California man sentenced for international reptile trafficking

A California man received more than five years in prison Thursday for smuggling over 1,700 reptiles into the United States across six years, according to the Department of Justice. Smuggled wildlife included Yucatán box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles, and Mexican beaded lizards. Jose Manuel Perez admitted to smuggling wildlife from Mexico and Hong Kong, among other countries, for a total market value of over $739,000, according to investigators. Perez was already serving a nine-year prison sentence on three counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm before his latest sentencing on Thursday.

How did he smuggle the reptiles? Perez worked with coconspirators, using social media to advertise and negotiate the wildlife sales and delivery within the United States, according to prosecutors. The group posted photos and videos of the animals being caught in the wild as advertisements. Perez shipped animals from Ciudad Juárez International Airport in Mexico or by car, paying coconspirators fees for crossing the southern border.