAS), in cooperation with the Central Animal Asylum and the Orientarium in Łódź, rescued 1.5 tonnes of reef-building corals at Warsaw Chopin Airport. The animals have been secured, but they will not return to their natural environment.

Effective KAS intervention – smuggling thwarted

On April 9, officers from the Mazovian Customs and Tax Office in Warsaw reported the detention of a suspicious shipment. The corals were transported in plastic bags filled with water and packed in cardboard boxes labeled live tropical fish. An inspection revealed that the shipment contained more than a thousand protected animals: 500 reef-building corals representing 30 different genera and about 500 soft corals, marine invertebrates that do not build calcareous skeletons.

According to KAS, the shipment from Indonesia weighed 1,460 kg, and the accompanying documentation contained irregularities and significant discrepancies with the actual contents. The Central Animal Asylum was immediately notified of the incident. Its mission is to provide temporary care for wild animals seized by services and state administrative authorities.

What will happen to the corals?

Corals are living organisms that require warm, oxygenated, nutrient-rich water and sunlight, which enables photosynthesis by their symbiotic algae. Confined for many hours in small bags and transported in darkness, they were severely weakened and oxygen-deprived at the time the smuggling was uncovered, as confirmed by the Border Veterinary Officer.

Due to the urgent need for intervention, the Central Animal Asylum requested assistance from experts at the Orientarium in Łódź, which specializes in coral husbandry. The seized specimens were immediately transferred to tanks where they will be able to recover while remaining in quarantine. The Ministry of Climate and Environment assures that after rehabilitation, the corals will be transferred to specialized breeding facilities and will become part of educational activities.

Corals and the Washington Convention (CITES)

The rules for the transport and trade of live and dead corals are regulated by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) of 1973. It also applies to other protected specimens and aims to prevent criminal practices that lead to the loss of global biodiversity. In Poland, the authority responsible for implementing the Convention is the Minister of Climate and Environment.

Most corals are listed in Appendix II of the Convention, which allows trade only in designated quantities and with the appropriate permits. Unfortunately, despite bans and restrictions, the illegal smuggling of attractive invertebrates continues to thrive, with most contraband sourced from Indonesia and Fiji. In 2024, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified 56 species of reef-building corals as vulnerable, 251 as endangered, and 33 as critically endangered.

The main threat to reefs is so-called bleaching, which results from prolonged thermal stress and is a direct consequence of rising ocean temperatures worldwide. Data published in 2025 by the International Coral Reef Initiative indicate that as much as 84 percent of corals globally are affected by bleaching, which threatens their mass die-off. A report prepared by 160 scientists worldwide, Global Tipping Points 2025, identified reef degradation as the first tipping point already crossed by the Earth, endangering the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people and the survival of one quarter of all marine species.

The case of the smuggling is being handled by the Mazovian Customs and Tax Office in Warsaw. Under Polish law, this offense is punishable by imprisonment from 3 months to 5 years.