Narwhal tusk smuggler loses bid to block extradition to U.S.

Narwhal tusk smuggler Gregory Logan isfacing extradition to the United States to be tried on money-laundering charges after losing a bid to appeal tothe Supreme Court of Canada.

In a decision released Thursday, the country's highest courtdismissed without costs Logan'sapplication for leave to appeal a committal order issued by federaljustice minister in January 2015 and upheld by the Court of Appeal of New Brunswick in October 2015.

Logan, whowas an RCMP officer for 25 years and was once posted inNunavut, pleaded guilty in October 2013 to seven counts of trafficking offences related to 250 narwhal ivory tusks being smuggled from Canada into the United States.

He was fined $385,000 and given an eight-month conditional sentence that included four months of house arrest.

Logan, who nowlives inWoodmansPoint, N.B.,was seeking to appealthe extradition order, arguinghe was unawarehe could alsoface charges in the U.S. when he pleaded guilty to the offences under the Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act (WAPPRIITA).

He argued it placed him in double jeopardy because he could expect to be punished a second time for essentially the same thing he pleaded guilty to and was punished for in Canada.

Releasedpending decision

Logan was released from custodyin October, while waiting to learn if the Supreme Court would hear his case.

As a condition of his release, he was required tosurrender to the Saint John Regional Correctional Centre by 4 p.m. the day prior to the Supreme Court's decision.

Logan "complied with the conditions of his release,"federal Department of Justice spokesman Ian McLeod confirmed on Thursday.

"Under the extradition treaty, Canada has 45 days to remove him and we'll do so in due course," he said.

Narwhals,medium-sized whales that live year-round in the Arctic, area protected species under the Convention in International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.

Male narwhals have a straight tusk that can measure up to 2.5 metres long.NunavutTunngavikInc., the land claims organization that represents the Inuit ofNunavut, said tusks can fetch up to $100 per inch.

Only Inuit people can legally harvest narwhal in Canada. It is used as a source of food and income.

Between 2003 and 2009, Logan hidnarwhal tusks in his truck and trailer and drove to Calais, ME., where he deposited tusks for shipment to a U.S. buyer, officials said.