Chinese National Charged With Smuggling Turtles to Hong Kong

Sai Keung Tin, a Chinese national, was indicted March 8 on four counts of illegally exporting eastern box turtles, a "protected wildlife species," from the U.S. to China for the "global pet trade black market," DOJ announced. Tin faces a maximum 10-year prison stint for each smuggling count.

In June, Tin allegedly helped smuggle 40 eastern box turtles to Hong Kong in various packages addressed to Ji Yearlong, one of Tin's aliases. Wildlife inspectors at a facility in California intercepted four of the packages and found that the goods were to be sent to Tin's Hong Kong address. Tin allegedly falsely labeled the packages as containing almonds and chocolate cookies, DOJ said.

Tin is allegedly an associate of convicted turtle smuggler Kang Juntao, who smuggled at least 1,500 turtles from the U.S. to Hong Kong from 2017 to 2018. The turtles are found in "forested regions of the eastern United States with some isolated populations in the Midwest" and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.