Current:Home > MarketsChinese woman facing charge of trying to smuggle turtles across Vermont lake to Canada-InfoLens
Chinese woman facing charge of trying to smuggle turtles across Vermont lake to Canada
View Date:2024-12-23 15:05:55
A woman from China has been arrested at a Vermont lake bordering Quebec for trying to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species, into Canada by kayak, according to Border Patrol agents.
Wan Yee Ng was arrested on the morning of June 28 at an Airbnb in Canaan as she was about to get into an inflatable kayak with a duffle bag on Lake Wallace, according to an agent’s affidavit filed in federal court. Agents had been notified by Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other people, including a man who was believed to be her husband, had started to paddle an inflatable watercraft from the Canadian side of the lake toward the United States, according to an agent’s affidavit.
The agents searched her heavy duffle bag and found 29 live eastern box turtles individually wrapped in socks, the affidavit states. Eastern box turtles are known to be sold on the Chinese black market for $1,000 each, according to the affidavit.
Ng is charged with attempting to export the turtles from the U.S., in violation of the Endangered Species Act. A federal judge on Friday ordered that she remain detained. The federal public defender’s office, which is representing her, declined to comment.
Border Patrol agents first spotted Ng at the Airbnb rental in May when they noticed a vehicle with Ontario plates traveling on a Vermont road in Canaan in an area used by smugglers, they said. Lake Wallace has been used for human and narcotic smuggling, the affidavit states. The vehicle had entered the U.S. in Alburgh, Vermont, agents said.
Ng was admitted to the United States in May on a visitor visa with an intended destination of Fort Lee, New Jersey, the affidavit states. Border Patrol agents learned on June 18 that she had again entered the U.S. in Buffalo in a vehicle with a Quebec plate and was expected to arrive at the same Airbnb on Lake Wallace in Vermont on June 25, the affidavit states. They then started to surveil the property.
veryGood! (545)
Related
- Charles Hanover: A Summary of the UK Stock Market in 2023
- True-crime junkies can get $2,400 for 24 hours of binge-watching in MagellanTV contest
- Watch: 12-year-old Florida boy who learned CPR from 'Stranger Things' saves drowning man
- Author Deesha Philyaw has a 7-figure deal for her next two books
- Does the NFL have a special teams bias when hiring head coaches? History indicates it does
- Cyprus holds military drill with France, Italy and Greece to bolster security in east Mediterranean
- American caver Mark Dickey speaks out about rescue from Turkish cave
- Streaming broke Hollywood, but saved TV — now it's time for you to do your part
- Oil Industry Asks Trump to Repeal Major Climate Policies
- Jill Duggar Dillard says family's strict rules, alleged deception led to estrangement
Ranking
- Vermont man is fit to stand trial over shooting of 3 Palestinian college students
- China says EU probe into Chinese electric vehicle exports, subsidies is protectionist
- Germany retests its emergency warning system but Berlin’s sirens don’t sound
- NASA releases UFO report, says new science techniques needed to better understand them
- Incredible animal moments: Watch farmer miraculously revive ailing chick, doctor saves shelter dogs
- Alex Jones spent over $93,000 in July. Sandy Hook families who sued him have yet to see a dime
- 'Only Murders in the Building' Season 3 episodes schedule, cast, how to watch
- Pablo Picasso painting that depicts his mistress expected to sell for $120 million at auction
Recommendation
-
Horoscopes Today, November 12, 2024
-
Pope Francis and Bill Clinton set discussion on climate change at Clinton Global Initiative
-
In 'The Enchanters' James Ellroy brings Freddy Otash into 1960s L.A.
-
Libyan city buries thousands in mass graves after flood as mayor says death toll could triple
-
Lunchables get early dismissal: Kraft Heinz pulls the iconic snack from school lunches
-
A second major British police force suffers a cyberattack in less than a month
-
The Ultimatum’s Madlyn Ballatori Gives Birth, Welcomes Baby No. 2 With Colby Kissinger
-
Trump won’t be tried with Powell and Chesebro next month in Georgia election case