A woman has pleaded guilty to trying to smuggle 29 turtles worth over $40,000 from the United States into Canada using an inflatable kayak. Wan Yee Ng was stopped by Border Patrol agents in Vermont on June 26 as she was about to cross Lake Wallace with a duffel bag, as reported by the Washington Post.
As agents approached, they observed another individual, believed to be Ng’s husband, paddling towards her from the Canadian side.Upon searching Ng’s duffel bag, agents discovered moving socks, revealing 29 individually wrapped eastern box turtles. This protected species is currently listed as vulnerable due to the illegal pet trade and other threats.
According to the nonprofit Turtle Survival Alliance, transporting these turtles abroad without the proper permits is illegal, regardless of state laws on keeping them as pets. Ng entered a guilty plea for one smuggling charge in a US district court in Vermont on Friday, with sentencing scheduled for December.
Ng, a citizen of China who had been living in Canada, entered the US on a tourist visa. Investigators claimed that the turtles were intended for sale in Hong Kong, as revealed through her cellphone communications. Turtles with distinctive markings are highly sought after in both domestic and foreign pet markets.
The US is a major source for both the legal and illegal turtle trade, with over 24,000 freshwater turtles intercepted between 1998 and 2021. Ng has agreed to pay $3,480 for the care of the seized turtles.