WASHINGTON - The National Park Service and the state of Virginia have broken a seven-state ring of poachers and smugglers who have been slaughtering black bears and illegally harvesting ginseng root to sell to Asian markets for use as aphrodisiacs and medicine.
The three-year undercover investigation, code-named Viper, centered on rural Elkton, Va., and nearby Shenandoah National Park. To lure the poachers, agents opened a sporting goods store in Elkton, where they met with hunters and poachers trafficking in bear parts and the rare plant, which is an endangered species.
