Authorities in Hong Kong announced the arrest of two men who were attempting to smuggle 7,000 live turtles into Mainland China.

Marine police intercepted the two men Wednesday as they were loading about 300 cartons onto speedboats near an outlying island close to mainland Chinese waters, a government statement said.

The cartons were stacked with clear plastic containers containing thousands of turtles, a photograph published in the Ming Pao Daily News showed.

There is a huge demand for turtles in China, which can be used as for food or traditional Chinese medicines.

However, along with the turtles, the Associated Press reported that the two smugglers were also attempting to smuggle in counterfeit computer discs into China.

The turtles were seized along with counterfeit computer discs worth a total of HK$6.4 million (US$820,000; €602,498), the statement said.

This is a perfect example of how the illicit market operates.  Too often, those who are attempting to address issues of the black market, whether it be drugs, wildlife smuggling, or counterfeit goods, tend to focus solely on the products relevant to their organization.  However, the market in illicit goods does not respect subject matter specialists.  The organizations involved in the market are no longer single market specialists.  If smugglers can trasport turtles and evade Customs, then they surely can transport fake purses, women, and kilos of cocaine.

An example of this can be found on the U.S. Mexico Border, where drug organizations have diversified their activities to increase their revenues.

According to the Associated Press:

Mexican druglords are taking over the business of smuggling migrants into the United States, using them as human decoys to divert authorities from billions of dollars in cocaine shipments across the same border.

U.S. and Mexican law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that drug traffickers, in response to a U.S. border crackdown, have seized control of the routes they once shared with human smugglers and in the process are transforming themselves into more diversified crime syndicates.

The drug gangs get protection money from the migrants and then effectively use them to clear the trail for the flow of drugs.

To see more on the Illicit Market and products that are traded, please visit our Havocscope Contraband Products Index.