Nevada Game Wardens Break Up Poaching Ring

Nevada game wardens have concluded an investigation of a poaching ring involving three suspects in several counties, spanning almost two years in a case that has netted a dozen felony charges and uncovered the illegal killing of dozens of animals.

The suspects in the poaching ring are Adrian Acevedo-Hernandez, aka "El Pantera," 36, Jose Luis Montufar-Canales, 31, and J. Nemias Reyes Marin, 31. An initial arrest of a fourth, separate suspect, Jose Manuel Ortega-Torres, 30, led to the three men who were determined to be actively engaging in several different wildlife crimes, prompting an in-depth investigation of the three men by game wardens. Ortega-Torres is from Lincoln County and the men involved in the poaching ring were all living in Las Vegas.

"This case involved a lot of time, effort and commitment by game wardens," said Chief Game Warden Tyler Turnipseed. "We followed one lead into another in what seemed to be a bottomless supply of wildlife crime. Hopefully the resulting fines, forfeitures and jail time will discourage this kind of systemic criminal activity in the future."

In June of 2013, Nevada game wardens received information that two deer had been unlawfully killed on a farm near Hiko, Nev. Game wardens viewed an image publicly available through social media and confirmed that two female deer were unlawfully killed out of season in late May.

See more here: http://www.ndow.org/Nevada-Game-Wardens-Break-Up-Poaching-Ring-Responsible-Numerous-Wildlife-Crimes/