Man Attempted To Smuggle 850 Protected Turtles As 'Plastic Animal Toys'
HuffPost
Wei Qiang Lin admitted trying to smuggle the reptiles, which were reportedly worth more than $1 million, from New York City to Hong Kong.
NEW YORK (AP) — A New York resident has admitted he tried to smuggle protected turtles worth more than $1 million from the United States to Hong Kong by shipping them in boxes labeled “plastic animal toys.”
Wei Qiang Lin, a Chinese national who lives in Brooklyn, pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in New York to attempting to export more than 220 parcels containing around 850 eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles, according to the U.S. Justice Department.
The turtles, with an estimated market value of $1.4 million, were intercepted by law enforcement at a border inspection, prosecutors said. Officers saw them bound and taped inside knotted socks within the shipping boxes.
Eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles feature colorful markings and are a “prized feature” in the domestic and foreign pet market, particularly in China and Hong Kong, prosecutors said. The reptiles are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.
20 Years OfFreeJournalismYour Support Fuels Our MissionYour Support Fuels Our MissionFor two decades, HuffPost has been fearless, unflinching, and relentless in pursuit of the truth. Support our mission to keep us around for the next 20 — we can't do this without you.We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.We remain committed to providing you with the unflinching, fact-based journalism everyone deserves.Thank you again for your support along the way. We’re truly grateful for readers like you! Your initial support helped get us here and bolstered our newsroom, which kept us strong during uncertain times. Now as we continue, we need your help more than ever. We hope you will join us once again.Support HuffPostAlready contributed? Log in to hide these messages.
To what extent are dogs really paying attention to our conversations? Quite a bit, actually.
It impacts how your body digests it, absorbs its nutrients and even responds metabolically after you eat it.
It impacts how your body digests it, absorbs its nutrients and even responds metabolically after you eat it.
If you love personality tests but never found a label that fits, this is for you.
Layered clothes, a weakened skin barrier and other cold-weather factors may be making you downright stinky. Here’s how to combat it.
Twenty-two women share what they love, what they hate and what they wish everyone understood about living with large breasts.
It's a caricature of femininity, and a must for any woman who wants to climb the ranks in MAGA world. But there are deeper reasons the look is so in demand, experts say.
Researchers excavated seven mummies along with the bones of 54 other cheetahs from a site near the city of Arar.
If you think flu symptoms are worse this year, you're not alone.
Pet owners offered support for Aloka, a rescue dog who has joined Buddhist monks on a 2,300-mile "Walk for Peace."
If we treat dating like just another item on our to-do list, are we really going to find love — or just the easiest option?
Of those infected in the widening outbreak, the vast majority were unvaccinated.
And it's easy to change it.