Chinese citizen sentenced to 30 months in prison for smuggling turtles from US to Hong Kong
Chinese national sentenced for smuggling protected turtles from the US to Hong Kong (Illustrative photo: Getty Images)
A Chinese man has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison for illegally trading rare turtles, USA Today reports.
Fifty-four-year-old Sai Keung Tin, also known as Ricky Tin, smuggled more than 2,000 eastern box turtles—a protected species—to Hong Kong over five years. He was arrested in February 2024 at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York and indicted in March on four counts related to illegal wildlife exports. In December, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 30 months in prison.
According to the US Department of Justice, Tin "aided and abetted turtle smugglers" from 2018 to 2023, shipping around 2,100 turtles to three addresses in Hong Kong. "Based on a conservative market estimate, the smuggled reptiles were worth $4.2 million," the department stated.
Deception at customs and ties to a trafficking network
Investigators found that Tin used fake names and misleading package descriptions, labeling shipments as containing almonds and chocolate cookies. In the summer of 2023, inspectors intercepted four packages, each containing live turtles wrapped in socks and taped to avoid detection.
Further investigations revealed Tin’s connection to another notorious wildlife trafficker, Kang Juntao, who was arrested in 2019 and later convicted in the US for money laundering. Kang had established a smuggling operation that shipped turtles from the US to Hong Kong through intermediaries. Even after Kang’s arrest, authorities continued to intercept packages linked to Tin.
Eastern box turtles are highly valued in the Asian pet trade, but their populations are declining due to illegal wildlife trafficking. According to authorities, the illicit wildlife trade remains one of the largest organized crimes in the world.
