Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Smuggling US Turtles Labeled as Plastic Toys

A Chinese man admitted guilt in a U.S. district court for the Western District of New York for illegally exporting protected U.S. turtles.

Mary Man

Published: 8/12/2025, 10:42:36 AM EDT

Chinese National Pleads Guilty to Smuggling US Turtles Labeled as Plastic Toys — Photo of intercepted eastern box turtles; from the criminal complaint in United States v. Wei Qiang Lin, 25-cr-100 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York. (U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service)

A Chinese man admitted guilt in a U.S. district court for the Western District of New York to illegally exporting protected U.S. turtles, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Monday.

From August 2023 to November 2024, Wei Qiang Lin shipped 222 parcels containing around 850 turtles, concealed in socks and mislabeled as plastic toys, in delivery boxes on a week-long journey to Hong Kong.

These two species—eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles—are native to the United States and highly valued in the foreign pet trade, particularly in China and Hong Kong, where their distinctive shell markings are considered a status symbol.

U.S. authorities intercepted the shipments during a border inspection, uncovering turtles wrapped in black socks inside packages labeled as containing plastic animal toys.

The seized turtles, protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), were valued at approximately $1.4 million. China and the United States are parties to CITES.

CITES regulations require export permits or re-export certificates for trading these species, which have faced significant smuggling since the 1990s.

In addition to turtles, Lin exported 11 parcels containing other reptiles, including venomous snakes, the Justice Department said. Lin faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gain or loss from the illegal activity.

Lin agreed to abandon any property interest in the reptiles seized during the investigation. His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 23, 2025.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, in collaboration with federal and local law enforcement agencies, including Customs and Border Protection, the Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations, conducted the investigation.

This case follows a similar incident in March, when another Chinese national, Sai Keung Tin, received a 30-month sentence for smuggling over 2,000 eastern box turtles. Those animals, also hidden in socks and mislabeled as almonds and chocolate cookies, had an estimated market value of $2,000 per turtle.

Tin was linked to Kang Juntao, a turtle smuggler from Hangzhou, China, extradited from Malaysia in 2019. Kang, who pleaded guilty to money laundering, facilitated the shipment of over 1,500 turtles—valued at more than $2.25 million—from the United States to Hong Kong, including to Tin, and was later sentenced to prison.