A woman was caught trying to smuggle nearly 1,000 cacti and succulents into New Zealand, stuffing them in her stockings and strapping them to her body when she arrived from China, the New Zealand Herald reported.
Sniffer dogs detected the thorny plants in Auckland resident Wenqing Li, 38, known as Wendy, who was arrested when he tried to get out of hiding in a bathroom at Auckland International Airport on March 24, 2019, according to the agency.
The 947 cacti and succulents – which included eight endangered species – were worth more than $ 10,000.
Li pleaded guilty to charges related to two separate airport incidents. She was sentenced at the Manukau District Court on Wednesday to 12 months of intensive supervision and 100 hours of community work.
She planned to sell the plants on the TradeMe online 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 potted plants, including a snail, have also been discovered.
“This sentence serves as a good reminder that anyone who smuggles endangered plants or other species into New Zealand can be prosecuted,” said Simon Anderson, an official at the Ministry of Primary Industries, who deals with 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 in the mail, puts New Zealand’s biosafety at risk,” he said.