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18 arrests in DEC’s
undercover Operation Shellshock For the past two years, Lt. Richard Thomas of the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Region 8 posed as a wildlife photographer to the hundreds of people he met while attending reptile and amphibian shows in New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio. Thomas was undercover with Operation Shellshock, a two-year investigation into the illegal sale and smuggling of protected reptiles and amphibians that resulted in the arrest of 18 people who are now facing 11 misdemeanor and 14 felony charges in New York. The DEC’s Bureau of Environmental Crimes Investigation launched the covert investigation two years ago. Thomas and Cpt. Michael VanDurme, also of DEC Region 8 and Investigator Daniel Sullivan of Region 9 went undercover to build evidence to support the existence of black market trading of rare, protected and endangered turtles, venomous and non-venomous snakes, frogs, salamanders and lizards, many times for profit; some simply for the thrill of collecting an exotic animal. The investigators also worked closely with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Service, the New York State Attorney General’s office, Environment Canada and the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources as well officials from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Florida. Thomas and Sullivan deeply embedded themselves into the herp culture through online communication with violators, attending in and out of state herp shows and arranging meetings in the field with illegal individual collectors and sellers. They enlisted the assistance of NYSDEC Herpetologist, Alvin R. Breisch who spent a lot of time with the investigators teaching them the natural history of New York’s native herps and the issues threatening their existence today, which is why their protection is fiercely enforced. What the investigation revealed is that the illegal herp market spans several states and Canada and is growing with the help of the internet. Early into Operation Shellshock, the investigators learned the herp lingo, established themselves on the internet through various herp blogs and attended 23 herp shows in three states where as many as 200 vendors were present. Before long, dealers believed Thomas to be a photographer of high end reptile and amphibians, which opened the door to numerous invitations and opportunities to photograph other individuals’ herp collections. One individual violator invited Thomas to photograph his personal collection of protected native New York turtles and venomous snakes. The investigators first covert transaction involved a self-proclaimed expert on the native spotted turtle. He’s written a book and produced a video series on the subject. In the book he cautions his readers to be watchful of undercover fish and wildlife agents posing to be buyers, indicating that he clearly knew his activity was illegal. In another situation, Thomas and Sullivan uncovered the sale of native turtles to a Maryland turtle farm that processed and sold the meat of several hundred thousand turtles each year to markets in the U.S. and China. Posing as a photographer, Thomas himself arranged to purchase a red salamander from an online seller in Dutchess County, NY. Once at the seller’s residence, Thomas purchased the salamander and was permitted to photograph illegal box turtles, spotted turtles and venomous copperhead snakes in the seller’s home. The individual even invited Thomas to accompany him out to the wild where he illegally collected more animals. The individual revealed to Thomas that he possessed an extensive collection of exotic venomous snakes and that he had ties to an international dealer based in Florida. Proving that the black market spans international borders, an Ontario, Canada dealer offered to trade New York timber rattlesnakes and massasauga rattlesnakes, both listed as endangered, with the undercover agents. In May and October 2008, the dealer brought more than 35 of these snakes across the border to meet and deal with Thomas and Sullivan. Using the internet to increase his market, a Long Island dealer placed a classified ad on one of the largest herp websites, kingsnake.com. The two investigators made contact with the dealer who was collecting and laundering young snapping turtles through a Louisiana turtle farm that sold them to markets in China. In another instance, Thomas and Sullivan, acting undercover, purchased two venomous reptiles from a Staten Island, NY individual who was importing several rare reptiles. He completed his sale to Thomas but not before exposing to him that his associate in Florida was in jail for the same offense. Over the two year investigation, Thomas and Sullivan witnessed hundreds of violations of the New York State Environmental Conservation Law and uncovered a number of misdemeanor and felony crimes being committed against a sensitive part of the ecology. The exploited reptiles and amphibians included in this investigation are considered indicator species because their very existence is sensitive to changes in the environment. They tell much about the health of the planet and activities such as these threaten the populations of these species and can produce long-term negative effects to the eco-system, Thomas explained. "They are ecologically significant environmental indicators, important for the public’s health and safety. They tell us when there is trouble with the air and or water around us," he said. Thomas said the arrest of 18 individuals involved with these crimes makes a small dent in the overall herp black market but the impact of this bust will be far reaching. "We rocked the herpetological world. Many are applauding and many others are crawling further under a rock," commented Thomas. The animals that were confiscated as a result of Operation Shellshock will be distributed to educational facilities, including Finger Lakes Community College, the Buffalo Zoo and various nature centers. If convicted, violators charged with misdemeanors face fines of at least $5,000 and those charged with felonies could face jail time.
Eastern Massasaugas smuggled across the border
Box turtle sold on the Internet
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