from the winnipeg free press

[grt1]

Four Mexican big-game hunters were fined a total of $80,000 today after they were caught at a local airstrip trying to export three polar bear hides and skulls and narwhal tusks without proper permits.

The four men pleaded guilty this morning and paid their fines in cash.

Defense lawyer Evan Roitenberg, who represented three of the men — a 67-year-old man and his two adult sons — described his clients as "gentlemen of means," who had simply made a mistake by trusting an outfitter who promised to provide all necessary permits.

The four men came to Canada March 15 from Monterey, Mexico aboard a private jet, after paying $35,000 each to participate in an Arctic big-game hunt.

The four were arrested in Winnipeg March 31 when their jet was refueling en route back to Monterey.

Environment Canada wildlife officers had been tipped that the men were removing polar bear hides without the proper export permits and were waiting for them at the airport.

Hector Martinez, Sr., 67, is a property developer in Monterey, Mexico, where he also owns 26 ranches. Court was told that he is an enthusiastic hunter who travels the world in search of big game.

The other three men charged were Martinez’s two sons, Hector Armando Martinez, 38, and Alejandro Martinez, 35 — also from Monterey and who work for their father’s property development firm — and Martinez’s godson, Gerardo Rodriguez, described as a small-business man in Monterey who is also a silent partner in a Vancouver restaurant.

Federal prosecutor Erin Magas told court that the polar bear hunt was legal. Local hunters in Nunavut are issued tags annually to allow them to hunt polar bears, which they can hunt themselves or sell the tags to big-game hunters who travel to the north from all over the world.

However, a separate export permit is needed to take polar bear hides out of the country, which Magas said involved an international convention designed to monitor the polar bear population and determine how many should be culled every year.

Rodriguez, the senior Martinez and his son Alejandro had gone to Resolute Bay, Nunavut, to hunt polar bears, while Hector Armando Martinez and two other Mexican men had gone to Cambridge Bay, Nunavut to hunt musk ox.

The three men each shot and killed a polar bear and had been provided a territorial export license to take the hides to Edmonton to a taxidermist. Court was told that they believed the taxidermy fees were too high and changed their plans to take the hides directly to Mexico, flying to Winnipeg where Hector Armando Martinez was waiting for them after he had finished hunting musk ox.

The Environment Canada wildlife officers, along with officers from the Canada Border Services Agency, searched the jet and found the polar bear hides and narwhal tusks. Without the proper export permits, all the items were seized.

Magas told the court that even with proper export permits, the Mexican government does not allow the importation of mammals or mammal hides into its country and the four men would not have been legally allowed to bring them into the country.

Magas said that Martinez Sr. had a 1994 conviction in the U.S. for trying to smuggle wild exotic animals into Mexico, including an African lion, three tigers, a bobcat, three black bears, two jaguars and a leopard. He pleaded guilty to that offence and was fined $10,000.

Roitenberg said the men relied on the outfitter who provided them with an export permit to take the hides to Edmonton, but they also believed that was sufficient to get the hides out of Canada. He said what they did was wrong but not intentional.

Roitenberg said the senior Martinez is an advocate of animal and wildlife protection, adding that among his 26 ranches in Mexico, some were dedicated as game preserves.

The four men paid their fine in cash and left the courthouse early this afternoon, heading to the airport where the private jet was waiting to take them back to Monterey.

The court was told that the $80,000 in fines would be directed to a federal program, the Environmental Defence Fund, which allocates money to environmental groups around the country.

The polar bear hides and narwhal tusks were forfeited.

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[Gerritt]

Holy crap!

 

Thank you for visiting Canada, Do you have any polar bear and Narwhale parts onboard?

[woodenboater]

paid in cash...like the story says, DEEEEEP pockets.

[Tayzak15]

Luckily these guys had deep pockets, because it sure seems like it was an honest mistake. Would be devastating for any normal citizen.

[mr blizzard]

Thanks for posting this, some people believe they are above the law, sadly judging from their past they will most likely try it again.

 

Personally I would ban them from coming back until March 23rd 3039

[Tayzak15]

Thanks for posting this, some people believe they are above the law, sadly judging from their past they will most likely try it again.

 

Personally I would ban them from coming back until March 23rd 3039

That's a bit ridiculous. .

[Roy]

It was obviously an honest mistake.

[mr blizzard]

We all make mistakes, I read the first part wrong.

[BillM]

Luckily these guys had deep pockets, because it sure seems like it was an honest mistake. Would be devastating for any normal citizen.

