OREANDA-NEWS  Two foreign tourists tried to export rare mushrooms from Russia to China and ran into a criminal case. This is reported on the website of the Far Eastern Customs Administration of the Federal Customs Service of Russia.

It is specified that the first foreigner was detained at the DAPP Poltava customs post. 17 mushrooms with a total weight of 1.2 kilograms were found in his backpack. The second man was driving through the Kraskino checkpoint. His luggage contained mushroom caps and legs weighing 100 grams.

Customs officers seized the suspicious cargo and sent it for examination, which revealed that it was matsutake red book mushrooms. The foreigners admitted that they knew about the ban on their export from the country, but due to the lack of permits, they tried to hide the goods.

A criminal case was opened against the violators under the article on the illegal movement of especially valuable wild animals, aquatic biological resources, plants and fungi belonging to species listed in the Red Book of the Russian Federation. They face a fine of up to one million rubles, or imprisonment for up to seven years.

Earlier, Russians were warned about the risk of going to prison for picking mushrooms listed in the Red Book. It is recommended to pay special attention to such rare species of mushrooms as rowan matsutake.