A woman from China recently pleaded guilty to attempting to smuggle 29 turtles from the U.S. into Canada via kayak. Her case makes the “I like turtles” kid look mild.
Border Patrol agents arrested Wan Yee Ng, 41, just as she was getting into her inflatable kayak with a duffel bag. This happened outside an Airbnb in Canaan, Vermont, where Lake Wallace connects the U.S. and Canada.
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Royal Canadian Mounted Police had notified U.S. agents of at least two individuals—including Ng and a man believed to be her husband—paddling the other way across the lake, from Canada to the U.S. It seems that she was going back and forth.
When the agents searched her duffel bag, they found 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species. Each poor little turtle was wrapped individually in a sock.
Allegedly, Ng—who was from Hong Kong but lived in Canada—intended to sell the turtles for a profit in Hong Kong. Authorities discovered this information when searching her cell phone and finding communications confirming these intentions.
According to the affidavit, this type of turtle goes for $1,000 each on the Chinese black market.
On Friday, Ng pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully attempting to export and send the turtles to another country. She will face up to 10 years in prison, with her sentence starting in December.
She was also fined $250,000—far more than she would have made on her original deal. Tough break.
