Peruvian authorities seized a ship carrying 55 boxes containing 12.3 million illegally caught seahorses. The value of the seized small marine fish is more than $6 million, and was expected to be sold in the international market as the ship was bound for Asia, where seahorses are an important healing ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine. The authorities arrested three Peruvian men and a Venezuelan citizen during the operation. They will face prison terms ranging from three to five years if proven guilty. The hunting and transport of seahorses has been prohibited in Peru since August 2004 It is expected that the animals, which were found in a bad state of dehydration and hardening, will be donated to local universities and research centers. For more on Euronews: Watch: Berlin Zoo publishes a new tape of the two baby pandas, Meng Meng Watch: A floating farm for raising cows in Rotterdam, Netherlands Watch: Sheep roam the streets of London in an eight-century-old tradition