Reptile Smuggler Gets 65 Months

A California smuggler named Jose Manuel Perez just got slapped with a 65-month prison term for trafficking over 1,700 protected reptiles—including turtles, crocs, and lizards—worth nearly $740,000 across the El Paso border. Operating from Mexico and Hong Kong, his crew bypassed permits and used social media to move the cargo, paying “crossing fees” per trip. Now, he’ll serve this sentence concurrently with his existing nine-year firearms sentence—proving that even behind bars, breaking the law means more time behind bars. Support the show:Get a discount at https://solipillow.com/discount/dnn. Advertise on DNN:[email protected] This is an automated, high-level news summary based on public reporting.Report issues to [email protected]. View sources & latest updates:https://sources.thednn.ai/96f3b614f6f0b7c7