An Ex-Mountie Gets Caught After 10 Years Of Smuggling Narwal Tusks

Greg Logan, from Grand Prairie, Alta, masterminded a profitable scheme for years, earning $700K for his illegal activities. He is believed to have smuggled nearly 250 tusks past a border station in Maine, posting the conspicuous tusks from a FedEx in Bangor to the United States. Earlier this year, a New Brunswick court hit Logan with what Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq told Nunavut media was “the largest penalty ever handed down in Canada” for a wildlife offence of its kind, according to the National Post.

The tusks are closely regulated, but can be purchased in Canada through third party dealers or Inuit hunters, it's been illegal to import them into the US since the 1972 Marine Mammal Protection Act. Logan was ultimately nabbed as part of Operation Longtooth, a 2.5 year Environment Canada investigation. Authorities in the US were tipped off in 2009 about tusks coming into the country via the Arctic.

Glen Ehler, director of wildlife enforcement for Environment Canada, said officials spied Logan in New Brunswick and Albert brazenly affixing two long tusks to the bottom of his truck. Logan also got the tusks into the US by using a trailer that had a hidden compartment.

Logan faces a fine of $385K, an 8-month conditional sentence which includes four months of house arrest and is prohibited from purchasing or possessing marine mammal products for a decade, according to an Environment Canada statement. Two of his co-conspirators face up to 20 years in jail and fines of $250K or more. The bulk of Logan's profits will be turned over to the receiver-general.