​Hong Kong Customs yesterday (September 9) seized four illegally imported live turtles of a suspected scheduled endangered species, with an estimated market value of about $5,000, at the Lo Wu Control Point.
      
     Customs officers intercepted an incoming 40-year-old local male passenger at the Arrival Hall of the Lo Wu Control Point yesterday. Upon examination, the four live turtles were seized from his personal baggage. Officers of the Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department (AFCD) attended the scene for inspection and preliminarily identified that the four live turtles were of an endangered species listed in the Appendices to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and regulated under the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance in Hong Kong. The case was handed over to the AFCD for follow-up investigation.

     Customs reminds the public not to carry controlled items into and out of Hong Kong.
      
     According to the Protection of Endangered Species of Animals and Plants Ordinance, any person importing, exporting or possessing specimens of endangered species not in accordance with the Ordinance commits an offence and will be liable to a maximum fine of $10 million and imprisonment for 10 years upon conviction with the specimens forfeited.
      
     Members of the public may report any suspected smuggling activities to Customs' 24-hour hotline 182 8080 or its dedicated crime-reporting email account (crimereport@customs.gov.hk) or online form (eform.cefs.gov.hk/form/ced002).

Ends/Thursday, September 10, 2026
Issued at HKT 16:55

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