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Border officers find 59 live snakes and lizards in accused smuggler’s pockets
A Facebook ad shows rare lizards for sale by Julio Rodriguez, who federal investigators say is Jose Manuel Perez.
A Facebook ad shows rare lizards for sale by Julio Rodriguez, who federal investigators say is Jose Manuel Perez.
(Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services search warrant affidavit)
It’s the latest evidence of a thriving black market for wildlife at the San Diego border, where U.S. Customs and Border Protection has seized snakes, tiger cubs and parrots as well
By Kristina Davis
March 3, 2022 4:39 PM PT
A man was arrested at the San Ysidro Port of Entry last week after border officers found 59 live snakes and lizards hidden in his clothing.
While Jose Manuel Perez allegedly explained away the reptiles as his “pet lizards,” investigators say they are the latest commodities in a long-running wildlife trafficking ring that specialized in capturing rare Latin American reptiles in the wild and then smuggling them to U.S. buyers, according to a cellphone search warrant affidavit filed Wednesday in San Diego federal court.
The live specimens, contained in bags, included three dwarf boas, a Uribe’s false cat-eyed snake, a Pacific Coast parrot snake and four conehead lizards, according to herpetologists who identified them at the San Diego Zoo.
Perez, 30, an Oxnard resident, had already been under investigation for several months, and the day before his Friday arrest had been indicted along with his sister by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles.
The indictment alleges a wildlife trafficking conspiracy that smuggled reptiles through the U.S.-Mexico border — particularly the corridor linking Juarez, Mexico, to El Paso, Texas — without legal permits.
Animals, many of which are listed as protected species, were then frequently shipped from El Paso to Perez and other customers in the United States, the indictment says. Perez is also accused of importing about 30 turtles from Hong Kong, as well as exporting other animals to buyers to other countries, according to the indictment.
In all, the ring is accused of importing roughly 1,700 animals — including turtles, monitor lizards and baby crocodiles — at a market value of more than $739,000, the indictment states.
The case underscores the role that the U.S.-Mexico border plays in the thriving black market for wildlife. In San Diego alone, officers with U.S. Customs and Border Protection have seized snakes, tiger cubs, parrots and fighting cocks, as well as animal products such as the bladders of totoaba — an endangered fish in the Gulf of California — sea turtle eggs, ivory and whale bones.
Perez allegedly used others to smuggle some of the animals, the indictment states.
After one trip in 2016, at an unidentified spot along the border, a co-conspirator messaged Perez about a “close call” being searched by CBP. “Thank God they found nothing,” the alleged smuggler wrote. “That is why I always tell you turtles are risky. They are bulky. I got nervous today, but I kept my cool.”
Investigators with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services say Perez sold the reptiles on Facebook under the name “Julio Rodriguez” — a pseudonym that also appears on a Missouri driver’s license. He joined several Facebook groups that catered to the ownership and care of reptiles, where he would frequently post ads of specific animals for sale, the affidavit states.
A Facebook ad shows lizards for sale by Julio Rodriguez, who investigators say is Jose Manuel Perez.
A Facebook ad shows lizards for sale by Julio Rodriguez, who investigators say is Jose Manuel Perez.
(Courtesy of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services search warrant affidavit)
Some would go for thousands of dollars, including a helmeted iguana endemic to Mexico and Central America that was posted for $2,500.
To make the trade appear legitimate, Perez would use a specialty company to make labels to ship the live animals to buyers through FedEx, investigators said. The company, Reptiles Express, was used for 475 packages from October 2018 to March 2021, according to the affidavit.
Records show Perez has crossed at San Ysidro 36 times in the past year, with many of those trips corresponding to social media posts indicating new wildlife for sale, the affidavit says.
Investigators said Perez continued to run his wildlife trafficking business even while he was behind bars during various periods from 2016 and 2019 on Ventura County charges of robbery, unlawful possession of ammunition and participation in a street gang, as well as a DUI.
Earlier this month, Perez and two others tried to drive into Tijuana from San Diego but were prohibited entry by Mexican officials upon learning the group was also bringing 15 turtles, 12 snakes and eight chameleons south of the border, the affidavit states. They were forced to turn around and were questioned by U.S. officials at San Ysidro.
Perez claimed the animals were his; they were returned to him and he was allowed back into the U.S.