Anaheim Home Hit : Raids Net Forbidden Wildlife

Authorities in California and Arizona raided 19 homes Tuesday, including one in Anaheim, seizing poisonous snakes, piranhas and other exotic wildlife said to be traded by a loosely organized national ring of illegal animal traffickers.

Thirteen people were arrested in the synchronized early-morning raids, prompted by a 2 1/2-year undercover sting operation by Arizona’s Game and Fish Department.

More arrests are expected on state charges. A dozen people in nine states also may face federal charges of interstate commerce in illegally obtained wildlife, authorities said.

It was the largest sting operation involving black market reptile traders since the so-called snakescam in 1981, according to Capt. Bill Powell of the California Department of Fish and Game. In that sting, federal agents set up a covert business in Atlanta that resulted in 96 convictions and $250,000 in fines.

‘Putting Them on Notice’

“People are making money from California’s wildlife resources, and they’re causing a great deal of damage,” Powell said. “We’re putting them on notice.”

“The value of wildlife is going up as its habitat diminishes around the world, and so are the benefits of going out and poaching them,” said John Gavitt, special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

That agency put the value of legal wildlife imports into the United States in 1986 at more than $650 million, but it is estimated that the black market accounts for another $150 million in illegal trade.

“A lot of collectors really want the rare animals and they don’t feel they’re doing anything dishonest with just one or two animals,” said Andrea Gaski, a staff biologist with the World Wildlife Fund. “But when you multiply that worldwide, it adds up to a lot of damage.”

Most of this country’s legal and illegal wildlife trade originates from South America, Central America, Mexico and Thailand, said Nancy Roeper, an analyst with the Fish and Wldlife Service.

In the 7 a.m. raid in Anaheim, authorities seized two rattlesnakes, a gila monster and three gerbils, rodents that Powell said are illegal in California because of the threat they pose to the state’s agricultural industry.

Powell said Clarence Lloyd Lemke, 45, owner of the house in the 2000 block of West Cris Avenue, legally had another 100 snakes kept in glass terrariums in his garage. Lemke was not arrested Tuesday but faces misdemeanor state charges for illegal possession and sale of dangerous reptiles, as well as violations of city zoning ordinances, Powell said.

Lemke did not return telephone calls Tuesday, but an answering machine in English and Korean identified the residence as a business called Pioneer Marketing International.

“The neighbors were real surprised to see so many Fish and Game people,” one agent said of the raid.

In all, five people were arrested in California on suspicion of illegal possession and sale of dangerous reptiles, according to Curt Taucher, a spokesman for state Fish and Game. The misdemeanor charges carry a maximum sentence of up to 6 months in jail and a $1,000 fine, he said.

Agents found the carcass of an 8-foot king cobra in the freezer of a Fairfax man, who was also arrested on suspicion of drugs and weapons violations, Taucher said. A San Anselmo man and a woman in Ventura who kept the carcass of a gila monster in her home freezer also were arrested on suspicion of drug possession, Taucher added.

Agents in California seized a total of 149 venomous snakes, 6 desert tortoises, a dozen piranhas and a 6-foot crocodile among other creatures. The value of the animals ranged from $25 for a gerbil to $400 for a Catalina Island rattlesnake, Taucher said.

No one was reported injured in the raids, which occurred in Anaheim, Cerritos, Ventura, Fairfax, Modesto, San Anselmo, Oakland and Colma, Taucher said. California’s investigation began with a tip two years ago from Arizona authorities about a dealer in the Bay Area and then led to Southern California.

In Cerritos, Sandra White Veverka, 48, had 30 rosy boa constrictors, 6 gila monsters, more than 30 rattlesnakes and five untagged desert tortoises, which is prohibited under state law, Taucher said, adding that the animals are worth more than $4,000 on the black market.

Veverka was not arrested Tuesday, but Taucher said she also faces state charges for illegal possession and sale of reptiles.

“There is a real big market in the United States because you can’t get these animals,” said Mark Jecker, a spokesman with the Arizona Game and Fish Department. “The market ranges from students, to collectors for research, to the pet trade.”

Arizona agents seized more than 200 native reptiles and several enormous monitor lizards, in addition to 130 owls, hawks and vultures which were all dead, Jecker said.

Jecker said the sting operated out of a store called Black River Trading Co., set up in September, 1985, in a Phoenix suburb. The store, which fronted as a hide and trapping operation, advertised nationally, he said.

The storefront sting developed from arrests and information gathered during a smaller, statewide sting operation in 1984, he added.

In addition to the California and Arizona raids Tuesday, wildlife agents also were investigating customers for the illegal animals in Florida, Virginia, Illinois, Ohio, Louisiana, Texas and Oklahoma, Jecker said.

The animals seized by authorities Tuesday will not be returned to the wild, California officials said.

Powell of the the state Fish and Game said that the animals could introduce diseases foreign to their natural habitat and that after captivity, they might perish in the wild.

Most of the animals will be turned over to zoos and other legal collectors, he said. The remainder, sick animals and the more venomous snakes, will be destroyed.