<Is this the same smuggler that was in the news shortly after the Tuscan
show?>
No, this article was about a different person, Tom Kapitany from
Australia. Tom also sells a few meteorites, but meteorites are significantly
less than 1% of his business. I asked him about export permits for meteorites
once and he said he always got the permits. Meteorites too insignificant to
risk his whole business over. When I went to Australia in Aug 2004 and
searched the mundrabilla strewn field I mailed him what I found and he added
them to one of his permits and exported them for me.
I know nothing about his mineral and fossil business, but I'd say the
government got what it wanted, publicity. If he was truly guilty of the
serious crime of smuggling fossils, charging him with a misdemeanor and fining
him $27k (inconvenient, but small compared to his business) seems like a minor
slap on the hand.
--
Eric Olson
ELKK Meteorites
http://www.star-bits.com
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