MAN TRIED TO SMUGGLE MORE THAN 60 REPTILES UNDER HIS CLOTHING

LOS ANGELES, JUNE 7 /SRNA/ – Jose Manuel Perez of Oxnard, California, was sentenced to more than five years in prison after attempting to smuggle more than 60 reptiles hidden beneath his clothing.

Perez trafficked reptiles over a six-year period and, during that time, successfully smuggled at least 1,700 reptiles into the United States.

According to the indictment, he and his accomplices transported animals across the border between January 2016 and February 2022, primarily reptiles such as Yucatán box turtles, baby crocodiles, and Mexican lizards, CBS News reported.

The market value of the smuggled animals exceeded $739,000.

The smuggling ring used social media to buy and sell wild animals and to arrange their transportation.

Advertisements for the reptiles consisted of photographs and videos showing the animals being captured in the wild.

The smugglers collected the animals at Ciudad Juárez International Airport in Mexico before transporting them by vehicle across the border to El Paso, Texas.

Perez paid a transportation fee for each shipment, with the amount depending on the number of animals being transported and the risk of detection.

He pleaded guilty in August 2022 to two counts of smuggling goods into the United States and one count of wildlife trafficking.

The new prison sentence was imposed in addition to an existing nine-year sentence.