A New Jersey man was convicted for trafficking rare spear-like narwhal tusks.
Andrew Zarauskas, 61, bought 33 illegally-imported five-to-ten foot long spiral tusks from an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, before re-selling them at flea markets for as much as $70 an inch, federal investigators told Reuters.
Gregory Logan, the involved officer from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, smuggled the hollow tusks across the border in Calais, Maine, before sending them to customers - including Zarauskas - through a FedEx office in Bangor, according to court filings.
Zarauskas will pay a $7,500 fine and face a three-year supervised release, according to court officials.
The narwhal is a protected species of arctic whale nicknamed the "unicorn of the ocean" because of their long, pointy tusks resembling a unicorn horn. The tusks, which project from the upper jaw, usually measure about eight feet, though female tusks are much shorter. They are used by the whale to connect their brain to the ocean environment.
The Vikings and other traders believed the tusks had medicinal powers, reported Reuters.
Narwhals are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna.
