Chinese-Canadian sold thousands of turtles to China
A 27-year old university student in Canada of Chinese origin, will spend almost 5 years in an American jail for smuggling turtles to China.
Canadian citizen and Ontario resident, Kai Xu was a regular visitor to Michigan in the US where he bought small turtles from breeders and others and then illegally sent them to China, sometimes using hired “mules” to take them in their baggage.
Xu has pleaded guilty to six charges of smuggling more than 1,600 turtles out of the US between April 2014, and his arrest in September 2014.
Turtles are considered desirable pets in China, or in some cases, exotic food and prices can be in the hundreds of dollars for a single turtle.
Xu was caught at the US –Canada border with 51 turtles strapped to his legs. It is illegal to import or export wildlife without a permit.
Government wildlife agencies in both Canada and the US say illegal trade in wildlife is extremely damaging and threatens certain species with extinction. Seven of the eight turtle species in Ontario are listed as “at risk”.
Quoted in the Toronto Star in 2014, Environment Canada spokesman Mark Johnson said due to the “complex, multinational and covert nature of wildlife crime,” there is no information on the profitability of wildlife smuggling in Canada but studies suggest wildlife smuggling is a global industry earning as much as $32 billion per year.”
“regular shipments worth $30,000-$125,000”
In the US court, Xu’s defence attorney said the man was not a “sophisticated international dealer”, but prosecutors noted that shipments intercepted at airports were worth more than one million dollars U.S, In a court filing, Assistant US Attorney Sara Woodward indicated that Xu “regularly deals in turtle shipments worth $30,000, $80,000 or $125,000”.
In his original court case in 2014, she said, “All of the evidence points to Mr. Xu directing others and doing it for a very considerable time and for an extreme amount of profit”.
Xu who has been in jail for the past 19 months, could have faced a ten year sentence on each charge, but the judge opted for a sentence of 57 months, just shy of five years.
Xu’s lawyer says they will appeal the sentence
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