BC man fined nearly $9K in bear parts case

A British Columbia man was fined thousands of dollars in Port Coquitlam provincial court Wednesday after pleading guilty to multiple charges of smuggling bear parts.

Fifty-two-year-old Hong Tao Yang of Abbotsford pleaded guilty to two counts of trafficking in bear claws and one count of trafficking in bear parts.

He was fined $8,625.

According to the Crown, in August 2022, the BC Conservation Service (COS) was notified by a member of the public that an employee of the Maple Ridge recycling facility asked him if he had black bear claws he could sell.

The court heard the employee was later identified as Yang.

Between August and October 2022, an undercover COS officer posing as a hunter attended the recycling facility and formed a rapport with Yang.

The court heard the undercover officer sold Yang bear parts on three separate occasions, each time informing him it was illegal.

The Crown acknowledged there was no evidence to suggest Yang had resold the items and agreed that a minimum sentence was appropriate for each count.

State court Judge Nicholas Preovolos accepted the defense’s argument that Yang used the fragments for traditional Chinese medicine.

Outside the courthouse, guard Jordan Ferguson told reporters the COS hoped this would deter others from committing such crimes.

“It is illegal to possess these parts, even if it is only for personal use,” he said. “Once you create a market just by buying these products, it can escalate a little bit and more people start doing it and then we have problems with animal populations.”

He says it’s important for anyone who hears or sees any suspicious activity to reach out to the Report All Poachers and Polluters hotline.

“We have the utmost confidence in the public. There are only so many guards in the state,” Ferguson said.

Yang was given 18 months to pay the fine.