3 December, Minsk /BELTA correspondent/. A poacher with a record has been apprehended by environmental protection inspectors in the Verkhnedvinsk district. This was reported to BELTA correspondent by the press service of the State Inspectorate for the Protection of Fauna and Flora under the President of Belarus. Employees of the Verkhnedvinsk inter-district inspectorate discovered a site of illegal hunting of a female elk in the Zvanets tract. Boot prints from the scene of the offence led the state inspectors to the sparsely populated village of Dubrovy. "Together with the employees of the investigative-operational group of the Verkhnedvinsk District Department of Internal Affairs, the inspectors interviewed the residents of the village. During the inspection of one of the suspects' houses, a bag with brown stains was found on the veranda, although there was no elk meat in it. However, another surprise awaited the inspectors – in an outbuilding, they discovered two dozen illegally obtained trophies: skins of beaver, ferret, mink, and raccoon dog," the State Inspectorate reported. The damage caused to the environment was estimated at 700 base units (currently, one base unit is equal to Br100 thousand). The operatives seized a homemade hunting rifle, 43 cartridges of various calibres, a fragment of a flare gun and two cans of gunpowder, as well as parts of weapon mechanisms from the offender, which indicate the poacher's intention to manufacture two more rifles. The Verkhnedvinsk District Department of Internal Affairs is considering the issue of initiating two criminal cases under Part 2 and Part 4 of Article 282 of the Criminal Code (illegal hunting, causing damage on a large and particularly large scale). -0-

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