March 20, 2008

Operation Shell Game Nets Fourth Conviction

TORONTO, Ontario - Anthony Simon, a citizen of Haiti who lives in Montreal, was convicted in the Ontario Court of Justice on one count of unlawfully importing queen conch, an internationally protected marine endangered species, from Haiti to the United States, via Canada, without permit. Mr. Simon was fined $1,000 and was ordered to pay an additional $24,000 to the Environmental Damages Fund.

The investigation established reasonable grounds to believe that Mr. Simon unlawfully acted with Janitse Martinez of Caribbean Conch Company, Miami, Florida and Pacific Marine Union Corporation, Vancouver, British Columbia, to smuggle queen conch from Haiti to the United States via Toronto's Pearson International Airport. It was alleged that the queen conch was mislabelled and falsely documented as non-endangered frozen whelk meat so as to escape the scrutiny of U.S. and Canadian border and wildlife officials. Pacific Marine Union pleaded guilty in Vancouver and Ms. Martinez was convicted in Halifax. A total of 11,844 pounds of queen conch, valued at approximately $177,660, was unlawfully imported into Canada on five occasions: July 14, 2005; August 3, 2005; September 12, 2005; September 20, 2005; and January 19, 2006. This weight of conch represents between 35,500 and 47,400 individuals taken from the wild.

The charges were a result of Operation Shell Game, an 18-month-long investigation into the unlawful import and export of queen conch. Canadian and U.S. federal wildlife officials announced on September 26, 2007 that the smuggling ring had been dismantled and subsequent convictions and fines were announced in Halifax on November 8, 2007; in Vancouver on January 4, 2008; and in Miami, Florida on January 25, 2008.