One woman was moving as slow as a tortoise when she was caught red-handed trying to smuggle 29 protected turtles across a Vermont lake into Canada by kayak.
Wan Yee Ng, 41, was nabbed loading up an inflatable boat at an Airbnb in Canaan, Vt., according to a Border Patrol agent’s affidavit filed in federal court.
Border Patrol agents found the Eastern box turtles individually wrapped in socks in Ng’s duffle bag, Fox News reported.
Police said they were notified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other people, Ng’s husband and another person, began to paddle a kayak from the Canadian side of Lake Wallace toward the US, court documents indicate.
Eastern Box turtles go for $1,000 a pop on the Chinese black market.
Ng’s cell phone records reportedly showed she intended to sell the reptiles in Hong Kong.
Ng is from Hong Kong, and was living in Canada.
Ng pleaded guilty on Friday in US District Court to a single count of attempting to smuggle eastern box turtles — a protected species in Vermont and some other states — from the US to Canada.
Her sentencing is scheduled for December.
Ng faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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