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HERALD SUN (Melbourne, Australia) 18 August 05 Turtle smuggler fined $24,600 (Tim Clarke)
A Japanese man who wrapped 24 protected turtles and a lizard inside socks and then tried to post them home to sell on the internet has been fined more $24,000 by a Perth court.
Kazutaka Ogawa, 32, pleaded guilty earlier this month to three offences of exportation and cruelty over the package of native animals he tried to post from Australia to Japan in March 2004.
The West Australian District Court heard Australia Post staff alerted Customs officials at Perth International Airport when they discovered several suspicious packages intended for an address in Japan.
X-rays revealed 24 oblong turtles – 13 of which were dead – and one shingleback lizard, all tightly wrapped in white sports socks.
At the time the animals were discovered, Ogawa had already left the country, but was arrested after he returned to Australia, landing in Adelaide in June.
When questioned, Ogawa first denied knowing what was in the package, claiming he had posted it on behalf of a man he met while in Perth.
He later said he wanted to keep the animals as pets, but then changed his story again, confessing he had intended to sell them for $10,000 each on the internet.
The court was told he spent two days collecting the protected animals from Lake Joondalup, in Perth's north, before stuffing them into socks and packing them for postage.
Ogawa also admitted smuggling five lizards to Japan via post from the New South Wales Blue Mountains in March 2000.
On that occasion, Japanese postal authorities detected the animals and sent the package back to Australia.
Sentencing Ogawa today, Chief Judge Antoinette Kennedy said the offences were very serious and the man's involvement was serious.
"No great care was taken of these harmless little animals, and many of them died," Justice Kennedy said.
On the three Commonwealth offences of exportation and cruelty, Ogawa was fined $8000 each.
On two similar state charges, he was fined $300 each, bringing the total fine to $24,600.
Ogawa, who appeared today with two black eyes and a bandage across his nose, was to remain in prison until the fine was paid, Justice Kennedy said.
http://www.heraldsun.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5478,16302019%255E1702,00.html