Man fined $7.5k for trying to smuggle crocodile meat into Canada
Posted Sep 22, 2023 1:12 pm.
A man has been fined $7,500 after pleading guilty earlier this week to importing animal meat without the required permits.
On Wednesday, Adeleke Abubakar Ali-Ibironke was in the Alberta Court of Justice, after he was found to have smuggled meat products in his luggage while trying to go through the Calgary International Airport earlier in the year.
Canada Border Services Agency says on Feb. 26, as Ali-Ibironke was examined, they were unable to identify the meat and also learned he did not declare any food or animal products.
Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers inspected the meat products and sent samples for DNA analysis to identify the species.
Testing was able to confirm the meat was from the African Dwarf Crocodile, a species listed as an Appendix I species under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) because it is classified as a threatened species.
The Canada Border Services Agency says the fine will be directed to the Government of Canada’s Environmental Damages Fund.
