A woman was caught trying to smuggle nearly 1,000 cacti and succulents into New Zealand by putting them in stockings and tying them to her body when she arrived from China, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The sniffer dogs spotted the thorny plants in Wenqing Li, 38, a resident of Auckland, known as Wendy, who was arrested when he tried to get rid of his furniture in a toilet at Auckland International Airport on March 24, 2019, according to the media.
The 947 cacti and succulents, which included eight endangered and threatened species, were worth more than $ 10,000.
He was found guilty of charges related to two separate incidents at the airport. She was sentenced Wednesday in Manukau district court to intensive supervision of 12 months and 100 hours of community work.
He planned to sell the plants to the online TradeMe market.
In a separate case, on July 23, 2019, she was found in possession of 142 unauthorized seeds that were hidden in two iPad cases in her luggage.
More than 200 pots were also discovered, including a screw.
“This ruling serves to remind that anyone smuggling plants or other endangered species into New Zealand can expect to be prosecuted,” said Simon Anderson, an official in the Ministry of Primary Industries, which is in charge of biosafety.
“It is important to remember that bringing unauthorized plants into the country by any method, whether smuggling across the border in person or receiving products by post, puts New Zealand’s biosecurity at risk,” he said.