A woman from China has been arrested at a lake in Vermont, bordering Quebec, for trying to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species, into Canada by kayak, Border Patrol agents said.
Wan Yee Ng was arrested at an Airbnb in Canaan on the morning of June 28 as she was about to board an inflatable kayak with a gym bag on Lake Wallace, according to an officer’s affidavit filed in federal court. Officers had been notified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two other individuals, including a man believed to be her husband, had begun paddling an inflatable watercraft from the Canadian side of the lake toward the United States, according to an officer’s affidavit.
The officers searched her heavy duffel bag and found 29 live box turtles, individually wrapped in socks, the affidavit said. Eastern box turtles have been known to sell for $1,000 each on the Chinese black market, the affidavit said.
Ng is accused of trying to export the turtles from the US in violation of the Endangered Species Act. A federal judge ordered her to remain detained on Friday. The federal public defender’s office, which represents her, declined to comment.
Border Patrol agents first spotted Ng at the Airbnb rental in May when they spotted a vehicle with Ontario license plates driving on a Vermont road in Canaan, an area used by smugglers, they said. Lake Wallace has been used for human and drug trafficking, the statement said. The vehicle entered the U.S. in Alburgh, Vermont, agents said.
Ng was admitted to the United States in May on a visitor visa intended for Fort Lee, New Jersey, the affidavit said. On June 18, Border Patrol agents learned that she had re-entered the U.S. in Buffalo in a vehicle with Quebec plates and that she would arrive at the same Airbnb on Lake Wallace, Vermont, on June 25, the affidavit said. They then began surveillance of the property.