A Texas woman pleaded guilty in court last week after she was arrested for attempting to smuggle a spider monkey into the U.S. and sell it for profit.
The 20-year-old was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol officers who asked her what was inside a wooden box she had in her car, a press release from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said. When she was asked what was inside the box that had holes in it, the girl told officers it was beer.
However, an officer discovered a live spider monkey inside — the animal is also on the endangered species list.
The woman was told to head to a second checkpoint but instead drove off. Later in the day, an online sale listing for the monkey with the woman’s phone number was found by officers, the release said.
Now, the woman has pleaded guilty to charges of smuggling wildlife into the U.S. without first declaring and invoicing it and fleeing an immigration checkpoint, the release said.
The charges and plea come after a months-long investigation following her attempt to enter the U.S. from Mexico through the Gateway International Bridge in Brownsville, Texas, on March 21, according to the release.
After having her online listing discovered, she turned herself in a week after her escape on March 28, the release said. The monkey she smuggled has since been recovered and placed in an animal shelter in Central Florida.
Craig Larrabee, the acting special agent in charge at Homeland Security Investigations San Antonio, shared in the release that the actions from the woman were a crime against nature.
“Smuggling in endangered species for commercial gain is a tragic crime against nature’s precious resources,” Larrabee said in the release. “HSI takes every opportunity to join our federal, private sector, and international partners to share our knowledge, experience, and investigative techniques designed to protect and preserve threatened and endangered species.”
The woman is scheduled to be sentenced on January 25, 2023.
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