Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs announced in a statement yesterday that its officers at the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge (HZMB) Zhuhai Port (checkpoint) seized 10 musk turtles* on May 25.
According to the statement, on that day, while conducting a routine inspection of vehicles, customs officers at the checkpoint noticed some abnormality through X-ray images from the front passenger seat and the boot of a Guangdong-Hong Kong dual-plate vehicle.
Upon inspection, customs officers discovered two backpacks covered with clothing, in which they found 10 turtles with a total weight of 24 kilograms, the statement said, adding that each turtle had three distinctive ridges along its carapace.
The turtles were immobilised by the smuggler with packing tape.
On June 4, the contraband was identified by the Technical Centre of Gongbei Customs as three-keeled musk turtles (scientific name Sternotherus carinatus), which are listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
Gongbei Customs reminded the public in a statement that carrying endangered species or their products across the Chinese mainland border is prohibited without an official import-export certificate. Serious offences constituting a crime will result in criminal prosecution in accordance with the law.
* A musk turtle is a small, highly aquatic freshwater reptile. Native to North America, these turtles are primarily known for a distinct defence mechanism: the ability to excrete a foul-smelling, yellowish liquid from two pairs of musky glands located beneath the rim of their shell when threatened or alarmed. – Gemini
This undated handout photo provided by Zhuhai’s Gongbei Customs yesterday shows 10 three-keeled musk turtles seized by its officers at HZMB’s Zhuhai checkpoint on May 25.
