A Daly City man suspected of purchasing and exporting hundreds of poached turtles from Florida is facing federal wildlife trafficking charges, according to Department of Justice officials.
The agency announced Friday that Donald Do was arrested and charged with submitting false paperwork in an attempt to obtain a permit that would enable him to ship wild and protected turtles to Asia.
Do’s arrest was part of a joint state and federal crackdown called Operation Southern Hot Herps, which was initiated to detect and deter turtle poachers in the southeastern United States engaged in the Asian pet trade.
According the Justice Department, Do and an accomplice tried to export 292 loggerhead musk turtles to Taiwan. The co-conspirator obtained an export permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service based on a false claim by Do that he hatched and raised the turtles.
Loggerhead turtles have large heads and powerful jaws, giving them the ability to feed on hard-shelled prey. They’re found around the globe, mostly in subtropical and temperate regions of the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, and in the Mediterranean Sea, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
After Do obtained the permit, he purchased the turtles, which had been poached from Florida and other areas, informing sellers that he was interested in “wild caught” turtles. The two men also tried to obtain more than 200 freshwater reptiles from Albert Bazaar of Louisiana, who was detained last week on animal trafficking charges, according to officials.
In that case, Bazaar was charged with stealing more than 1,800 wild turtles from Florida streams, selling them to a co-conspirator specializing in the Asian pet market for more than $550,000.
After unsuccessfully exporting the turtles, Do tried to conceal his role by telling his accomplice he had sold them to other domestic buyers, said authorities.
The plot by Do, officials said, was a violation of the Lacey Act, which bans trafficking in fish, wildlife, or plants illegally taken, possessed, transported or sold.
Do pleaded not guilty at a May 13 court hearing before U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California Magistrate Judge Thomas S. Hixon. He’s next scheduled to appear in federal court in San Francisco at a July 31 status hearing, according to court records.
If convicted, Do faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine on each of the conspiracy and Lacey Act charges.
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