International student jailed for attempting to smuggle $75k worth of native lizards to China

An international student has been jailed for attempting to smuggle nearly $75,000 worth of native lizards to China.

The lizards were found in socks within a package containing children's toys.

An international student has been jailed for attempting to smuggle nearly $75,000 worth of native lizards to China.

Yinan Zhao pleaded guilty to seven charges of attempting to send native Australian wildlife by post to China.

Brisbane’s District Court heard Zhao attempted to export ten individual packages containing 15 lizards from Queensland to China, with an estimated ‘street value’ of $74,207 between May 12 and November 1, 2023.

The lizards that Zhao attempted to smuggle were five Shinglebacks, five Blue tongues, two Geckos, two tree skinks and one Cunningham skink.

The lizards were packed in small boxes containing children’s toys with some intercepted by Australia Post in Brisbane and others in Sydney after being X-rayed, the court heard.

Much of the offending took place in Queensland, while some offences occurred in New South Wales.

Shinglebacks, blue tongues, geckoes and skins were found.

Zhao was sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment with a non-parole period of five months.

It follows the prosecution of another foreign national, Man Lung Ma, who was convicted of 19 charges relating to 29 separate attempts to export protected native wildlife, including five attempts from Queensland.

In November 2024 Lung Ma was sentenced to 3 years 6 months in jail, with a 2-year non-parole period.

Queensland’s Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation Department compliance manager Warren Christensen welcomed the prosecution and the minimum five-month prison sentence.

“Unfortunately, international students, such as those from China are often targeted through social media and other means to make easy money by smuggling wildlife,” Mr Christensen said.

“This prosecution should serve as a warning to others considering smuggling animals to make a quick buck that they will be caught and face very serious, life changing consequences.

“During her arrest, we also found more unlawfully held wildlife that were also being prepared for sale on Chinese markets.

Shinglebacks, blue tongues, geckoes and skins were found.

“Sending reptiles in the mail is extremely cruel as they won’t have access to food, water or fresh air for weeks and sadly, most of the animals will die before they get to their destination.

“Of those we intercept, many can never be released into the wild because we don’t know where they were captured or if they have been exposed to disease while in captivity.

The successful prosecution was the result of a joint operation between the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Environment, Energy and Water and the Queensland Government Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.

“This operation was an excellent example of state and Australian government agencies working cooperatively with Border Force and Australia Post to detect and prevent international wildlife smuggling,” Mr Christensen said.

“DETSI wildlife officers seized the packages suspected by Australia Post and Border Force of containing protected wildlife.

“We formally identified all wildlife recovered from the packages and assisted with the identification of Zhao and the execution of the warrant that led to her arrest.

“We thank the Australian Government, Border Force and Australia Post for their efforts in assisting in detecting this crime and in securing this conviction.”

Originally published as International student jailed for attempting to smuggle $75k worth of native lizards to China