Page 14 - IAV Digital Magazine #543

iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine
Man Caught With Dozens Of Lizards In His Clothes IsChargedWithSmuggling1,700Reptiles
BY CHRISTIAN MARTINEZ STAFF WRITER. LA times
A 30-year-old Oxnard man was indicted Thursday on federal charges and accused of smug- gling more than 1,700 reptiles into the U.S., hiding some animals in his clothing while crossing the U.S.- Mexico border, prosecutors said. Jose Manuel Perez was charged with two counts of wildlife
trafficking, nine counts of smug- gling goods into the U.S. and one count of conspira- cy after allegedly transporting the animals for a black-market business.
His sister Stephany Perez, 25, was also charged with con- spiracy.
Prosecutors allege that between January 2016 and February 2022, Perez, his sister and others used
social media to buy, sell and arrange delivery of wildlife in the United States.
Perez was arrest- ed Feb. 25 at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, authori- ties said, after attempting to cross the border while hiding 60 reptiles — includ- ing dozens of lizards and four snakes — in his jacket and pants pockets as well as his groin area and pant legs. According to the
indictment, he told customs offi- cials he had noth- ing to declare, then backtracked and said that “the animals were his pets.”
“The defendants allegedly adver- tised for sale on social media the animals smuggled from Mexico into the United States, posting photos and video that depicted the ani- mals being col- lected from the wild,” the U.S. attorney’s office
for the Central District of California said in a news release.
The animals included Yucatan and Mexican box turtles, baby croc- odiles and Mexican beaded lizards that prose- cutors said were imported from Mexico and Hong Kong without the required permits.
Some animals were picked up by unnamed co-con- spirators at Ciudad Juarez
International Airport in Mexico and shipped by car to El Paso, for which Perez paid the transporters a “crossing fee,” prosecutors said.
Other times, according to the indictment, Perez and another per- son traveled to Mexico to buy more animals that had been taken from the wild to smuggle them into the U.S.
Once stateside, the animals were transported to Perez’s home, first in Missouri, then in Ventura County, prosecu- tors said.
Perez faces a maximum of 20 years in prison for each count of smuggling and five years in prison for each count of conspira- cy and wildlife trafficking.
His sister faces a maximum of five years in prison for her conspiracy charge.
iAV - Antelope Valley Digital Magazine