Smuggler given stiff fine
Cobden man guilty of illegally importing reptiles into Canada
On an August day three years ago, a dozen or so law enforcement officers — Environment Canada agents, RCMP, Border Security services, Fish and Wildlife staff among them — waited patiently while a small boat motored across the St. Lawrence River from the Akwesasne Reservation on the United States side of the border to land on the Cornwall side.
They waited as the man in the boat gave three crates to another man who had been waiting for him. They waited as the second man loaded the crates into his truck. And that’s when waiting came to an end.
The results of that long wait came to a conclusion in a Cornwall court late last week when a judge sentenced a Cobden man, Dennis Day, to a 90-day jail sentence and slapped him with the $50,000 fine. Day, in his 40s, had pleaded guilty in July to two counts of illegally importing reptiles into Canada. A few months earlier, in March, he’d been convicted under the Customs Act of smuggling, keeping, acquiring and disposing of illegally imported goods. (The man who operated the boat was charged and convicted by American authorities.)
Tuesday’s sentencing was the culmination of a lengthy investigation into a growing problem — the smuggling of reptiles, birds, animals, and plants, many of them rare and endangered, both from and to Canada — that has law enforcement agencies scrambling to keep up with increasingly sophisticated smugglers who cater to those who think they need to own an exotic species. And some are prepared to pay a steep price to satisfy their fetish for the exotic.
“There’s the illegal drug trade, illegal immigration, illegal weapons trade; wildlife is up there,” says Martin Thabault, operations manager for wildlife enforcement in Ontario who’s been involved in the Day case. “There’s a lot of money to be made. We’re talking about plants, lumber. Or it could be rhino horn, exotic leathers, exotic pets. It’s pretty widespread.
Thabault and his colleagues hope the sentence meted out to Day sends a message of deterrence.
“We’ve had similar files in the past (but) this was probably one of the more important cases in recent history,” he says.
Part of the problem they face — at least this as been the case in the past — is how seriously prosecutors and judges take the crime in terms of imposing stiff fines and jail terms. Day, for example, has been convicted on previous charges related to the importation of animals. This was the first time for a jail term.
But judicial attitudes might be changing. In October, a New Brunswick man, Gregory Logan, was hit with a $385,000 fine and given an eight-month conditional sentence that included four months of house arrest after he was convicted of illegally exporting 250 Narwhal tusks. It was the largest penalty imposed so far in Canada under laws regulating the trading of wild animals and plants.
“Historically, we haven’t seen a lot of jail time (imposed on smugglers), but now we’re seeing that increasing,” said Glen Ehler, acting director general for wildlife enforcement, citing the Logan case. And that, he said, is a positive sign the issue of illegal trade in animals and plants is being taken more seriously.
Still, despite the harsher penalties, the potential profits from smuggling exotic species, often rare and endangered, makes the enterprise worthwhile to those so inclined. In Day’s case, the three crates and their 205 small reptiles — everything from Chinese striped turtles and green iguanas to tortoises and chameleons — were valued at $50,000.
In the Day case, the reptiles, which as a species account for about 25 per cent of the illegal animal trade, were heading to pet stories. Some store owners might not have known the animals they were buying were obtained illegally, but some undoubtedly did.
“Day was taking orders (from pet store owners) and getting the animals in the country and then delivering them,” says Thabault. “There were definitely buyers for these reptiles. The bigger customers were interviewed and charges have been laid. Some of them are in the courts system right now. ”
Most of the seized animals were on the endangered species list, says Thabault, noting that they remain safe and healthy. They’d been purchased from licensed dealers in California and Florida who were unaware of Day’s plans.
According to Thabault, some pet owners in Quebec have been convicted as a result of the Day case. As well, another accused, Mark Ostroff, was convicted in Cornwall in December after pleading guilty to unlawfully importing animals. He was fined $40,000 and sentenced to three years’ probation.
The maximum penalty in a criminal conviction is a $150,000 fine and/ or five years in jail, or both. A summary conviction can bring a fine of as much as $25,000 and/or up to six months in jail. Corporations caught and convicted face $300,000 fines.
Thabault said he and his colleagues are satisfied with the penalty levelled against Day, even though he’ll be doing his jail time on weekends, and even though he’s a repeat offender. “This is the fine we were asking for, and this is the jail time we were asking for. So basically we got what we were asking for.”
The point, he said, was to send a message to other would-be smugglers, and, hopefully, set an example for the courts to follow in future cases.
“We have to tell our story and explain that what we do is important. We’re talking about endangered species. If a species goes extinct, how much is it worth? You cannot put a price tag on that.”