Warsaw – An international Interpol-led operation to identify environmental crimes has uncovered 1,600 marine pollution offenses around the world, the EU border agency Frontex said on Thursday.

The operation dubbed 30 Days at Sea 3.0 was simultaneously conducted by 300 agencies across 67 countries from March 1-31 following five months of intelligence collection and analysis to identify specific hotspots and suspects behind the environmental crimes.

“Frontex took active part in operation 30 Days at Sea … As part of the operation aimed at detecting environmental crime, Frontex planes and vessels monitored nearly 1 000 vessels. The operation’s tactical phase included the detection of 1,600 marine pollution offenses, often triggering fines and follow-up investigations around the globe,” Frontex said in a press release.

The violations include nearly 500 illegal acts of pollution at sea, 1,000 pollution offenses in coastal areas and in rivers, as well as 130 cases of waste trafficking through ports.

During unprecedented 34,000 inspections, the agencies detected and investigated thousands of suspects, companies and criminal networks engaged in maritime pollution, the press release added.