California Couple Pleads Guilty to Smuggling 911 Sea Turtle Eggs from Nayarit Tony Barboza - Los Angeles Times
go to original February 20, 2016

A Southern California couple pleaded guilty Friday to smuggling 911 endangered sea turtle eggs from Mexico into the United States, federal prosecutors said.

Olga Jimenez, 52, and Jose Jimenez, 64, of Hemet, admitted to smuggling the sea turtle eggs by bus from Nayarit, Mexico, in 2014 and concealing them in coolers under layers of fish, shrimp and ice so they could be transported by pickup across the border in Tijuana, according to the U.S. attorney's office.

The eggs were harvested from Olive Ridley and Kemp's Ridley sea turtles, which are protected in Mexico and the U.S. under the Endangered Species Act and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, prosecutors said.

As part of pleading guilty to the charges, which included smuggling, unlawful trafficking of wildlife and conspiracy, the couple agreed to forfeit the eggs and pay the Mexican government up to $9,000 in restitution.

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