A woman has been sentenced in New Zealand after she was caught trying to smuggle nearly 1,000 cacti and succulents to her body.
Wenqing Li, known as Wendy, pleaded guilty in Manukau District Court to charges of two separate violations of biosafety laws, which sought to import plants from China.
In March 2019, the 38-year-old man living in Auckland tried to smuggle 947 succulents and cacti by placing them in stockings and tying them to her body. The plants were worth more than $ 10,000 and included eight endangered and endangered species.
When Li was spotted by a tracking dog at Auckland International Airport, she tried to throw the carcass away in the toilets, where a large amount of plant material was found – according to the Ministry of Primary Industries.
Li intended to sell the succulents and cacti – which they say have ‘commercial value’, on the online market TradeMe.
In a separate incident in July 2019, Li was found hiding 142 unauthorized seeds in commercially packaged iPad covers in her luggage – as well as more than 200 plant pots, one of which contained a snail.
Li was sentenced Wednesday to 12 months of intensive supervision and 100 hours of community work.
Simon Anderson, an investigative manager at the Ministry of Primary Industries, said the sentencing was a good reminder that anyone smuggling plants or other endangered species into New Zealand could expect to be prosecuted.
“Our economy and way of life depend on keeping these threats out of the country.”