Man tries to smuggle 850 protected turtles out of the US by wrapping them in socks
A man has pleaded guilty to attempting to export around 850 turtles, worth about $1.4 million, by falsely labeling them as plastic animal toys.
Photo: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
A man has pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle around 850 turtles, worth an estimated $1.4 million, by wrapping them in socks and labeling the boxes as ‘plastic animal toys’.
Wei Qiang Lin, who lives in Brooklyn, New York, appeared in a federal district court on Monday, August 11, after being accused of trying to export more than 220 parcels containing around 850 eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles from the United States to Hong Kong.
The live animals had been “bound and taped inside knotted socks” to restrict their movement for the journey, which would take weeks, and labeled the boxes as containing 'plastic animal toys,' among other things," the Department of Justice (DOJ) said. Law enforcement intercepted the shipment during a border inspection.
As well as the turtles, Lin also exported 11 other parcels of various reptiles, including venomous snakes, according to the DOJ. When he is sentenced on December 23, he faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
"As part of his plea, Lin also agreed to abandon any property interest in the reptiles seized during the investigation," the DOJ said.
Eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles are native to the United States. Their vivid, colorful shell markings make the reptiles popular in the domestic and Asian exotic pet market, according to the Association for Asian Studies. They typically grow up to around six inches long and can survive for more than 100 years, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Both turtle species are classified as vulnerable by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), following the illegal export of tens of thousands of box turtles each year throughout the 1990s.
The case follows a similar incident just months earlier, which saw a Chinese citizen, Sai Keung Tin, sentenced to 30 months in prison for smuggling over 2,000 eastern box turtles. The reptiles had been wrapped in socks and packed in boxes labeled as containing ‘almonds and chocolate cookies’. With each turtle valued at around $2,000, the total shipment was estimated to be worth $4.2 million.
“Some people prize wine, fancy cars, artwork, but right now, with the rise of [the] middle class in China, it is turtles,” Ryan Connors, senior trial attorney with the Department of Justice’s environmental crimes section, said during the time of Tin’s sentencing hearing. “It is North American turtles that are a status symbol.”
“We’re seeing thousands of them ripped from the wild and sent to the illegal pet trade,” Connors continued. “This is how a native U.S. species starts to collapse.”
We Have A Favor To Ask…
Species Unite amplifies well-researched solutions to some of the most abusive animal industries operating today.
At this crucial moment, with worldwide momentum for change building, it’s vital we share these animal-free solutions with the world - and we need your help.
We’re a nonprofit, and so to keep sharing these solutions, we’re relying on you - with your support, we can continue our essential work in growing a powerful community of animal advocates this year.
More stories:
The Missouri woman, who starred in the HBO documentary series Chimp Crazy, plead guilty to two counts of perjury and one of obstructing justice, after lying that a primate she was accused of mistreating had died.