A 43-year-old Japanese man was sentenced to one year in prison by a Hong Kong court Tuesday for smuggling 60 endangered turtles from Japan last year.
Naoki Hiraguchi was caught with 60 live Ryukyu black-breasted turtles that were placed in two boxes inside his checked-in suitcase as he arrived at Hong Kong International Airport on Oct. 26.
Hiraguchi in a hearing on Friday last week pleaded guilty to importing an endangered species without a permit. He claimed that he was helping a friend in Okinawa bring the turtles into Hong Kong for breeding purposes.