Texas game wardens charge 22 in illegal deer smuggling scheme

AUSTIN, Texas - An investigation into an illegal white-tailed deer breeding and smuggling scheme has led to hundreds of charges filed against 22 people across the state, the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department said.

What we know:

Game wardens said at least 1,200 charges have been filed against 22 people across the state who were involved in deer breeding and a black market wildlife trade.

The charges come after authorities discovered three breeding facilities, ten release sites, a management pen and three illegal facilities not registered with the Texas Wildlife Information Management Services database.

Wildlife officials said the charges were filed across 11 counties in the state.

Charges in the case include trap, transport and transport violations; possession of wild deer in breeder facilities; lack of identifying tattoos or valid transfer permits; and taking white-tailed deer without landowner consent.

What they're saying:

Col. Ronald VanderRoest said the operation placed the entire state's deer population at risk of disease.

"These individuals and ranches operated with impunity, repeatedly violating established laws designed to protect Texas’ natural resources and safeguard the state’s wildlife against disease transmission," VanderRoest said. "Systematic abuse of the regulatory framework governing the deer breeding industry will not be tolerated as we focus on our mission of conservation law enforcement."

What we don't know:

The names of the individuals charged in the case, the counties where the cases have been filed and the locations of the facilities have all not been released.

When asked, a Texas Parks and Wildlife spokesperson said the information was being withheld "due to the nature of the cases."

The backstory:

Officials said the investigation started after a south Texas breeder and a business partner were caught trying to smuggle seven deer from a licensed breeding facility in east Texas through Montgomery County to Brazoria and Duval counties to release the deer into the wild on private property.

Both men were convicted of multiple violations of trying to go around the state's disease testing requirements.

'Ghost deer'

The state's wildlife regulations put rules on the possession and movement of deer in order to prevent the spread of diseases and keep deer populations healthy.

A white-tailed deer that leaves a breeding facility is required to be uniquely and permanently identified.

Those deer that aren't identified or have hidden or changed identification are called "ghost deer."

What they're saying:

"Flagrant violations, such as intentionally transferring deer without identifiers, hinder Texas’ ability to identify the source of a deer in the event of a disease detection," VanderRoest said. "This creates the potential for negative impacts to the health of both captive and free ranging deer populations, the deer breeder industry, landowners, hunters and Texas’ outdoor and rural based economies, where white-tailed deer hunting has a $9.6 billion annual economic contribution."

Chronic Wasting Disease

Chronic Wasting Disease is a neurological disease that is always fatal in infected animals.

The disease can be found in deer, elk, moose and reindeer.

Symptoms can take months to years to develop and include: stumbling, drastic weight loss, drooping ears, drooling, listlessness, excessive thirst and lack of fear of people.