SEOUL (AFP) — Marine police said Tuesday they have arrested a boat skipper and two others in connection with South Korea's largest-ever whale poaching case.

They were the first arrests since police broke a whale poaching racket in January this year, confiscating more than 50 tonnes of minke meat in the largest seizure of its kind in the country.

News reports said that since a crackdown on whaling began last year, the price of whale meat had soared in the southeastern city of Ulsan, where dozens of restaurants cater to consumers of the meat.

The 47-year-old skipper and the two sailors were charged with poaching whales at least three times between May and August last year.

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