“Swamp People” star Troy Landry is charged with alligator tagging violations in St. Mary Parish

MORGAN CITY — Famed alligator hunter and “Swamp People” star Troy Landry has been charged with improperly tagging alligators during a Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries operation in September.

Landry, 65, was booked Sept. 19 on two counts of failing to tag an alligator while trapping it. Another man was also charged with the same tagging violations while the couple and an unidentified cameraman were approached by agents at Lake Palourde near Morgan City.

According to an initial report, on September 18, LDWF agents received a tip that someone was placing crocodile leashes on another person's property without their permission. The next day, agents surveyed the property and found crocodile leashes that matched the description in the tip.

During their surveillance, agents saw a boat heading toward the Gator lines. When agents stopped the boat, they identified the occupants, including Landry, who said he had permission to hunt on the property, a fact confirmed by the owners.

Agents said when Landry was asked about tags for hunting in the area, he said he was given two tags as a gift and that every alligator in the vessel came from the Atchafalaya Basin and was marked accordingly. Agents said they discovered the property's signs did not match those of the alligators, which were assigned to Iberville Township.

Alligator tags issued by the LDWF are property specific and required for licensed hunters to harvest alligators in Louisiana. The number of tags issued for a particular area is based on the number of alligators believed to be in that particular habitat.

Landry told agents that he had not taken any alligators from the property but had returned them after agents told him they had been watching him throughout their hunt.

“Mr. Landry admitted that he took the alligator from the area but was unable to locate the tags that had been given to him for the hunt,” the LDWF report said, adding that Landry admitted having cut a dead alligator loose from a line and letting it drift away.

Landry and the unnamed hunter he was with were cited and their vessel was seized, LDWF said.