Two California men are facing federal charges for allegedly smuggling 911 endangered sea turtle eggs into the U.S. from Mexico, according to a grand jury indictment.
The indictment, released by the U.S. Attorney’s office Tuesday, alleges that on Nov. 23, 2014, suspect Olga Jimenez, 52, got on a Tijuana-bound bus in Nayarit, Mexico, with a large cooler containing nine plastic bags filled with about 911 sea turtle eggs.
Meanwhile, Jose Luis Jimenez, 64, drove from Hemet, California – the suspects’ hometown – to the Mexican border. Using a pedestrian bridge, he crossed into Mexico carrying two small coolers, federal authorities say.
The suspects met at a Tijuana bus station and transferred the eggs into the small coolers. The indictment says the men hid the eggs under layers of ice, fish and shrimp.
Investigators suspect the men then gave those coolers to a pickup truck driver headed for the U.S., telling the person the coolers were just filled with shrimp and fish.
The Jimenez men both crossed back into the U.S. using the pedestrian bridge. According to the indictment, Olga called one of the people in the pickup truck to make sure the coolers made it across the border.
Federal authorities are seeking the criminal forfeiture of the eggs in the indictment.
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Olga was arrested in Arizona and is scheduled to appear in San Diego federal court on Dec. 16. Jose, who was not taken into custody, is ordered to appear before a federal judge on Jan. 14, 2016.
They are accused of conspiracy, smuggling, importation contrary to law and unlawful trafficking in wildlife.
The smuggled eggs came from the Olive ridley and Kemp’s ridley species of sea turtle, the indictment says. Both are considered endangered, and it is illegal in the U.S. and Mexico to trade any part of the turtles without permission from each government.
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), both types of sea turtle have a unique, synchronized nesting habit. Large female groups will visit nesting beaches once or twice a year, laying clutches of about 100 eggs each and burying them in the sand – an event called an arribada.
The indictment says during the arribada, the eggs are vulnerable to poachers who want to sell them for food. They are considered a delicacy in Asia.
