Chinese man pleads guilty in U.S. to smuggling protected turtles

A male Eastern Box Turtle moves across a path at Wildwood Lake Sanctuary in Harrisburg, Pa., May, 2, 2009. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Chinese man faces up to five years in prison for trying to smuggle protected turtles worth more than US$1 million from the United States to Hong Kong.

Wei Qiang Lin, of Brooklyn, pleaded guilty on Monday in a federal district court in New York to exporting more than 220 parcels containing around 850 eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles.

The U.S. Justice Department said the live turtles had been wrapped in socks for the weeks-long journey and the boxes with the reptiles had been labeled as containing “plastic animal toys.”

The turtles, which had a market value of US$1.4 million, were intercepted by law enforcement at a border inspection, it said.

Eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles feature colourful markings and are a “prized feature in the domestic and foreign pet market, particularly in China and Hong Kong,” the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

It said they are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Sentencing was set for December 23. Lin faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to US$250,000.