“With the reprint scheme enacted, the Wildlife Trafficking Organization (WTO) was allowed to go into the surrounding wilderness areas in and around Ventura County and provided the means to illegally kill any game animal at any given time with a safeguard in place in the event the group was confronted by law enforcement. In the summary findings of the investigation, Fish and Wildlife officials allege that the group was responsible for an undetermined number of illegal kills over the years, including dozens of deer and several bears, and either simply didn’t report the kills or used fraudulent tags in an attempt to cover their tracks.
Review of text message and WhatsApp conversations also shed light on the process and revealed many of those involved in the scheme discussed the illegal activity openly with one another. The owners of Lizette’s Market denied knowingly participating in the scheme, court documents state. They group would ride their bikes across Ventura County and parts of Santa Barbara County, hunting animals and then using their e-bikes and trailers to transport them from where they fell. One of the men, who documents identify as Mendoza Avila, spontaneously told the warden that they were part of the “E-Bike Crew from Oxnard.”
One of the men received a warning for riding with a live round in the chamber of his gun. The men were riding electric bicycles with their firearms on their person. During the time that the alleged crimes took place, no licensed dealer in the state of California had more reprinted tickets than Lizette’s Market, authorities said.Ī warden began taking notice of the scheme after coming across the group while on patrol in the Los Padres National Forest in northern Ventura County.
#Poached bluefish license#
Juventino Reyes Guerrero operating the licensing terminal at Lizette’s Market in this undated photo (Ventura County District Attorney’s Office/California Fish and Wildlife)Įach reprinted ticket is tracked through the state’s Automated License Data System. The group allegedly worked with the cooperation of Juventino Reyes Guerrero, the operator of a Fish and Wildlife licensing desk located within Lizette’s Market in Piru. Bravo, Martin Bravo Sr., Jaime Mendoza Avila, Walfre Lopez y Lopez, Gilberto Lopez Hernandez and Cristian Lopez Perez, are accused of working in concert together to fraudulently obtain California hunting tags, licenses and other entitlements. The men involved, identified in public records as Martin M. The investigation into the illegal poaching activities spanned more than a year. On Monday, Ventura County District Attorney Erik Nasarenko announced that 21 charges have been filed against the men, including allegations of forgery, conspiracy, receiving of stolen property, animal cruelty and possession of an untagged bear. They’re called the E-Bike Crew, a group of six men who are believed responsible for dozens of illegal kills of local wildlife. Six people are in custody and a seventh is being sought by authorities after California Fish and Wildlife game wardens busted an alleged poaching ring that spanned several years and involved the cooperation of a local grocery market. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated. This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated.
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