Man who tried to smuggle in eight turtles and a marmot indicted: CGA

The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said that a man arrested in July while returning to Kinmen from China with a marmot and eight turtles taped to his inner thighs had been indicted.

Officers from the CGA’s Investigative Branch stopped the suspect, surnamed Chiu (邱), as he was returning to Kinmen by a ferry from Quanzhou, China, on July 14, the agency said in a statement.

Chiu was detained based on “intelligence regarding recent attempts by travelers to smuggle prohibited items,” it said.

A Coast Guard Administration officer holds up a marmot that was smuggled into Kinmen County in July.

Photo courtesy of the Coast Guard Administration’s Kinmen Reconnaissance Patrol Team

During a search, officers found that Chiu was concealing eight black-breasted leaf turtles, each wrapped inside elastic stockings and taped to his inner thigh.

The turtles were struggling due to the heat and confinement, the Coast Guard said.

On his other thigh, officers found a marmot — a large ground squirrel — stuffed inside a mesh bag, the CGA said, adding that the animal had been fed sedatives to make it sleep.

Chiu was arrested on suspicion of contravening the Act on Wildlife Conservation (野生動物保育法) and the Act on the Prevention and Control of Infectious Animal Diseases (動物傳染病防治條例), and was remanded to prosecutors.

He was indicted on Sept. 15.

The CGA oversees security, port inspections and law enforcement for ferry services between cities in China’s Fujian Province and the Kinmen and Matsu islands.

Coast guard investigators found that Chiu had purchased the turtles in China for the equivalent of NT$200 each.

If successfully smuggled into Taiwan, each of the turtles could have sold for NT$9,000 to NT$30,000 on the black market, the CGA said.

Moreover, because the turtles could have been passed off as Ryukyu black-breasted leaf turtles, a rare species, they might have sold for as much as NT$75,000, more than 300 times their original cost, the coast guard said.

Marmots can be aggressive and be a primary host for the pneumonic plague, risking a dangerous outbreak if the animal did not undergo proper quarantine, the CGA said.

The animals were transferred to the Kinmen County Animal and Plant Disease Control Center, it said.

The coast guard warned that smuggling live animals not only causes environmental damage, but can also threaten public health and the survival of native species.

Suspected smuggling and other illegal activities can be reported via the CGA’s 24-hour 118 hotline, the agency added.