When one thinks of “smuggling,” one tends to think of vehicles like yachts, container ships, or trucks. Dark tunnels and night time border crossings with cargo like guns and drugs generally spring to mind. But a Chinese national shattered these cliches this week near the border between Vermont and Quebec.
The woman in question, Wee Yee Ng, was picked up by border patrol agents on June 28 as she was loading herself and her cargo into an inflatable Kayak outside a rented AirBnB on the shores of Lake Wallace. Inside her duffel bag was a cargo more sensitive than drugs:
Twenty-nine eastern box turtles, which classified as vulnerable and thus fall under the jurisdiction of Appendix II of the CITIES (Convention for International Trade in Endangered Species) treaty, which restricts the international transportation of species on the list without proper (and hard-to-obtain) permits. The turtles are native to the Eastern United States, and range from southern Maine and Michigan all the way down to southern Florida, and prefer low elevations. They are popular in the North American pet trade and sell for moderate prices, but in China they can go for up to $1000 each.
Border Patrol agents were alerted to Ng’s smuggling operation by members of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who had Ng and a man whom they believed to be her husband, under surveillance. They’d spotted the couple paddling back and forth across the border, evading the normal checks. The Border Patrol subsequently found a vehicle with Ontario plates near the AirBnB in an area that is popular with smugglers.
When agents searched Ng’s duffel, they found the twenty-nine turtle each wrapped in socks.
Ng is now being charged with an attempt to export the turtles from the United States in violation of Federal law, specifically the Endangered Species Act. On Friday, June 28, a federal judge ordered that she be kept in detention rather than released on bail.