Oxnard man smuggled baby crocodiles, among 1,700 reptiles, gets 5 years

An Oxnard man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for smuggling at least 1,700 reptiles worth more than $739,000 into the U.S. over six years, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday. The animals, including baby crocodiles and Yucatán box turtles, were bought and sold over social media and came from Mexico, Hong Kong and elsewhere, an investigation led by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service revealed. From January 2016 to February 2022, Perez and co-conspirators brought in wild animals without the permits required by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna…