On Friday, October 11th, a woman from China admitted to attempting to smuggle 29 Eastern box turtles from a lake in Vermont to Canada using a rubber dinghy. Eastern box turtles are a protected endangered species, with each one fetching up to $1,000 on the black market in China.
According to court documents, 41-year-old Wan Yee Ng, originally from Hong Kong and currently residing in Canada, was arrested on the morning of June 26th at an Airbnb in Canaan. She was found with a travel bag, preparing to board an inflatable kayak on Wallace Lake.
Wallace Lake is an international waterway that has seen multiple instances of human trafficking and drug smuggling.
Simultaneously, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police informed U.S. border patrol agents that two other individuals, including a man believed to be her husband, were paddling a kayak from the Canadian side of Wallace Lake towards the United States.
Court documents state that border patrol agents searched her heavy canvas bag and discovered 29 Eastern box turtles wrapped in socks. It is reported that each Eastern box turtle can fetch $1,000 on the black market in China.
According to a plea agreement, her phone was confiscated, and law enforcement found text messages indicating her attempt to smuggle these Eastern box turtles into Canada and profit by selling them in Hong Kong.
On Friday, she confessed to one count of attempting to illegally export 29 Eastern box turtles out of the United States. She is set to be sentenced in December and could face up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.