Canadian woman arrested for possessing, selling endangered animal parts, including 2 polar bear skulls - newyorkupstate.com

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HIGHGATE SPRINGS, VT. – A 26-year-old Montreal, Quebec woman was arrested last week for attempting to cross the Vermont border into Canada with “numerous undeclared wildlife items” protected by federal and international law.

The woman, Vanessa Rondeau, is also facing additional charges for selling two polar bear skulls through the mail to a special agent for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service working out of Buffalo.

According to documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Vermont, Vanessa Rondeau, the owner of The Old Cavern Boutique in Montreal, attempted to cross the border Wednesday with 18 crocodile skulls and heads and seven crocodile feet, as well as a three-toed sloth, both protected species under the U.S. Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, reported the Bennington Banner.

Rondeau was also in possession of 12 horseshoe crabs, 30 sea stars, 23 racoon feet, eight African antelope horns, one human skull “with mounted butterflies,” four puffer fish and six shark jaws, the newspaper reported.

Rondeau had been in the sights of the Fish and Wildlife Service for the past three years, according to a court affidavit filed by Ryan Bessey, a special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service working out of Buffalo.,

Between November 2018 and September 2019, Rondeau sent approximately 30 mail parcels into the United States, declared in a variety of ways, such as “cadre,” “art decoration,” “big toy,” “collectable,” “art statue,” and “tapis,” wrote Bessey.

A review of The Old Cavern Boutique’s Facebook page revealed numerous wildlife items for sale, many of which are protected under Federal laws, according to a press release on the case from the U.S. Attorney General’s Office on the case released on Friday.

In 2020 and again this past winter, Bessey, posing covertly as a buyer and contacting her by personal messaging through Facebook, purchased two polar bear skulls from Rondeau for $780 and $720, respectively.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service had also intercepted a number of packages sent by Rondeau, containing skulls from a bird, a weasel and a bat. Another intercepted package contained the skin from a Hartmann’s zebra, another protected species, the Bennington Banner reported.

The Lacey Act prohibits the trafficking of items that come from endangered species. Rondeau was arrested and charged by the U.S. Attorney’s office with violations of the Lacey Act for trafficking, false labeling and smuggling. Her charges carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, said the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Ronsseau made an initial court appearance in U.S. District Court in Vermont and was release on a $50,000 cash bail. She is scheduled to be the Western U.S. District court in Buffalo on June 15.

The charges against her are the result of an investigation by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, with additional assistance provided by the Vermont Office of Homeland Security Investigations and the Vermont Office of Customs and Border Protection.

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Canadian woman arrested for possessing, selling endangered animal parts, including 2 polar bear skulls - newyorkupstate.com
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