DAILY HERALD (Chicago, Illinois) 11 January 05 Man accused of trying to sell venomous snakes, police say (Bob Susnjara)
An undercover operation led authorities to a man accused of selling poisonous snakes in a Gurnee Mills parking lot.
Illinois Department of Natural Resources spokesman Joe Bauer said the man was arrested last month after he sold police two copperheads and a puff adder for $300.
Copperheads are typically found anywhere from Massachusetts to the Florida panhandle on the East Coast, then west to Nebraska. The puff adder is a viper native to Africa.
Bauer said Monday a tipster alerted the IDNR to the man after he was discovered offering venomous reptiles on the Internet. It's illegal to sell poisonous snakes in Illinois.
With the assistance of Gurnee police, the man was charged with violating the Illinois Dangerous Animals Act and illegal sale of protected species. Bauer declined to release the suspect's name or hometown, citing an ongoing undercover probe of the poisonous snake trade.
Venomous snakes have a variety of markets. Officials said drug dealers have been known to purchase the dangerous reptiles.
"They'll put the drug stash in the rooms with the snakes," Bauer said. "Most people would frown upon going into a room with venomous snakes."
Scott Ballard, a Department of Natural Resources biologist, has assisted the agency in its undercover operations. He identifies the animals seized in cases, then places them in suitable zoos or nature preserves before a case reaches trial.
Ballard said the illegal reptile market also attracts hobbyists who want to "graduate" from legal boa constrictors and the like to poisonous snakes.
"It just makes good talk. ... If someone says I've got a rattlesnake or a cobra, that draws attention to them," Ballard said.
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources authorities participated in the undercover sting by arranging the Gurnee Mills parking lot meeting with the suspect on Dec. 16, Bauer said. Authorities found more snakes at the man's house.
Bauer said police found five eyelash vipers, two rhinoceros vipers and two West African gaboon vipers in the suspect's home.
Although it rarely bites, the West African gaboon is the largest of the viper family at about six feet long, according to the St. Louis Zoo. Its two-inch fangs are the largest of any poisonous snake.
Bauer said 12 venomous snakes in all were seized from the man and transferred to a nature center he declined to identify. The suspect has an unspecified upcoming court date in Lake County on the misdemeanor charges.
Police arrested another man during the Gurnee Mills snake sting on charges of marijuana and drug paraphernalia possession, both misdemeanors.
Man accused of trying to sell venomous snakes, police say