Blue crab dumping mystery solved; local business could face felony charges from DNR

The mystery of who dumped several hundred of pounds of blue crabs into the Chattahoochee River earlier this month appears to be solved.

After a two-week investigation, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has identified a Columbus Asian grocery store as the likely culprit. An employee of S mart on Manchester Expressway has admitted to dumping the crabs in the river in an area known as Bibb Pond off the Chattahoochee Riverwalk, DNR Sgt. Jeremy Bolen said Tuesday morning.

The owner of S mart at 1901 Manchester Expressway identified himself as Steven Bui and said it was “a mistake.”

“Our business hasn’t done anything,” Bui said. “One of our workers made a mistake.”

The DNR officers interviewed the driver of a seafood truck which belonged to S mart Grocery located on Manchester Expressway, Bolen said in a news release after the Ledger-Enquirer requested an update on the investigation.

“The driver admitted to dumping blue crabs and shrimp into the river on two separate instances,” according to the release. ”The driver stated that the owner of the store informed him to get rid of the dead crabs.”

No charges have been filed, but charges are expected, Bolen said. The most likely charge is an illegal dumping charge which could be a felony because the dumping was done for commercial purposes, according to the news release.

Game wardens also inspected the commercial licenses for the selling of fish and seafood at the S mart business. Several violations were discovered and will be addressed after a meeting with local prosecutors, the release stated.

The crabs were discovered by a walker along the riverwalk on Sept. 9. The Chattahoochee River Conservancy, a watchdog organization, was also investigating the crab dump, Executive Director Henry Jackson said.

There were between 300 and 500 pounds of seafood found in the river, Bolen said. At $4 per pound, the value of the blue crabs dumped could be as much as $2,000. The driver admitted to dumping four boxes, Bolen said.

This story was originally published September 25, 2018 at 11:01 AM.