Chinese woman charged with trying to smuggle turtles across Vermont lake into Canada

A Chinese woman was arrested on a lake in Vermont bordering Quebec after attempting to smuggle 29 eastern box turtles, a protected species, into Canada by kayak, according to the Border Patrol.

According to an investigator’s affidavit filed in federal court, Wang Yee Ng was arrested at an Airbnb in Canaan on the morning of June 28 as she was carrying a duffel bag and preparing to board an inflatable kayak on Wallace Lake. Investigators had been notified by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police that two others, including a man believed to be her husband, had begun paddling an inflatable boat from the Canadian side of the lake toward the U.S., according to the investigator’s affidavit.

Agents searched her heavy duffel bag and found 29 live eastern box turtles wrapped in socks, which are known to sell for $1,000 apiece on the black market in China, according to the affidavit.

Ng is charged with violating the Endangered Species Act and attempting to export the turtles from the United States. A federal judge ordered him to remain in custody on Friday. The Federal Public Defender’s Office, which is representing him, declined to comment.

Border Patrol agents first saw Ng at an Airbnb rental in May when they noticed a vehicle with Ontario license plates traveling on a road in Canaan, Vermont, an area used by smugglers. Wallace Lake has been used for human and drug trafficking, according to the affidavit. The vehicle entered the U.S. through Alburg, Vermont, agents said.

According to the affidavit, Ng entered the U.S. in May on a tourist visa with a destination of Fort Lee, New Jersey. Border Patrol agents learned on June 18 that she had re-entered the U.S. through Buffalo in a vehicle with Quebec plates and planned to arrive at the same Airbnb in Wallace Lake, Vermont, on June 25, the affidavit said. They then began surveillance of the property.