Chinese national sentenced to prison for smuggling turtles from US to Hong Kong

A Chinese citizen has been sentenced to 30 months in prison for smuggling more than 2,000 turtles from the U.S. to Hong Kong over about five years, federal prosecutors said.

Sai Keung Tin, 54, was sentenced on Friday for his role in trafficking eastern box turtles  — a protected species, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. Tin, also known as Ricky Tin, was arrested upon his arrival at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York in February 2024.

In March 2024, Tin was charged in a four-count indictment that accused him of smuggling eastern box turtles for the global pet trade black market, prosecutors said. He pleaded guilty in December to four counts of exporting merchandise contrary to law.

According to the federal government’s sentencing memorandum, Tin "aided and abetted turtle smugglers" in the U.S. from February 2018 to June 2023. During that time, prosecutors said Tin trafficked about 2,100 turtles to three addresses in Hong Kong.

"Based on a conservative, contemporary market valuation of $2,000 per turtle, the smuggled reptiles were valued at $4.2 million," the Department of Justice said in a news release.

Wildlife authorities intercepted packages containing turtles

Following Tin’s arrest and indictment, prosecutors revealed that Tin “knowingly and illegally aided” in the exportation of 40 eastern box turtles in June 2023. The turtles were shipped in four packages and intercepted by U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agents.

Wildlife inspectors seized the packages at an international mail facility in Torrance, California, according to prosecutors. The packages had been falsely labeled as containing almonds and chocolate cookies.

Three of the packages each contained between eight and 12 live eastern box turtles, prosecutors said. The fourth package contained seven live turtles and one dead turtle.

All the turtles were bound in socks to restrict their movement so they would be undetected, according to prosecutors. The packages were each addressed to "Ji Yearlong," a name believed to be one of Tin’s aliases, and were to be sent to Tin’s residence in Hong Kong, court documents stated.

After intercepting the packages, wildlife agents obtained a search warrant to seize Tin’s cell phones, prosecutors said. A special agent also searched property records and discovered that the name listed as the sender on the packages was fake. 

Information found on Tin’s cell phones indicated that he traveled to the U.S. to smuggle turtles. Prosecutors said Tin had planned to travel to New Jersey, Texas, and Washington so that he could familiarize himself with "tourist locations to present a false story if apprehended."

"His ultimate plan was to pay for turtles in cash, ship turtles around the country, and eventually, illegally export them to Hong Kong," according to prosecutors. "He had detailed information on how to soak turtles to reduce odors and bind them in socks with tape, all to avoid detection."

Sai Keung Tin had ties to another international turtle smuggler

Prosecutors accused Tin of having ties with Kang Juntao, an international turtle smuggler from Hangzhou, China. Kang was extradited to the U.S. from Malaysia after his arrest in 2019.

In 2021, Kang was sentenced to 38 months in prison and one year of supervised release on a federal money laundering conviction, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Kang recruited poachers and suppliers in the U.S. to send turtles domestically to middlemen, "who would then bundle the turtles into other packages and export them to Hong Kong."

Court documents showed that Kang was responsible for at least 1,500 turtles that were shipped from the U.S. to Hong Kong between June 2017 and December 2018. The turtles market value exceeded $2.25 million, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said middlemen sent about 46 packages that contained turtles from New York and New Jersey. The packages were then routed through an international mail facility at John F. Kennedy International Airport to be sent to addresses in Hong Kong — including Tin’s. 

Court documents added that law enforcement had continued to intercept packages that were addressed to Tin and other smugglers following Kang’s arrest.

What are eastern box turtles?

Prosecutors said Tin primarily trafficked eastern box turtles, a subspecies of common box turtle. Eastern box turtles are native to forest regions in the eastern U.S. with some isolated populations in the Midwest, according to the Department of Justice.

"Turtles with colorful markings are highly prized pets, particularly in China and Hong Kong, and are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES),” the Department of Justice said. “China and the United States are parties to CITES.”

While the eastern box turtle is not considered an endangered species nationally, some states — including Michigan, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut — have listed it as a species of special concern, according to the National Wildlife Federation. The species is considered endangered in Maine.

The National Wildlife Federation said several factors, such as habitat loss, traffic incidents and pet trade, have contributed to the species' decline.

Latest wildlife smuggling incident

Tin's sentencing is the latest wildlife smuggling case to make headlines in recent years. Earlier this month, Transportation Security Administration officers in New Jersey stopped a man who had hidden a turtle in his pants.

The man, who was from Pennsylvania, triggered an alarm while doing a body scan at the Newark Liberty International Airport on March 7, according to TSA. The man then pulled out a live turtle wrapped in a towel out of his pants.

In February, California wildlife officials announced that three people were convicted and fined for the unlawful possession of protected and endangered animals. Their crimes were exposed after two people revealed to plain-clothes wildlife officers that they were smuggling an endangered sea turtle's skull on a flight.

In August 2023, a person was arrested after Texas Border Patrol agents found seven spider monkeys hidden in a backpack. USA TODAY reported in May 2023, that two dozen rare baby parrots were hatched after they were discovered in a smuggling operation at the Miami International Airport.

"Wildlife trafficking is the fourth largest organized crime in the world, after drug trafficking, counterfeiting, and human trafficking," according to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.