California Man Arrested for Plot to Export Trafficked Turtles to Asia

Donald Do of Daly City, California, was arrested on federal wildlife trafficking charges, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on May 15, 2026.

Do stands accused of conspiracy and two Lacey Act violations for submitting false paperwork to secure a federal export permit and attempting to ship protected turtles to Asia. The charges were filed in federal district court in California.

The Lacey Act prohibits the import, export, transport, sale, receipt, acquisition or purchase of any fish, wildlife or plant taken, possessed, transported or sold in violation of U.S. or foreign law. The statute reaches both the underlying wildlife crime and any false statements made to obtain required federal permits.

A single Lacey Act felony carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for individuals.

The arrest directly alters the prior state in which Do operated without immediate federal intervention. The new state is active criminal prosecution that halts any further export activity linked to the fraudulent permit application. The case now proceeds under standard federal criminal timelines, with an initial appearance and arraignment required within days of arrest.

Downstream, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service must now audit all turtle export permits associated with Do’s network and update its enforcement database to flag similar false-statement patterns. Federal prosecutors gain precedent for charging document fraud in the turtle trade, which supplies Asian markets that consumed an estimated several thousand protected specimens annually before heightened scrutiny.

Courts will next schedule motions and potential trial dates, while the agency’s Office of Law Enforcement receives formal notice to preserve evidence from the seized shipment.

This marks the latest Lacey Act prosecution involving reptile trafficking from the United States to Asia. The statute, originally passed in 1900 and significantly expanded in 1981 to cover false declarations, has been used in prior California cases targeting the illegal export of protected turtles, snakes and lizards destined for pet and food markets abroad.