 

Any normal citizen wouldn't be hunting polar bears.

[Tayzak15]

Any normal citizen wouldn't be hunting polar bears.

A very rich man that has a history of chasing exotic/big game...why not? if he can afford it.

[mr blizzard]

Any normal citizen wouldn't be hunting polar bears.

THANK YOU Bill, that was my point.

[Tayzak15]

I don't see any issue with it, they came hunting, made a mistake, paid their fine and move on. If they wish to come back hunting in Canada I wouldn't have any issues.

[bare foot wader]

it would be interesting to know who tipped Environment Canada....if you can afford to hunt polar bears (with private jet travel), you can afford the taxidermy...

[mr blizzard]

From studies that have been provided the polar bears numbers are diminishing because of global warming and over hunting.

I hunt and fish but will not go after species that are decreasing, it was not the permit thing I had an issue about, but rather the species they were targeting.

[Tayzak15]

From studies that have been provided the polar bears numbers are diminishing because of global warming and over hunting.

I hunt and fish but will not go after species that are decreasing, it was not the permit thing I had an issue about, but rather the species they were targeting.

They were from Mexican millionaires who have a big game hobby. If they can afford it, I don't see the issue.

[BillM]

A very rich man that has a history of chasing exotic/big game...why not? if he can afford it.

 

Like I said.... your every day normal citizen isn't hunting polar bears. I'll repeat it a 3rd time if needed, lol..

[Tayzak15]

Like I said.... your every day normal citizen isn't hunting polar bears. I'll repeat it a 3rd time if needed, lol..

Who are you to judge what is and what isn't normal?

Edited April 6, 2013 by Tayzak15

[mr blizzard]

I guess it comes down to exotic or becoming extinct, its a conservation thing, the gov't should not have to always pass laws inorder for us to use common sense based on information provided to us from the wild life agencies, like the changes that were made to protect the sturgeon.

[Tayzak15]

I guess it comes down to exotic or becoming extinct, its a conservation thing, the gov't should not have to always pass laws inorder for us to use common sense based on information provided to us from the wild life agencies, like the changes that were made to protect the sturgeon.

So is that the problem of the (possibly uneducated) Mexican hunters about the species, or....the people distributing the permits?

[BillM]

Who are you to judge what is and what isn't normal?

 

Don't be stupid. Your every day Joe isn't dropping 35k to shoot polar bears. Common sense would dictate this.

 

Trophy hunters like the guys from Mexico (aka rich people) do this...

Edited April 6, 2013 by BillM

[Tayzak15]

Don't be stupid. Your every day Joe isn't dropping 35k to shoot polar bears. Common sense would dictate this.

Its not being stupid, I just don't judge people on how they want to live their lives. If they wan't to hunt exotic species, and can afford it while obtaining the proper permits good for them. Its not something I would be interested in doing, but if its what these peoples hobbies were and can afford it good for them.

[BillM]

Its not being stupid, I just don't judge people on how they want to live their lives. If they wan't to hunt exotic species, and can afford it while obtaining the proper permits good for them. Its not something I would be interested in doing, but if its what these peoples hobbies were and can afford it good for them.

 

Who's judging anyone? I don't care if those guys want to hunt polar bears, they've obviously have the $$$ to do it.. Your first post about how this fine would be devastating to a normal citizen... I said normal citizens aren't hunting polar bears, which they aren't...

 

To me hunting apex predators like polar bears and wolves is bad karma..

[Tayzak15]

Who's judging anyone? I don't care if those guys want to hunt polar bears, they've obviously have the $$$ to do it.. Your first post about how this fine would be devastating to a normal citizen... I said normal citizens aren't hunting polar bears, which they aren't...

 

To me hunting apex predators like polar bears and wolves is bad karma..

I know "normal" citizens who are avid hunters who have hunted polar bears in the past it would have ruined them for a period of time if they had to pay a fine like that though. Don't be mad at these people for purchasing permits to hunt for Polar Bears, be angry at our government for allowing permits if anything.

Edited April 6, 2013 by Tayzak15

[danc]

They could just stock more Polar Bears. Seems to be the answer to everything these days.

[BillM]

I know "normal" citizens who are avid hunters who have hunted polar bears in the past it would have ruined them for a period of time if they had to pay a fine like that though. Don't be mad at these people for purchasing permits to hunt for Polar Bears, be angry at our government for allowing permits if anything.

 

Who's mad? It certainly isn't me. That's a lot of bucks going into the economy up there.