TWO AMERICANS charged in Narwhal-tusk smuggling ring bust
For their involvement in what authorities claim to have been a decade-long racket, two American men were charged with smuggling the tusks of narwhals from the Canadian Arctic into Maine, says the Associated Press. The narwhals’ iconic tusks—actually an overgrown canine tooth found in males—were allegedly slipped across the border and sold on the black market to the two charged men, and others. The AP reports:
For nearly a decade, two Canadians smuggled the whale tusks into Maine and shipped them via FedEx to Zarauskas, Conrad and other unnamed American buyers, according to an indictment.
Narwhals are known as the unicorns of the sea for their spiral, ivory tusks that can grow longer than 2.44 metres. The tusks can sell for thousands of dollars each, but it’s illegal to import them into the U.S.
The court document doesn’t specify how much money was involved, but it says the Canadian sellers received at least 150 payments from tusk buyers.
Read more: http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com/smartnews/2013/01/two-americans-charged-in-narwhal-tusk-smuggling-ring-bust/#ixzz2H3G5T0nU
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