A Southern California man was sentenced to 65 months in federal prison for illegally smuggling over 1,700 reptiles from Mexico into the United States.
The Department of Justice announced the ruling against Jose Manuel Perez, 34, of Oxnard, on Thursday, May 28, 2026.
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Perez had previously pleaded guilty to federal charges.
The smuggling operation ran from January 2016 to February 2022.
Perez and his co-conspirators imported wildlife from Mexico and Hong Kong without declaring the animals or obtaining required permits.
The enterprise generated more than $739,000 in total sales.
Perez used social media to advertise the animals, post footage of them being collected from the wild, and negotiate delivery terms with buyers.
The smuggled wildlife included protected species such as Yucatán box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles, and Mexican beaded lizards.
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Co-conspirators initially retrieved the wildlife at the Ciudad Juárez International Airport before driving the animals across the border into El Paso, Texas.
Perez paid his co-conspirators a crossing fee based on the number of animals, package size, and risk of detection.
He also personally traveled to Mexico to source live animals.
The wildlife was first moved to his former residence in Missouri and later to his home in Ventura County after he relocated to California.
Perez pleaded guilty in August 2022 to one count of wildlife trafficking and two counts of smuggling goods.
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This sentence runs alongside a prior nine-year prison term for firearms offenses.
