Chinese Police Liberate 223 Turtles Hidden on Train

April 18, 2001 - 0:0
BEIJING Chinese police have arrested three people who tried to smuggle 223 turtles onto the black market in Shanghai, hiding the animals in a dozen suitcases on board a train, AFP quoted state media as saying on Tuesday. The suspects, from the eastern Province of Jiangxi, had bought the animals in the southern city of Guangzhou and planned to transport them by train to Shanghai, but were arrested by police as they were getting off, Xinhua news agency reported. The agency did not say whether the turtles, many of them endangered and some as big as washbowls, were meant to be sold as pets or were to wind up on Shanghai dinner tables.