ST. STEPHEN, N.B. – Environment Canada says a New Brunswick man has received a record fine under a law that protects wild animals and plants after about 250 narwhal ivory tusks were exported into Canada from the United States.
The federal department says Gregory Logan of Woodmans Point was convicted on seven counts for offences under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act.
It says Logan was fined $385,000 and given an eight-month conditional sentence to be served in the community, including four months of house arrest, during his appearance in provincial court on Tuesday in St. Stephen.
Environment Canada says the tusks were brought into Canada over a seven-year period.
“We found out about him through working closely with our partners in the United States and across the country through intelligence, and from then we started our investigation,” said Glen Ehler, the Atlantic regional director for wildlife enforcement at Environment Canada.
Logan smuggled the tusks into the States using a 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche and a utility trailer.
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The tusks were either hooked onto the undercarriage of the truck or in the false bottom of the trailer. They were well-hidden — a piece of plywood would be screwed up under the trailer to hide the tusks underneath it.
Logan is also prohibited from possessing or purchasing marine mammal products for 10 years, and he must forfeit items used to smuggle the tusks, which includes his truck and trailer, which were seized during Environment Canada’s investigation.
Environment Canada says only Inuit may harvest narwhal in Canada because it is a source of food and income in northern communities.
The agency says its 2 1/2 year investigation in the case, code-named Operation Longtooth, began in April 2009 when it received information from an agency in the U.S. about the illegal purchase of narwhal tusks that originated in Canada.
U.S. wildlife officials allege a smuggling ring operated for a decade. Two Americans charged in the United States face up to 20 years in prison and up to $285,000 in fines.
With files from Ray Bradshaw
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