A Chinese woman was arrested near a lake in Vermont, near Quebec, for trying to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species, into Canada by kayak, according to U.S. customs officials.
Wan Yee Ng was arrested Friday morning at an Airbnb in Canaan, Vt., a short drive from the Eastern Townships border, as she was about to board an inflatable kayak with a duffel bag on Wallace Lake, according to an agent’s affidavit filed in federal court.
Officers had been informed by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other people, including a man believed to be her husband, had begun paddling an inflatable boat from the Canadian side of the lake toward the United States, the affidavit also states.
Officers searched his heavy duffel bag and found 29 live box turtles, individually wrapped in socks, according to the affidavit, which also notes that Eastern box turtles are known to be sold on the Chinese black market for $1,000 each.
Mme Ng is accused of attempting to export the turtles from the United States, in violation of the Species at Risk ActA federal judge on Friday ordered her detention. The federal public defender’s office, which represents her, declined to comment.
Border agents spotted Mme Ng first visited the Airbnb rental in May when they noticed a vehicle with Ontario plates driving on a Vermont road in Canaan, in an area used by smugglers. Wallace Lake has been used for human and drug trafficking in the past, the affidavit says. The vehicle had entered the United States at Alburgh, Vt., agents said.
Mme Ng was admitted to the United States in May on a visitor visa with a destination in Fort Lee, New Jersey, the affidavit states. Customs officials learned on June 18 that she had re-entered the United States in Buffalo in a vehicle with Quebec plates and was scheduled to arrive at the same Airbnb near Wallace Lake, Vermont, on June 25, the affidavit states. They then began monitoring the property.