Federal authorities say they indicted 12 people and seized nearly $8 million in cash, jewels and precious metals after disrupting a criminal enterprise that dealt drugs and sold illegally harvested shark fins to buyers overseas.

U.S. Attorney Bobby Christine in Savannah, Georgia, told a news conference Thursday that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service uncovered the conspiracy while investigating the illegal practice of cutting the fins off live sharks and dumping them back into the water to die.

He says other federal agencies got involved to investigate evidence of marijuana trafficking and money laundering.

The indictment says more than 12,500 pounds of shark fins were shipped from Savannah to Hong Kong.