‘Toys’ smuggled into Georgia were endangered turtles headed for black market, feds say
A few dozen shipments of toys and trucks that arrived in Georgia over the course of four months in 2018 and 2019 were actually brimming with endangered turtles, according to federal prosecutors.
Now the accused smuggler has been ordered to cough up thousands of dollars he made reselling the rare reptiles.
Kuo Pin “Kenny” Cheng, 56, of Marietta, Georgia, was sentenced to one year of probation and ordered to forfeit at least $10,000 he allegedly made in the international smuggling scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia said Tuesday in a news release.
Cheng pleaded guilty in August to violating federal laws and an international treaty protecting endangered species.
“Illegal trafficking in fish and wildlife is big business all over the globe,” U.S. Attorney Byung J. “BJay” Pak said in the release. “Laws protecting endangered species were enacted to preserve our treasures in the wild. We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to protect endangered wildlife.”
Labeled as ‘toys’ or ‘trucks’
From October 2018 to January 2019, prosecutors said Cheng ferreted more than 150 live turtles into Georgia. The reptiles arrived in 28 shipments from Hong Kong with labels identifying them as “toys” or “trucks” and were addressed to fake names, according to the release.
Cheng then siphoned the turtles off to “collectors” across the U.S. and netted more than $40,000 in illegal sales, prosecutors said.
The shipments included Asian Spotted Pond turtles and Three-Keeled Asian turtles — both of which are classified under the Endangered Species Act.
Cheng is accused of violating the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Treaty, the Lacey Act, and the Endangered Species Act. The treaty is an agreement among 180 countries, including the U.S., that regulates the international trade of plants and animals “whose continued survival is considered threatened by trade,” according to the release.
It’s been included in the Endangered Species Act of 1973, which bars individuals from importing animals outside the treaty’s guidelines.
The Lacey Act is a U.S. law passed in 1900 that bans the illegal trafficking of plants and animals.
Tightening laws in South Carolina
The black market trade of exotic animals thrived in neighboring South Carolina before officials started instituting stricter reptile trading laws this year, The State reported. Many of those animals, including snakes and turtles, were being shipped out of their native South Carolina to become food or exotic pets elsewhere.
According to a 2018 investigation by The State, the animals were frequently shipped overseas “cruelly packaged in tiny cartons” without food or water. Many of them died on the way.
Chad Welch with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources told The State that the lax trading laws in South Carolina were contributing to illegal imports in Georgia, which has more stringent regulations on reptile sales.
“It’s easier to acquire wild animals when you can take a couple of hours’ drive to South Carolina, buy them and bring them right back,” Welch said.
Some dealers not only stockpiled turtles in South Carolina but also brought in turtles from other states with stricter rules and resold them overseas — a process wildlife officials called “turtle laundering,” The State reported.
But the South Carolina legislature recently approved a new law designed to deter “shadowy” wildlife traders by limiting the number of turtles a person can have in their possession, according to The State.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 1:50 PM with the headline "‘Toys’ smuggled into Georgia were endangered turtles headed for black market, feds say."
