May 7, 2015
Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship Enforcement Update
Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship received information through the Turn In Poachers line in 2013 indicating individuals were planning to kill elk from a herd in the Stockton/Treesbank area and sell the meat to Hutterite colonies in the Portage la Prairie area including the Shady Lane Colony.
Natural resource officers (NROs) from the Carberry district conducted extensive day and night patrols and discovered several elk had been illegally harvested in the Stockton/Treesbank area at night on private land without permission from the landowner.
Evidence was collected from the kill sites but no suspects were identified, so the Special Investigations Unit launched an undercover operation. In December 2013, an undercover officer went to the Shady Lane Colony and purchased elk meat from a colony member, identified as Brian Hofer. This was the beginning of a year-long investigation that involved numerous visits to the colony and multiple purchases of elk meat.
During the investigation, it was learned that Hofer had purchased elk from certain individuals in late 2013 or early 2014, most likely for resale. On Dec. 12, 2014, NROs, with the assistance of RCMP members from Portage la Prairie, went to the Shady Lane Hutterite Colony and served Hofer with a summons for illegal meat sales and for possessing elk without legal authority.
While officers were at the colony, Hofer admitted he was expecting another delivery of elk meat. RCMP officers stopped and arrested the alleged supplier driving a truck while in possession of two butchered elk carcasses. As part of the investigation a number of items were seized including the truck, two elk carcasses, cell phones and a GPS unit. One individual was charged for offering to sell wild meat to Hofer.
On April 27, 2015, Hofer pleaded guilty to five counts of violating section 30(a) of the Wildlife Act – ‘sell, buy, trade or barter or offer to sell, buy, trade or barter, or keep for the purpose of sale, the meat of any wild animal.’ Hofer was fined $10,000 and banned from hunting for two years. The investigation into the individual selling elk to Hofer is ongoing.
Anyone with information about illegal activities is asked to call their local Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship Office or the Turn in Poachers line (toll-free) at 1-800-782-0076.
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