A Chinese man living in Brooklyn, New York, Wei Qiang Lin, was recently sentenced to 24 months in prison by the federal court in the western district of New York for illegally exporting protected reptiles. He was also ordered to forfeit the $2,339 he had on him at the time of arrest.
The sentencing judge, Lawrence J. Vilardo, pointed out that Lin intentionally labeled packages containing live turtles, snakes, and lizards as “plastic animal toys” before shipping them to Hong Kong to evade regulatory oversight, a violation of the Lacey Act.
According to court documents, from August 2023 to November 2024, Lin exported approximately 222 packages to Hong Kong, containing around 850 turtles, with a total black-market value estimated at around $1.4 million. Law enforcement intercepted these packages during customs inspections and found the turtles stuffed in knotted socks inside transport boxes, in a precarious state of survival.
In addition to turtles, Lin attempted to export various protected species, including Abronia lizards, all of which are covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also intercepted rare Cora mud turtles in his packages.
The intercepted turtles were later transferred to Buffalo Zoo, where the zoo established the species’ first-ever “assurance colony” using these turtles as a source for future breeding in case unsustainable situations arise in the wild populations.
Lin’s case is part of the “Terrapene Operation” led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which collaborates with various federal and local law enforcement agencies to combat highly organized turtle smuggling networks.