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 Andrew Fruck, of Nigara-on-the-Lake, was also ordered to pay $5,700 in restitution for costs incurred in caring of some of the 1,475 tortoises, turtles and snakes seized when he tried to cross the border at Fort Erie on Sept. 15, 2009. (Andrew Bruce/EC Wildlife Officer/Wildlife Enforcement Division) |
TORONTO - A Niagara man was sentenced to six months house arrest and community service after being convicted in the country's largest reptile smuggling attempt.
Andrew Fruck, of Nigara-on-the-Lake, was also ordered to pay $5,700 in restitution for costs incurred in caring of some of the 1,475 tortoises, turtles and snakes seized when he tried to cross the border at Fort Erie on Sept. 15, 2009.
Of those animals, 36 tortoises and nine snakes are listed as controlled species and require special permits.
He plead guilty on April 30 in a St. Catharines court to lying to border guards and to 11 counts of contravening the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act. Fruck was also ordered not to import or export animals.
The animals were hidden behind panels of Fruck's van and customs officers became suspicious of his answers and behaviour while at the primary checkpoint. He was ordered to undergo a secondary inspection.
Fruck had dealt with Environment Canada in the past about legally importing reptiles into Canada, said Gerry Brunet, of Environment Canada.
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"He'd gotten permits before ... which shows he had knowledge of the legislation," he said.
The animals were shipped from throughout the U.S. by courier to a location in New York state and Fruck went to pick them up and then smuggle them into Canada, Brunet said.
The animals cost Fruck between $5,000 and $6,000 wholesale and it's estimated he would have earned between $40,000 and $50,000 by selling them in the pet trade.
The market for reptiles in Canada is cyclical but it is growing, Brunet said.
A large number of the turtles and tortoises were sent to the marshes in Louisiana.
Others were forfeited to the Crown and placed with reptile experts. "To the best of my knowledge, this was the largest seizure of live reptiles we've made for Environment Canada," Brunet said.
rob.lamberti@sunmedia.ca