3 arrested in Brooklyn with $1 million in stolen frozen eel

DYKER HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- Three men were arrested in Brooklyn with more than $1 million of frozen eel stolen in June from a shipping terminal in Elizabeth, N.J.

Police said Wei Da Li, 39, of Queens, and Sheauloon Yat, 51, and Fa Deng, 36, both of Brooklyn, picked up the shipment of eel from the terminal on June 1 by using fraudulent paperwork.

They then brought the shipment -- 2,000 boxes imported from China, worth a total of $1,040,000 -- to Brooklyn, according to the New York City Police Department.

But the real owner of the eels, Mars Global Trading, contacted police about the missing eel. The real eel owners, as part of a police sting, agreed to buy back 200 boxes, and they were led to a warehouse with 745 more boxes.

On Monday afternoon, the suspects were arrested outside a dim sum restaurant on Eighth Avenue and 66th Street in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.

Police are still looking for the rest of the boxes.

Li, Yat and Deng were all charged with criminal possession of stolen property. They will be arraigned Tuesday.