State environmental police are charging 25 people after an undercover investigation into poaching and illegal sales of New York's native turtles, snakes and salamanders.
Investigators say 18 people were charged in New York, six in Pennsylvania, and one in Canada.
The probe detailed on Thursday also prompted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to pursue federal charges against a Maryland meat processor for buying hundreds of illegally trapped New York snapping turtles.
The service will also move against a Louisiana turtle farm operator for buying thousands of New York snapping turtle hatchlings for export to China.
