STATEWIDE — WEI QIANG LIN, a Brooklyn resident and Chinese citizen, pleaded guilty on Aug. 11 in U.S. District Court for the Western District of New York, for illegally exporting approximately 850 protected turtles and other reptiles, valued at $1.4 million, to Hong Kong between August 2023 and November 2024, according to the federal Department of Justice.

Lin falsely labeled the shipments as “plastic animal toys,” among other things. The scheme was uncovered after turtles were found bound in socks during a border inspection.

The primary targets of the smuggling were eastern and three-toed box turtles, native U.S. species prized in China for their colorful markings. These species are safeguarded by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flor

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