A Hong Kong woman has been arrested after trying to smuggle 29 rescued turtles from the United States to Canada.
Wang Yi Ng, 41, entered a guilty plea Friday in U.S. District Court in Burlington, Vermont, to a single charge of attempting to smuggle eastern box turtles from Vermont into Canada.
Eastern box turtles are a protected species in Vermont, as well as in Connecticut, Massachusetts, Michigan, and New Hampshire.
Ng was arrested on June 28 at an Airbnb in Canaan, Vermont, according to the affidavit.
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An endangered male eastern box turtle named “Tank” lives at Franklin Park Zoo. (John Wilcox/Media News Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images)
Police said the 41-year-old woman was caught red-handed as she was loading an inflatable kayak to head to the Canadian side of Wallace Lake.
Police said they received a report from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that Ng's husband and two other people had begun rowing a rubber dinghy from the Canadian side of the lake toward the United States.
Authorities said she had 29 yellow box turtles in a duffel bag wrapped in socks, the affidavit said.
Box turtle, Fairfax, Virginia. (Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The affidavit states that box turtles are known to sell for $1,000 each on the black market in China.
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During the investigation, police seized her cell phone and revealed that she had attempted to smuggle the turtles to Canada to eventually sell them in Hong Kong for profit.
Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images (Robert Knopes/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
Mr. Ng pleaded guilty Friday to one count of illegally attempting to export and ship 29 eastern box turtles out of the United States, in violation of the law.
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she is detained Since his arrest in June He will remain in custody until sentencing. She is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 13 and could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
