A woman moved as slowly as a turtle when she was caught red-handed trying to smuggle 29 protected turtles by kayak across a Vermont lake to Canada.
Wan Yee Ng, 41, was arrested while loading an inflatable boat at an Airbnb in Canaan, Virginia, 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 duffel bag, Fox News reported.
Police said they were informed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other people, Ng’s husband and another person, began paddling a kayak from the Canadian side of Lake Wallace toward the U.S., court documents show.
Eastern box turtles cost $1,000 each on the Chinese black market.
Ng’s cellphone records showed she planned to sell the reptiles in Hong Kong.
Ng is from Hong Kong and lived in Canada.
Ng pleaded guilty in U.S. court on Friday to a single count of smuggling eastern box turtles — a protected species in Vermont and some other states — from the U.S. to Canada.
Her sentencing is scheduled for December.
Ng faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years and a fine of up to $250,000.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
