Law enforcement intercepted the turtles during a border inspection and observed them bound and taped inside knotted socks within the shipping boxes,” the DOJ said.

A Chinese man has pleaded guilty after being caught smuggling around 850 protected turtles worth $1.4 million in socks to Hong Kong, authorities have said.

A man admitted trying to smuggle protected turtles worth more than $1 million from New York City to Hong Kong. They were shipped in boxes labeled “plastic animal toys.”