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While the interception occurred in August, details were only made public after Xu and a second Canadian, Lihua Lin, 30, of the Toronto area, were arrested and charged in U.S. district court this week following an investigation by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Xu, 26, and Lin appeared in federal court in Detroit on Thursday charged with smuggling, illegal trading and exporting. They could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

In a separate criminal complaint against Xu’s co-accused filed with the court, Special Agent Matthew Martin described how wildlife officials witnessed “known reptile smuggler” Xu pick up several boxes of live turtles in Novi, northwest of Detroit, on Tuesday.

The document said he then drove to a hotel near the Detroit international airport, where he placed the reptiles in a room he had booked for two nights, later meeting up with Lin at the hotel.

On Wednesday, the document said, Xu dropped Lin off at the airport bound for Shanghai, China. Lin, who checked in two pieces of luggage, was arrested after a search turned up more than 200 North American pond turtles.

None of the allegations has been proven in court and the accused have not offered a defence.

The turtles are apparently prized as food or pets in China.

As he did so, Special Agent Fuller noticed irregularly shaped bulges under Xu’s sweatpants on both his legs

In his detailed complaint, Adams described how his agency had received a tip Aug. 5 from a courier company in Detroit about a parcel addressed to Xu that was awaiting pickup.

The brown box, which had been shipped from Alabama, weighed about three kilograms and had no air holes but carried the notation “Live fish — keep cool.”