Oxnard man pleads guilty to smuggling more than 1,700 wildlife animals into country

OXNARD, Calif. – An Oxnard man on Wednesday pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for illegally importing more than 1,700 wild animals – including 60 reptiles found hidden in his clothes – into the country at the United States-Mexico border, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced on Wednesday.

Jose Manuel Perez, 30, pleaded guilty to smuggling Yucatan box turtles, Mexican box turtles, baby crocodiles, and Mexican beaded lizards into the country from Mexico. Perez and his accomplices used social media to smuggle the wildlife, which was primarily reptiles, into the country from January 2016 until February 2022, according to Ciaran McEvoy, public information officer for the Central District of the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Law enforcement officials estimate that Perez smuggled a total market value exceeding $739,000 of wild animals.

The animals were imported into the United States from Mexico and Hong Kong without being declared to U.S. customs or obtaining permits required by an international treaty known as the Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

For the animals smuggled from Mexico, Perez's accomplices retrieved them from the Cuidad Juarez International Airport in Mexico and brought the animals by car to El Paso, Texas. The accomplices were paid a "crossing fee" for each border crossing, and the fee would be based on the number of animals transported, the size of the package, and the risk of being detected by authorities.

Perez then shipped the animals to his family's house in Ventura County, where he resold them to customers across the country using the alias "Julio Rodriguez" to conceal his involvement in the scheme, McEvoy said.

Perez would also occasionally travel to Mexico himself to retrieve the wildlife, renting a house in Tijuana and crossing into the United States from Mexico at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, according to McEvoy. He did this approximately 36 times from February 2021 to February 2022.

Perez was arrested on Feb. 25, 2022, while attempting to enter the country with 60 reptiles hidden in small bags in his clothing. Three reptiles died during the smuggling attempt, McEvoy said.

He was released on bond on May 16. Then, on June 5 – the day before a court hearing that he requested – Perez removed his ankle bracelet and fled to Tijuana, according to McEvoy.

He was apprehended in Mexico and returned to the country on June 16. He has remained in custody since.

On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty to two counts of smuggling goods into the country and one count of wildlife trafficking.

His sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 1, and he faces a statutory maximum 20-year sentence for each smuggling count and up to five years in federal prison for the wildlife trafficking count.

Stephany Perez, 26 of Oxnard and Perez's sister and co-defendant is scheduled to go to trial for the case in February 2023.