From Timesledger.com:
Oakland Gardens man caught smuggling turtles: Feds
July 2, 2016 / News / Animals / Oakland Gardens
By Mark Hallum
OAKLAND GARDENS -- An Oakland Gardens man was arraigned in federal court last week on suspicion of smuggling prohibited wildlife into the United States via the Postal Service, according to the Eastern District of U.S. Attorney's office.
A wide variety of endangered turtle species were intercepted by Fish and Wildlife Service agents at Kennedy Airport in packages addressed to Hsien Lin Hsu and labeled as "snacks" by a sender in Hong Kong, according to the criminal complaint filed by the U.S. attorney's office.
A total of 42 turtles were found upon inspection of the boxes May 4. The protected and prohibited amphibians were concealed in bags of noodles and small pieces of candy. The U.S. attorney's office said experts from the Fish and Wildlife Service and the American Museum of Natural History identified the animals as yellow-margined Chinese box turtles, black-breasted leaf turtles, Reeves' turtles, Indian roofed turtles, South American river turtles and Chinese big-headed turtles. The packages were delivered to the address listed and Hsu accepted the five parcels in a controlled delivery made by law enforcement and postal service inspector, the complaint said.
A search warrant was executed on Hsu's Oakland Gardens home May 18 and an additional 135 live turtles were seized, all of which the defendant said were shipped from the same individual in Hong Kong. According to the U.S. Attorney's office, Herpetology experts from the Bronx Zoo and the Wildlife Conservation Society identified 24 individual species of protected turtles in the home, the majority of which were born in the wild.
At the time of the search, Hsu cooperated with law enforcement agents, explaining that he knew of the special permit required by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora to import turtles, and admitted to receiving packages from contacts in Hong Kong prior to the final bust, the complaint said.
Shippers in China had advised him to use a fake name on the packages so as not to get caught. Hsu, however, went with his real name, the complaint said.
Via the NYDailyNews
Queens man charged with smuggling protected turtles trough U.S. mail categorized as 'snacks'
BY John Marzulli NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, June 22, 2016, 7:50 PM
A Queens man has been charged with smuggling protected turtles through the U.S. mail in boxes labeled "Snacks."
Federal authorities say the 42 turtles seized in the mislabeled packages at Kennedy Airport were being illicitly traded -- not eaten.
Fish and Wildlife Service agents intercepted five packages shipped from Hong Kong on May 4 and May 11 at the airport's mail center. The packages were addressed to Hsien Lin Hsu, 45, of Oakland Gardens, and contained bags of noodles and candies to conceal the little critters.
The turtles were positively identified by a curator at the American Museum of Natural History as Chinese Box Turtles, Black Breasted Leaf Turtles, Indian Roofed Turtles, South American River Turtles, Reeves Turtles, and Chinese Big Headed Turtles which are all protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Agents executed a search warrant at Hsu's home and seized 135 live turtles. Hsu, who will be arraigned Thursday in Brooklyn Federal Court, admitted that he was trafficking turtles with contacts in Hong Kong and knew he was supposed to have a special permit to do so.
Hsu told the agents that each package he shipped would usually ship two turtles hidden inside socks and surrounded by packs of candy.
Poor Chinaman is facing time over what sounds like was his rare turtle collection. The Eastern District U.S. Attorney's office in New York must be real proud of themselves.
Went straight to green on Mercke reagent 5/5 FE amazing turtles