$27,350 IN FINES FOR SELLING ILLEGAL MOOSE MEAT

Three Alberta residents have pleaded guilty to illegally selling moose meat in Stony Plain court after a lengthy investigation in which undercover Fish and Wildlife officers busted a wildlife trafficking ring. Eva Irene Jennie Potts, Ryan Morley Grandbois- Faulds and Daisy Fay Potts were fined a total of $27,350. They are among six people convicted of illegal wildlife trafficking after a lengthy investiga- tion. In 2010, officers received a tip that wildlife meat was being sold illegally around Lac Ste. Anne and launched an undercover probe called Operation Pilgrim II. Officers pose “as potential buyers and sellers while interacting with suspected wildlife traffickers,” said Brendan Cox, a spokesman for Alberta Justice. Black-market demand puts pressure on animal populations, he added.