BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A woman from China pleaded guilty on Friday to attempting to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species, across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak.
Wan Yee Ng, 41, was arrested on the morning of June 28 at an Airbnb in Canaan, where she was preparing to launch an inflatable kayak with a duffle bag on Lake Wallace, according to a Border Patrol agent’s affidavit filed in federal court.
Agents had been alerted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two individuals, including a man believed to be her husband, were paddling an inflatable watercraft from the Canadian side of the lake toward the United States, court documents reveal.
Upon searching her heavy duffle bag, agents discovered 29 live eastern box turtles, each individually wrapped in socks. The affidavit noted that eastern box turtles can be sold on the Chinese black market for approximately $1,000 each.
Law enforcement seized her cellphone, and subsequent searches revealed communications indicating that Ng intended to smuggle the turtles into Canada for eventual sale in Hong Kong. Ng, originally from Hong Kong, was residing in Canada at the time of her arrest.
She pleaded guilty to one count of unlawfully attempting to export and send 29 eastern box turtles out of the United States, contrary to law. VTDigger first reported on the plea deal.
Ng is scheduled to be sentenced in December, facing a potential penalty of up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.