Undercover agent hunts for poachers in Minnesota
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Hunting season is year-round for special agents at the Fish and Wildlife Service. Just like the FBI, these agents investigate crimes and do so undercover, but instead of weapons and drugs, they look at flora and fauna.
“It actually does look a lot like what you see in the movies,” said an undercover agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), whose name is being withheld for their safety. "But [movies] skip out on the hours and hours and hours of sitting there twiddling your thumbs.”
FWS agents operate out of the Office of Law Enforcement. They monitor wildlife crimes, trade and protection. Sometimes, that includes rooting out poaching.
“Transnational criminal organizations have kind of learned that smuggling wildlife can be just as profitable as smuggling other things, whether it’s drugs or guns,” the special agent said. “They’ve also figured out that the punishment when they get caught for smuggling wildlife is significantly smaller.”
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In Minnesota, the species that get targeted the most are sturgeon in the Mississippi (for their caviar) and box turtles that are prized for the beauty of their shells.
Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport is also a hub for contraband from across the globe.
“We'll see pieces of elephant or pieces of rhino coming in from Southeast Asia,” the agent said. “When I first started, you could actually just see a person trying to smuggle in a cat— a tiger kitten — in their bag.”
Special agents will often have to interact with or surveil suspects, acting as poachers themselves.
“In today’s world, it can be online. I can be trying to purchase ivory or a very rare newt,” the agent said. “I don’t have to look the look; I can just type the type.”
Agents work to uncover secret compartments that contain chimpanzees; pants lined with toilet paper rolls and stuffed with rare birds; and box turtles wrapped in socks.
Among the items they have confiscated in Minnesota are a sword with walrus tusk, a walrus skull, jackets made of rare cat pelts and full tusks of ivory.
“If we don't protect [these species], or at least kind of limit the way people take stuff, they’re going to go away,” the agent said.
This conversation is a part of our Job Interview series, where we talk to everyday Minnesotans about the rewards and challenges of their work. Click on the audio player above to hear our radio conversation and read on for additional highlights:
Official title: Special Agent with the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
What I actually do: “We investigate crimes. Unlike the other federal agencies, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service has been tasked with protecting wildlife.”
A great day at work: “I’d like to think I'm doing a little part to help protect some of these species. The days where we get to go out and help people that are stuck in a hurricane, amazing — I love helping people.
“But the days where I can stop a guy from harvesting box turtles and smuggling them in not-nice ways is a good day.”
A not-so-great day at work: “We have individuals that are very determined to have every breed or every species of venomous snake on the planet in their house that they can look at.
“Some of the houses we go into are very, very dangerous, not because of people at all, but because what they have in there can kill me 10 times over.”
What I’ve learned: “People like to collect everything. People like to collect spiders. People like to collect snakes. People like to collect skulls. I can go on.
“I was really surprised at all these niche individuals that have a huge community, that really enjoy and are very passionate about what they’re doing — collecting things I didn't even know existed.”
