MOSCOW, October 18 (RAPSI) – A court in Russia’s Republic of Tatarstan has sentenced several men to prison terms ranging from 2.5 to 3 years for illegal capture of over 27,000 crayfish, the press-service of the Prosecutor General’s Office has stated.

The court found that from January 2015 to October 2017 five defendants caused a 170,000-ruble damage by crayfishing in the Aktanyshsky district of the region. It was also found that in 2016-2017 one of the defendants bribed a former police officer to receive protection.

Ex-police officer was sentenced to 3 years in a penal colony.