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In 2009 and 2011, federal
agents raided Gibson Guitar
facilities for illegally importing
exotic wood from Madagascar
and India in violation of the
Lacey Act. The company
ultimately entered into a
settlement agreement with
the U.S. Department of
Justice to avoid criminal
prosecution
In 2008, a Gibson employee
on a trip to Madagascar was
informed that exporting
unfinished ebony fretboard
blanks was illegal.
• The employee reported this
to his superiors, but Gibson
continued to order shipments
of ebony from Madagascar.
• The ebony imports took
place amid a political crisis in
Madagascar, which saw a rise
in illegal logging.
• The first raid by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service, in
2009, resulted in the seizure
of ebony from Madagascar.
Indian rosewood and ebony
