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Snappy dresser ... A Canadian man has been caught smuggling live turtles down his pants. Picture: Brendan Radke
A MAN has been caught with 51 turtles hidden down his pants in an attempt to smuggle the reptiles out of America.
Canadian man Kai Xu, 27, pleaded guilty after he was caught at the border with the 51 turtles taped to his lower body.
Xu admitted to ordering the turtles online and travelling to the US to pick them up before returning to Canada and shipping them to China.
He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. It is illegal to export wildlife from the United States without proper authorisation from the government.
Assistant US Attorney Sara Woodward said Xu “regularly deals in turtle shipments worth $30,000, $80,000 and $125,000â€.
Red-handed ... Kai Xu was caught smuggling live turtles out of America. Picture: Rob LeesonSource:News Corp Australia
But defence lawyer Matt Borgula declined to comment after the guilty plea.
Xu was taken into custody after he was arrested in Detroit in September 2014.
He describes himself as an engineering student at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada but university authorities deny he was enrolled at the time of his arrest.
Authorities first became aware of Xu’s operation in early 2014 when he was spotted with “irregularly shaped bulges†under his sweatpants, wildlife agent Ken Adams said.
When Xu was stopped by Canadian border authorities, they located 51 live turtles taped to his legs.
He continued smuggling turtles despite being busted.
“He did not cease smuggling turtles, he did not even slow down,†Woodward said.