A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for illegally exporting live reptiles by falsely labeling them as toys in shipments intended for Hong Kong, federal officials reported this week.
Wei Qiang Lin was sentenced in Buffalo and will serve 24 months in jail. Lin was found guilty of falsely identifying live turtles, snakes, and lizards as “fake toys” before exporting them overseas.
Lin was also fined $2,339, which investigators stated was “how much U.S. currency he had on him when he was arrested.”
According to court documents, Lin delivered roughly 222 boxes to Hong Kong containing approximately 850 turtles between August 2023 and November 2024. According to investigators, Lin described the parcels as carrying “plastic animal toys,” among other items, in violation of the Lacey Act. The turtles’ market worth was estimated to be $1.4 million.
Law enforcement agents stopped the shipments during customs checks and discovered the animals “bound and taped inside knotted socks within the shipping boxes,” prosecutors claimed.
According to authorities, Lin attempted to export endangered Abronia lizards, as well as deadly green tree vipers and palm pit vipers. The creatures are protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES.
Officers from the US Fish and Wildlife Service also intercepted Lin’s parcels carrying rare Cora mud turtles. According to officials, the Buffalo Zoo utilized the stolen turtles “to set up the first-ever assurance colony for the species,” which will be used to assist repopulating them if natural numbers become unsustainable.
Lin was investigated and prosecuted as part of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Operation Terrapene, a joint effort between federal and local law enforcement to locate turtle traffickers and dismantle “highly organized syndicates.” Customs and Border Protection, the Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations are among the agencies that have joined forces.
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