On December 12, 2014, shortly before 3pm, Portage la Prairie RCMP assisted Natural Resource Officers with Manitoba Conservation and Water Stewardship in arresting and charging two men in relation to the selling of wild elk meat.
Wild elk meat seized by Portage la Prairie RCMP and Natural Resource Officers.
Natural Resource Officers had been conducting a year-long investigation into the selling of wild meat, leading to a request to the RCMP to assist in apprehending the accused.
RCMP report that 40-year-old Brian Hofer of the RM of South Norfolk, and 55-year-old Kerry Meeches of Long Plain First Nation, are charged with offering to sell wild meat. The maximum penalty for selling meat of big game is $50,000 and/or 12 months in jail. In addition, other items, such as the vehicle used to transport the meat, may be forfeited.
Police say that both men were arrested without incident. Meeches’s truck was seized, as were the remains of two adult elk found in the bed of the truck. The two men will appear in Portage Provincial Court in February.
RCMP would like to remind the public that it is illegal to buy, sell, trade, barter or offer to buy, sell, trade or barter the meat of a wild animal.
