poachers caught (article)

:( 'Barbaric' poaching operation busted


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Daniel McHardie
Telegraph-Journal
Published Friday January 26th, 2007
Appeared on page A1


As many as 15 New Brunswickers are implicated in a suspected moose and deer poaching ring spanning the Quebec-New Brunswick border that has police examining 250 separate charges, including allegations of "barbaric" methods of killing their prey.

Operation Red Fox started two years ago with ordinary citizens complaining about poachers and ended at 6 a.m. Thursday when wildlife officers executed about 25 search warrants in Quebec and New Brunswick. The litany of charges facing the 50 suspected of poaching range from hunting white-tail deer at night with spotlights, selling meat across provincial borders and using a motor vehicle to run down moose.

Sheldon Jordan, Environment Canada's director of wildlife enforcement for the Quebec region, described the ring as organized crime driven by a "brazen disregard for wildlife and conservation." Along with 1,500 kilograms of meat and 10 firearms, the police seized two modified pick-up trucks that are being blamed for a "particularly inhumane way of destroying" the moose.

Jordan said the trucks each had a raised chassis, reinforced bumpers and protective grills. It is believed the poachers would travel the back roads of Quebec at night and when they saw a moose, they would blind it with a spotlight and then ram the confused animal with the vehicle, breaking its legs and then return in the morning for the carcass. And, Jordan said, if the moose tried to run for its life, the trucks would chase it down and crush its hind legs, drag the animal to the side of the road and come back when it was dead.

"You would probably wonder why anybody would do something so barbaric. The investigation so far shows, these are individuals who were prohibited from hunting, they had been caught poaching before," Jordan said. "Driving a truck along a road at night doesn't make a lot of noise, whereas firing off a couple shots from high-powered rifle makes a lot of noise. They were trying to avoid being caught by driving down roads in the middle of the night and then coming back the next day to recover the carcasses."

The two-year investigation involved 130 conservation officers from New Brunswick, Quebec and the federal government. The illegal activity in New Brunswick was based primarily in Campbellton and crossed into Quebec's Gaspé region. The poachers apparently took the meat across the border, trying to avoid provincial laws and would sell the illegal moose and deer.

Smuggling the meat into another province triggered the federal government's involvement.

Those arrested are accused of hiring two First Nations people to ride along with them just in case they were caught hunting at night with the spotlight. In that case, Jordan said the First Nations individuals would say they were invoking their constitutional right to hunt at night. But he said, those rights don't include carrying the meat illegally across the border and selling the meat for non-aboriginals.

Natural Resources Minister Donald Arseneault praised the work of the conservation officers on both sides of the border in bringing charges in this case.

"These are very serious offences and I'm very happy that we worked in co-operation with our neighbours in Quebec as well as our federal counterparts to put an end to this," Arseneault said. "These are very serious charges and they are going to be facing very serious penalties."

More information is being collected in the investigation, raising the possibility of even more charges in the future.

There are more than 250 federal and provincial charges being considered with possible penalties reaching more than $500,000 for provincial contraventions and $300,000 and five years of imprisonment for the assorted federal violations. Quebec's Ministry of Natural Resources underscored the importance of the Quebec Wildlife Protection dog detector team and forensic laboratory in tracking down different pieces of evidence.

Now that the search warrants have been acted upon, Jordan said the file is being turned over to the Crown prosecutors and charges could be forthcoming in a few months.

The dynamic of the organized poaching ring is still being explored but the federal spokesman said these groups tend to work in small, loosely related, cells.

"I can't tell you the number of cells because everything has changed so much in the last few hours," he said. "However, often there will be several different cells with limited communication between them not knowing that there are other cells. But when you actually come to it, there are one or two people that know what's going on everywhere."
More fuel why we should have a banner on this site , and go out of your way to report these scum bags
 
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Is there anything that we as a group of legitimate hunters from east to west can do to ensure that these scumbags do some jail time, pay heavy fines and never see the right to a hunting license again? Will a signed petition from all of us provided to the prosecuting attorney on court date do the job. If someone has the letter writing experience to start such a petition and can post a copy of it or send it to me...I will do my part to get names on it in my neck of the woods. Let get these people put away.:mad: :mad:
 
Those pricks should be drug behind that truck!!!!! Thats awful...makes me sick!!
Also those so called "aboriginals" are just as bad for even participating in that sh*t!!!
 
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44fordy said:
Send em to jail. PERIOD!

No fine...just jail...and lots of it!
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I disagree

Confiscate their houses and vehicles and other properties and auction them off to pay the fines ...chain there asses to 50 other people and then force them to perform heavy physically demanding manual labour to earn their keep in prison.

But thats just my opinion .....I could be wrong
 
A petition from legit hunters such as our selves might be wise. That way we can send a clear message that no hunter approves of poaching, esspecially in such a way so that the media doesn't turn us into barbarians as well.
 
"The investigation so far shows, these are individuals who were prohibited from hunting, they had been caught poaching before,"
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Looks like the slap on the wrist didn't work.

Those arrested are accused of hiring two First Nations people to ride along with them just in case they were caught hunting at night with the spotlight. In that case, Jordan said the First Nations individuals would say they were invoking their constitutional right to hunt at night.
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I wonder what will happen to these guys? :rolleyes: SCOC are you listening?
 
MagnumPeanut said:
A petition from legit hunters such as our selves might be wise. That way we can send a clear message that no hunter approves of poaching, esspecially in such a way so that the media doesn't turn us into barbarians as well.
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no kidding, good idea.

people like this are the reason the gov feels the need to enforce so many restrictions on decent people. crucify them
 
xippi said:
I disagree

Confiscate their houses and vehicles and other properties and auction them off to pay the fines ...chain there asses to 50 other people and then force them to perform heavy physically demanding manual labour to earn their keep in prison.

But thats just my opinion .....I could be wrong
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X2

Three meals a day and the opportunity to get their high school diploma is hardly retribution. Even a criminal can apply for a pardon after 5 years.

Confiscate / seize everything, then nail'em with heavy fines. Ruin the c()ck $ucker financially. Add to that a criminal record & badda-bing, badda-bang, badda-boom........ no job!.

I have NO patience for these a$$holes

(They where hitting moose w/vehicle and leaving them to die - WTF!!).



Peace, love, joy, & tolerance......

Hakx
 
Well it looks like we do have a couple or three in agreement with a petition. Can someone in the vicinity can provide some details as to the location, arresting officers, court house, etc. Let's draft up a petition, I'll write something unless a better author volunteers. We post it here for review, approval and suggestions by all. You guys can then make blank copies which are printed and petitioned in our hunting communities, residencial and work communities. Let's get signatures and then mail everything back to one of our volunteered members who delivers it to the prosecuting attorney. That's just an idea, unless someone has a better one. We cannot stand my and let people like this operate, as ethical hunters, we have a responsibility to help protect our wildlife from such predators.
 
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There certainly sounds like there was a lot of money to be made.:confused:
I have to wonder who is buying this meat? The low-lifes that are buying this meat propogate this disgusting illegal activity and should be prosecuted as well.:mad:
 
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