In the first incident, in March 2019, Li stuffed 947 cacti and succulents into stockings and tied them to her body. The treasure contains eight endangered and endangered species and was worth more than 10,000 New Zealand dollars ($ 7,200), the Ministry of Primary Industries, which is responsible for biosafety, said in a press release on Wednesday.
Li, who hails from the North Island city of Auckland, tried to throw the plants away in airport toilets after attracting the attention of a police dog. But authorities said they found a “large amount” of plant material around the toilet facilities, including in a trash can.
In a separate incident in July 2019, Li is found hiding 142 unauthorized seeds in iPad covers in her luggage and more than 200 garden decorations and pots – with a snail and pieces of tree fern stem – all in wet paper.
Li pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced Tuesday in Manukau District Court to 12 months of “intensive supervision” and 100 hours of community service.
Intensive supervision is a community-based sentence and usually requires an offender to report regularly to a probation officer, and this may include other specific requirements set by the court.
Simon Anderson, regional team manager at the Ministry of Primary Industries, said the smuggling of unauthorized plants posed a danger to New Zealand’s biosafety and that sentencing was a good reminder that anyone bringing plants or other endangered species to New Zealand can smuggle, can expect to be prosecuted. ‘
“Our country is happy to be free from many invasive pests and diseases that occur in other countries,” he added.
“Our economy and way of life depend on keeping these threats out of the country.”