[TN-Bird] Bird smuggling convictions

  • From: "David Aborn" <David-Aborn@xxxxxxx>
  • To: "TN-Bird" <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "Laura Erikson" <chickadee@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "John Tucker" <John-Tucker@xxxxxxx>, "Jane Duden" <jduden@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>, "'John D Alexander'" <John-Alexander@xxxxxxx>
  • Date: Fri, 3 Mar 2006 09:04:52 -0500


In 2004, rangers in the East Everglades Subdistrict began an =
investigation
and developed intelligence which led to the uncovering of a large scale
market of persons and businesses involved in the trapping and sale of
protected migratory bird species.=20

The investigation began when rangers monitoring websites on the internet
discovered that bird traps were being placed in the park.  The traps =
were
found to contain painted buntings and indigo buntings.=20

Rangers and state officers from the Florida Fish and Wildlife =
Conservation
Commission subsequently conducted surveillance operations and followed =
the
people who retrieved the traps and birds to a residence in a North Miami
area called Hialeah. Once at this residence, they stopped, detained,
interrogated, seized evidence from and cited several people for =
Migratory
Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) violations.=20

Further information was gained by state and federal USFWS agents who
continued the investigation and uncovered a large marketing site in =
Hialeah.
Additional observations by field biologists with the U.S. Geological =
Survey
conducting research in South Florida revealed that many of the protected
migratory birds were being sold illegally in pet stores and informal =
flea
markets around Miami. Six defendants, all residents of the Miami-Hialeah
area, unlawfully sold and offered for sale indigo and painted buntings, =
blue
grosbeaks, and northern cardinals during the period from October 24, =
2004
through July 11, 2005 in violation of 16 USC 703 and 707.=20

The defendants conducted regular sales almost every Sunday, for many =
months
in the parking lot of a business in Hialeah. Undercover officers made =
direct
purchases of birds from the various defendants over the course of the
investigation. The informal bird market, often attended by 50 to 100 =
people,
relocated to a local municipal park area during the undercover
investigation. Over the course of the operation, officers were illegally
sold over 250 protected migratory birds and were offered in excess of =
3,500
birds by the illegal dealers. The investigation also led to charges and
convictions against three pet store operators for possessing the same
protected species in their stores.=20

Under federal law, the Secretary of the Department of Interior maintains =
a
list of highly migratory birds that are protected from, among other =
things,
capture, barter, sale, or transport.  The purpose of the federal law, =
which
is almost 90 years old, is to protect species of birds which, because of
their migratory behavior, may be subjected to such severe hunting and =
other
"take" activity over their range that the species may suffer extirpation =
or
extinction. =20

Research conducted over a 30 year period has shown that populations of =
at
least one of the protected species involved in these cases, the painted
bunting, have declined over 50% throughout their migratory range.

Five of the defendants pled guilty, and the sixth was convicted on =
February
3rd, 2006 of 4 counts of violating the Treaty. Sentencing for the sixth
defendant is set for April 12th. He faces up to 2 years in jail and up =
to
$250,000 in fines for each count.

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