CA Man Smuggled 1,700 Reptiles Into U.S., Sold Them On Social Media: Authorities

A Southern California man was sentenced to more than five years in prison for smuggling at least 1,700 reptiles into the U.S. from Mexico, Hong Kong and elsewhere over six years, according to authorities.

Jose Manuel Perez, of Oxnard, pleaded guilty in August 2022 to one count of smuggling goods into the U.S. and one count of wildlife trafficking, and received the 65-month sentence last week, authorities said.

Perez and co-conspirators smuggled wildlife into the country from January 2016 to February 2022 without obtaining the permits required by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora and without declaring any wildlife imported, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

They used social media to buy and negotiate the terms of the sale and delivery of wildlife in the U.S., authorities said. They also advertised for sale on social media the animals smuggled from Mexico, posting photos and video that depicted the animals being collected from the wild, according to the department.

For the animals smuggled from Mexico, Perez’s co-conspirators retrieved the wildlife — which included Yucatán box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles and Mexican beaded lizards — from Cuidad Juárez International Airport and shipped the animals by car to El Paso, Texas, authorities said.

Perez paid his co-conspirators a “crossing fee” for each border crossing, the amount of which depended on the number of animals transported, the size of the package and the risk of being detected by authorities, according to the department.

On other occasions, Perez and a co-conspirator traveled to Mexico to purchase live animals that had been taken from the wild so that the animals could be smuggled into the U.S., authorities said. Once the animals had been shipped, they were transported to Perez’s residence, first in Missouri and then later in California, according to the department.

In total, Perez caused the illegal smuggling and importation of at least 1,700 animals with a market value of more than $739,000, authorities said.

Before last week’s sentencing, Perez had been serving a nine-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in May 2023 to three counts of being a felon in possession of firearms, according to the department, which noted Perez's criminal record includes felony convictions in Ventura County for street terrorism and assault with a deadly weapon.