A Chinese man has pleaded guilty in a US district court to exporting around 850 protected turtles wrapped in socks and falsely labelled as toys, the US Department of Justice said.
Between August 2023 and November 2024, Wei Qiang Lin exported to Hong Kong more than 200 parcels containing the turtles, according to a Justice Department statement on Monday.
The boxes packed with the turtles had been labelled as "containing 'plastic animal toys', among other things", the authorities said.
Lin primarily shipped eastern box turtles and three-toed box turtles. Both species are native to the US and highly prized by some pet owners.
The turtles have unique markings on their shells, and are seen as a status symbol in China where they are often kept as pets.
