According to US border patrol agents, a woman from China was arrested near a lake on the border of Vermont and Quebec, Canada, as she attempted to smuggle 29 protected eastern box turtles to Canada using a kayak.
The Associated Press reported on July 1st that, according to an agent’s testimony submitted in a US federal court, Wan Yee Ng was arrested on the morning of June 28th at an Airbnb rental in Canaan, Vermont, as she was preparing to load luggage onto an inflatable kayak on Lake Wallace.
Based on the testimony of a federal agent, Canadian police notified the agents that two other individuals, including a man believed to be the Chinese woman’s husband, had paddled from the Canadian side to the US in an inflatable boat.
The testimony stated that agents searched the woman’s heavy luggage and found 29 live eastern box turtles, individually wrapped in socks. The affidavit mentioned that eastern box turtles are sold on the black market in China for $1,000 each.
The woman is charged with attempting to export these turtles from the US, in violation of the Endangered Species Act. Last Friday, a federal judge ordered her to remain detained. The federal public defender’s office representing her declined to comment to the Associated Press.
Border patrol agents first encountered this Chinese woman in May at an Airbnb rental, where they noticed a car with Ontario license plates driving on a road in Canaan, an area frequented by smugglers. The affidavit mentioned that Lake Wallace was a site for human and drug smuggling. US agents stated that the car entered the US from Alburgh, Vermont.
The affidavit stated that the woman entered the US in May on a visitor visa, with her destination being Fort Lee, New Jersey.
Border patrol agents learned on June 18th that the woman again entered the US in a vehicle with Quebec license plates from Buffalo, with plans to arrive at the same Airbnb rental on Lake Wallace in Vermont on June 25th. Following this, they began surveillance on the rental property.