California man sentenced to five years for smuggling 1,700 animals into US, including 60 reptiles hidden under his clothes

A California man who smuggled at least 1,700 animals into the U.S. over six years has been sentenced to more than five years in prison. Jose Manuel Perez was caught in 2022 with 60 reptiles hidden underneath his clothes.

Perez, 34, pleaded guilty to two counts of smuggling goods into the United States and one count of wildlife trafficking, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of California. A judge sentenced him to 65 months in prison on May 28.

Smuggling reptiles into the U.S. is no easy feat, yet Perez and his co-conspirators carried out their operation for six years. Authorities arrested Perez in February 2022 after catching him attempting to enter the U.S. with roughly 60 reptiles stuffed into bags beneath his clothing, according to CBS. At the time of his arrest, he claimed the animals were his personal pets.

According to the press release, Perez and his co-conspirators ran their animal smuggling operation through social media, using it to negotiate the sale and delivery of wildlife across the U.S. They smuggled the animals from Mexico, Hong Kong, and other locations without the permits required under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), then advertised them online using photos and videos of the animals being taken from the wild.

All kinds of animals were smuggled in

Investigators estimated that Perez and his fellow traffickers earned around $739,000. Over the six years between 2016 and 2022, the group sold approximately 1,700 animals. Those animals included Yucatán box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles, and Mexican beaded lizards, as noted in the press release.

For animals sourced from Mexico, co-conspirators retrieved wildlife from Cuidad Juárez International Airport and shipped them to El Paso, Texas. Perez paid them based on the number of animals smuggled, the size of each shipment, and the risk involved.

At times, Perez and a co-conspirator traveled directly to Mexico to buy wild-caught animals and bring them back into the U.S. themselves. Once across the border, the animals went to Perez’s residence.

Perez is already serving a nine-year prison sentence after pleading guilty in 2023 to “three counts of being a felon in possession of firearms,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release. His new 65-month sentence for the animal smuggling offenses will add to the time he is already serving.