File this under headlines you’ll only see once in your lifetime. Federal prosecutors say a Canadian man was caught trying to smuggle 51 turtles across the border in his sweatpants. Seriously.
Kai Xu was busted after hiding behind two semis and reappearing with “irregularly shaped bulges” under his sweatpants, The Guardian reports.
Xu was captured as part of a surveillance operation conducted by US Fish and Wildlife Service agents. An official with the service said there has been an increase in turtle smuggling in the last year, which they attribute to demand in Asian food and collector markets.
Ed Grace, a deputy chief law enforcement officer with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, said, “These turtles, by the time they get to the end-collector, they can be worth anywhere from $1,300 to $1,500 a turtle.”
Xu has been indicted on illegal smuggling charges and violations of the endangered species act. The turtles were taken in by Fish and Wildlife agents, but there was no official word on the now infamous sweatpants.
