Kai Xu was not happy to see the border guard. Those were turtles in his pants.
Fifty-one of them. Mostly taped to his legs. Others hidden in his crotch.
The scene is described in a criminal complaint that was filed in U.S. federal court on Tuesday, alleging that Xu, a Windsor resident, tried to sneak the amphibious reptiles across the Detroit-Windsor border in August.
His bulging sweatpants gave him away and he is charged with smuggling, trading in protected species, and illegally exporting fish or wildlife. His bond hearing in a Detroit court is scheduled for Friday.
He faces up to 10 years in a federal prison if convicted.
Xu was also charged by the Canada Border Services Agency with smuggling and failing to present an animal for inspection that he was bringing into the country.
Xu’s cargo included a range of North American species: eastern box turtles, red-eared sliders, diamondback terrapins, and others. He was likely hoping to sell them — David Mifsud, a Michigan herpetologist, said some species are valued as pets in Southeast Asia and can sell for up to $800 a pop.
The sting that foiled Xu’s alleged plan was set in motion on August 5 when a UPS employee found a suspicious package at one of the company’s parcel pickup depots in Detroit. The brown cardboard box had been sent by air from Alabama; it was inscribed in red lettering with the message “LIVE FISH KEEP COOL.”
The employee called the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which promptly sent three investigators to stake out the UPS depot. In the afternoon, Xu arrived, picked up package, and appeared to empty its contents into baggies, which he placed in a grocery bag, the affidavit states.
After disappearing between two UPS trailers, he emerged with no grocery bag, and visible lumps under both of his sweatpant legs, the criminal complaint says. .
The Fish and Wildlife agents stopped tailing Xu before he entered the Windsor-Detroit tunnel, but CBSA agents in Canada flagged him for an inspection, which revealed 41 live turtles taped to his legs and 10 “hidden between his legs.”
The CBSA turned the turtles over to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, who could not be reached for comment Thursday.
This type of crime is a growing problem, according to Mifsud, the herpetologist. “Smuggling turtles across international border is unfortunately an increasingly common occurrence,” he said.
Indeed, For reasons that remain unclear, Xu was involved in a second turtle smuggling operation as recently as this week. On Wednesday, according to a separate criminal complaint, he dropped off another man, Lihua Lin, at the Detroit Metro Airport for a flight to China. When Fish and Wildlife agents checked Lin’s luggage, they found over 200 North American pond turtles.
Gina Balaya, spokesperson for the local U.S. Attorney’s office, told the Star that Lin was from “somewhere outside of Toronto.” He is charged with smuggling and trading in protected species.
The CBSA declined to say why Xu was not in custody more than six weeks after his apprehension at the border. The charges against him, in Canada and the U.S., stem from the August 5 incident. Balaya said that Xu was only arrested Wednesday.
