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As we all know, Canadian Customs has very strict import regulations, especially for wildlife and their products. However, this has not completely stopped illegal smuggling.
In Calgary, a 42-year-old Chinese man, Zhongmin Zheng, was recently fined C$35,000 for illegally importing and selling sea turtles from China and banned from owning any live animals for the next two years.
And Zheng Zhongmin's smuggling method is also brain-opening, which is unexpected.
Zheng's illegal activities were discovered on May 24, 2022, when the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) intercepted two boxes of packages labeled "children's bricks" at the Canada Post Centre in Mississauga, Ontario.
The packages were originally sent from China to Zheng's home in Calgary. Environment and Climate Change Canada's wildlife officials immediately intervened and found that they were just some of eight similar packages Zheng imported between January 1 and May 23, 2022.
The turtles were secretly packed in refrigerated containers and sealed containers, all of which were undeclared and did not have legal import permits from Canada or China. Zheng Zhongmin's actions not only violated the Law on the Protection of Wild Fauna and Flora and the Management of Inter-Provincial Trade, but also violated the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species.
In the course of the investigation, Canadian wildlife officials took a unique investigative approach. They use ultraviolet ink to label each turtle and turtle egg with a unique number, which can only be displayed when exposed to ultraviolet light.
In addition, wildlife officials arranged an undercover operation in which an officer disguised as a postman successfully delivered the package to Zheng Zhongmin's residence, where he was arrested shortly after delivery.
Subsequently, the police searched Zheng Zhongmin's home, further revealing the scale of his illegal activities: 53 live turtles, 33 turtle eggs and two dead turtles were seized in the basement.
The environment in Zheng's home is extremely harsh, with yellow-brown water in glass containers, filled with suspended solid waste and a strong smell of ammonia. The rescued turtles and eggs were later taken to the Calgary Zoo, where they were set up to live in a suitable habitat.
What is even more shocking is that through further investigation, Zheng Zhongmin posted an advertisement for the sale of turtles through the online second-hand platform Kijiji, which showed that he had been engaged in this illegal trade for a long time, and that each turtle was sold for between $100 and $300.
During a search of his electronic devices, police found that Zheng had been importing and selling several types of sea turtles since 2021, including snapping turtles, eastern mud turtles, red-cheeked mud turtles, musk turtles, razor turtles, and golden-threaded turtles.
Some sea turtles and turtle eggs have been identified as "species not necessarily threatened with extinction but whose trade must be controlled" under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
In an official investigation, Mr. Zheng also admitted that some turtles sometimes died due to improper temperature and humidity control, or fights between turtles.
After the incident, Zheng Zhongmin confessed to his actions, saying that he was well aware that the sale of certain turtle species, such as snapping turtles, was illegal in Canada.
In court, Zheng's defense attorney and prosecutor negotiated and Judge Bruce Fraser sentenced Zheng to pay a fine of $35,000 over three years and banned him from possessing any live animals for two years.
The wildlife trade is not only illegal, but also harmful to animals and ecosystems. We hope that such stories will not happen again, and that those beautiful sea turtles can live freely in their natural environment.