Two Uruguayan siblings were sentenced to prison this week for trafficking more than $3 million in bovine gallstones to Hong Kong for use in Chinese medicine, Uruguayan authorities and Interpol said.
A 50-year-old man was sentenced to two years and one month in prison for smuggling and money laundering, while his sister, aged 48, received an 18-month jail sentence for money laundering but was released on probation.
They acquired the gallstones from Uruguayan slaughterhouses, according to the Monday court ruling and Interpol.
Uruguay has more than three cows for each of the country's 3.5 million inhabitants -- the highest number per capita in the world.
It exports most of its production.
The charge sheet said the defendant paid between $198,000 and $200,000 a kilo -- more than the price of gold currently at around $83,000 a kilo -- for the gallstones, which were acquired from slaughterhouse owners or staff in five different Uruguayan departments.
He then sent them by DHL to two companies in Hong Kong identified in the investigation by the initials H.H.L. and H.T.B.T.C.
The investigation revealed he made a profit of about $8,000 per kilo.
Court documents showed he received a total of $3.2 million in bank transfers from his Hong Kong customers and deposited an additional $188,000 into his sister's account.
Uruguayan authorities seized a vehicle and a property in Montevideo belonging to the pair jointly valued at about $2.5 million.
Gallstones found in the bladders of cattle during meat processing are highly prized in Asia, where they are used in alternative medicine for their purported anti-inflammatory properties and to fight fever.