Man sentenced for smuggling baby spider monkeys into US

Yahoo

22-04-2025

HOUSTON (WJW) – A Texas man was sentenced to prison for smuggling six baby Mexican spider monkeys into the United States, prosecutors announced on Monday.
Sarmad Ghaled Dafar, 33, of Houston, was sentenced in federal court to four months in custody and 180 days on house arrest for trafficking the protected animals, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of California.
Court documents said Dafar coordinated buying and smuggling the monkeys across the border to try to sell them in the U.S.
The investigation started in August 2023, when officials with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service stopped three baby spider monkeys from being smuggled into the U.S. by an accomplice at the Calexico West Port of Entry.
Investigators search the accomplice's phone and discovered that the monkeys, only weeks-old, were being smuggled for Dafar, the attorney's office said.
According to court documents, evidence in the case also revealed that Dafar arranged for three other baby monkeys to be smuggled from Mexico in June 2022 and July 2023. Investigators said it's unclear what happened to those monkeys.
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Investigators also found Facebook messages that Dafar sent to a potential buyer in 2022, reading, 'I have monkey coming in 2 week baby monkey…Is a spider monkey… [I'll] let you know when it is here because they gonna send it to me from California.'
In the Facebook messages, Dafar told the potential buyer that spider monkeys normally sell for $15,000, 'but I ask 8k,' according to the attorney's office. He also attached a photo of a baby monkey in a cage under a heat lamp, court documents said.
The three rescued monkeys were taken to the San Diego Zoo, where they needed to be quarantined to prevent the spread of potential diseases like Ebola and Mpox, investigators said.
Zoo officials learned that those monkeys all came from different mothers.
Dafar was also ordered to pay more than $23,000 in restitution to cover the cost of quarantining and caring for the animals.
'This crime ripped weeks-old baby monkeys from their mothers, disrupted fragile ecosystems, endangered a vulnerable species and posed significant public health risks,' U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon said. 'This is not merely an economic crime; it is a severe and lasting injury to both wildlife and public safety. Border security is not just about interdicting drugs and preventing illegal entries. It also involves protecting the public from dangerous diseases. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service contributes to securing our borders and keeping the public safe.'
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The three monkeys, later named Chrissy, Jack and Janet, now live with other rescued primates at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago.
Brookfield Zoo officials spoke out about the rescue in February, stating that, 'these endangered primates were separated from their mothers—who were likely killed during their capture—and arrived at rescue facilities malnourished and traumatized.'
Zoo officials went on say the spider monkeys are recovering remarkably and guests will be able to meet them this summer.
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