Smugglers target ‘living rock’ cactus, found only in Big Bend
The so-called “living rock” cactus, an obscure desert plant found only in the Big Bend region and a slice of neighboring Mexico, isn’t much to look at.
In fact, until it blooms in the fall, it is very hard to see. The tiny plant grows just a couple inches high and, at most, about 6 inches around.
But to collectors in Europe and Asia, the squat, spineless and cushiony cactus is a living jewel.
Some are willing to pay thousands of dollars — no questions asked — for a single smuggled specimen. And until the law stepped in, some Texans were cashing in with wholesale shipments of the protected species overseas.
“The Asians can’t get enough of these. If you ship them 1,000 today, they’ll want 1,000 more next week,” said Eric Jumper, an agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who investigated the case.
The plant is related to peyote but has no apparent medicinal properties. It is desired because it grows nowhere else in the world — a fact that earned it a place on the international protected species list.
The plant can live as long as humans and has acquired a strong symbolic value in some Asian cultures. In China, it is given to newborn children to ensure a long and fruitful life.
The last of six Texas men who illegally shipped plants to foreign buyers pleaded guilty this week in federal court in Pecos to international trafficking of a protected species.
“The agents involved in this case would tell you that they never expected to investigate a cactus smuggling ring, but this has become a prevalent criminal enterprise globally, and one that is very detrimental to the rare cactus species of the American Southwest,” said Phillip Land, the special agent in charge for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the Southwest.
In pleading to the felony charges, Harry G. Bock II, 47, of El Paso, agreed to a punishment of three years probation, $7,200 in restitution and forfeiture of 41 cacti seized by the federal government.
Sentenced earlier for their roles in the smuggling operations were William Gornto, 60, of Fort Davis; Paul Armstrong, 72, of Study Butte; Mark Rehfield, 61, of Spicewood; and Morris Carter, 67, of Terlingua. Their penalties included probation, forfeiture of firearms and $137,000 in fines and restitution.
Federal agents said the various traffickers had worked in small groups but did not all know each other.
The eight-year investigation involved more than a half-dozen state and federal agencies, including state game wardens, Homeland Security investigators, U.S. Postal Inspectors and National Park personnel.
While it’s legal to collect the cacti on private land with permission of the landowner, it is a federal crime to take it them
from private land without permission or from the Big Bend National Park and the Big Bend Ranch State Park.
It is a crime to ship the plants overseas.
And while cactus theft from state and national parks is a chronic problem, investigators never could prove the smugglers had acquired the cacti illegally.
“They said if you get caught on the national park, it’s real trouble. If you get caught on a ranch, you just get kicked off,” Jumper said.
The investigation began in 2012 after complaints arose from cactus and succulent enthusiasts in Texas about the illegal marketing of the protected species. It gained momentum with an inspector for the U.S. Department of Agriculture in Austin reviewed paperwork by one vendor that suggested the high volume of the sales.
Jumper said agents eventually identified some of the smugglers
but could not learn the source of the plants.
“The big break came when Homeland Security served a warrant on a rancher in the Big Bend in an immigration case,” he said.
Among the seized items were business ledgers that showed sales of cacti by the rancher. And among the buyer’s names was one well-known to Jumper.
“When I opened the ledger, on the first page, the first name was one of my targets,” he said.
About the same time, agents began intercepting boxes of cacti going overseas. Many were declared to be “household decorations,” in an apparent attempt to fool customs.
“We intercepted hundreds of boxes but it was a drop of what they were sending,” Jumper said.
Agents also learned how the smugglers used eBay and Pay Pal to process hundreds of thousands of dollars in payments.
“We had to rely on eBay to work with us. We were able to identify the people overseas and the general area the cacti were going, but we weren’t able to enforce anything overseas on the targets,” said Jason Manyx, resident agent in charge for Homeland Security Investigations in Alpine. “The Chinese weren’t so willing to assist on this one.”
Before he was arrested, Jumper said, one smuggler quickly was becoming rich.
“If we had not stopped him, in a year’s time, he would have made $500,000 to $600,000 easily,” he said.
Investigators concluded that 10,000 to 15,000 plants were dug up in southern Brewster County by the six defendants. The slow-growing plants that were seized generally were at least 3 inches in diameter and ranged in age from 30 to 50 years.
After agents seized more than
4,500 cacti from the smugglers, a botanist at Sul Ross University played a vital role in caring for them and finding them new homes.
“Most of them ended up on big ranches, back in their native habitat,” said Karen Little, who took great pains to ensure the orphaned cacti were in good hands.
She resisted pleas from cactus clubs and took down detailed personal information for every person who received them. She also warned them it was illegal to sell the cacti.
“I’m very personally attached to them. I felt like their caretaker,” she said.
Even Jumper, a veteran agent more accustomed to investigating wildlife cases, finds himself a bit sentimental about the homely little cacti.
“It grew on me. I fell in love with the plant. I used to have a picture of one on my phone,” he said.