THE owner of a fish shop in Ang Mo Kio was fined $26,000 in a district court on Wednesday for importing Asian Arowana fish without a permit.

Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (AVA) officers who conducted an inspection on June 24, found 23 Arowanas kept inside a small room and three on display outside the shop.

Tan Yong Kheng, 37, owner of Long Cheng Aquarium, admitted that he had bought the fish from a Malaysian and two other Singaporeans, court papers said.

Import permits were not issued for the fish by the AVA and they were not microchipped to show that they were of legal origin.