A woman who tied nearly 1,000 cacti and succulents to her body in an attempt to smuggle them to New Zealand in 2019 has been sentenced to 100 hours of community service and 12 months of intensive supervision for violating the country’s biosafety laws. said government officials.
The woman, Wenqing Li, 38, was twice caught with plants and seeds at Auckland International Airport when she returned from China to her home in Auckland, New Zealand’s Ministry of Primary Industries said in a statement. The ministry said Ms Li intended to sell the plants on Trade Me, an online advertising site similar to Craigslist.
In the first incident, on March 24, 2019, Ms Li tied stockings with 947 succulents and cacti to her body and tried to sneak them into the country, the ministry said.
An airport official called Mrs. Li approached with a tracking dog, which took note of her, and she rushed to a bathroom to throw the plants away, said Gary Orr, the director of the ministry’s compliance services. Among the duties of the agency is the application of regulations regarding biosafety that are intended to prevent diseases and harmful organisms from infecting native plants and animals.
“What she did was she put it in the bins in the men’s toilet and thought we would not look there because she was a woman,” he said. Orr said. “But our staff is aware of this type of fraud.”
Airport officials searched the bathrooms and found a large amount of plant material, including ‘three socks filled with succulents and cacti’, the statement said. The plants included eight endangered and endangered species and were worth more than $ 7,000.
The officers seized the goods and me. Li was released, but the division of Mr. Orr has launched an investigation.
Four months later, Li was caught again when she tried to smuggle unauthorized goods into the country, Mr. Orr said.
On July 23, 2019, 142 seeds hidden in commercially packaged iPad covers and more than 200 plant pots were in me. Li’s luggage was found, the ministry said. A snail and pieces of tree stalk were in the pots. Mr. Orr said the plant pots were “wrapped in moldy paper.”
“They were dirty,” he said, “so they could get all kinds of diseases.”
He added that it was particularly ‘aggravating’ for some plant species to be endangered, as all unauthorized living species confiscated at the airport would have to be destroyed or euthanized.
“It’s an absolute disgrace, especially when these things are considered threatened. You do not want to do anything to aggravate it,” he said. Orr said. However, he said the destruction of the plants was ‘essential for the protection of New Zealand’.
New Zealand relies on its trading industry, said Mr. Orr said. “It is very important for us that our foreign markets understand that products we send abroad are free from pests and diseases.”
He added that New Zealand has its own unique animals and plants that will be “significantly affected” by the introduction of new species or diseases.
Ms Li pleaded guilty in November to charges of including knowingly attempting to possess unauthorized goods and trafficking in an endangered species. She was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Richard McIlraith in Auckland Manukau District Court.
Simon Anderson, a regional team manager in the department’s investigation department, said in a statement on Wednesday that the sentencing was a good reminder that anyone smuggling plants or other endangered species to New Zealand could expect to be prosecuted. word. ‘