A woman was as slow as a turtle when she was caught red-handed trying to smuggle 29 rescued turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada in a kayak.
Wang Yi Ng, 41, was arrested while loading a rubber dinghy at an Airbnb in Canaan, Vermont, according to a Border Patrol agent's affidavit filed in federal court.
According to Fox News, Border Patrol agents found an eastern box turtle individually wrapped in a sock inside Ng's duffel bag.
In court documents, police said they were alerted by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that Ng's husband and two other people had started kayaking from the Canadian side of Lake Wallace toward the United States.
Eastern box turtles sell for $1,000 each on China's black market.
Ng's cell phone records reportedly show she intended to sell the reptiles in Hong Kong.
Ng is originally from Hong Kong and lived in Canada.
Ng pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court to a single charge of attempting to smuggle the eastern box turtle, a protected species in Vermont and some other states, from the United States to Canada.
Her sentencing is scheduled for December.
Ng could face up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
