Sarmad Ghaled Dafar, a Houston resident, has been sentenced in federal court to four months of detention and 180 days of home confinement for trafficking six protected baby Mexican Spider Monkeys. In addition, Dafar must pay $23,501.70 in restitution to cover the quarantine costs of three monkeys at the San Diego Zoo.
According to the plea agreement, Dafar organized the purchase and smuggling of the monkeys into the U.S. and arranged their sale on three occasions between June 2022 and August 2023.
The smuggling attempt was uncovered on August 14, 2023, when a co-conspirator was intercepted at the Calexico West Port of Entry by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Analysis of the co-conspirator's phone linked the smuggled monkeys to Dafar. Further evidence showed that Dafar had previously smuggled at least three other monkeys from Mexico in June 2022 and July 2023. The whereabouts of these monkeys remain unknown.
“This crime ripped weeks-old baby monkeys from their mothers, disrupted fragile ecosystems, endangered a vulnerable species, and posed significant public health risks,” stated U.S. Attorney Adam Gordon. “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.”
Dafar has been ordered to surrender to authorities by May 29, 2025.
Baby Mexican spider monkeys rely on nursing for their first year and remain dependent until they reach two years old, commonly staying close to their mothers until around age four.
Messages on Dafar’s Facebook indicated he intentionally sought out baby monkeys for easier smuggling. On August 6, 2023, after a Facebook user sent him an article about a spider monkey smuggling attempt, Dafar responded, "I see it. He stupid brin[g] to[o] many of[] them and all adults they make a lot noise and they active. Baby’s most be sleeping and small to hide."
Photos sent by Dafar via Facebook depict the young age of the monkeys. In June 2022, Dafar messaged a customer, J.W.M., about an incoming baby monkey and offered a below-market price of $8,000. In August 2023, he sent photos of two baby monkeys in diapers to the same customer.
The June 2022 photo of a baby monkey under a heat lamp suggested Dafar knew or should have known the monkeys were prematurely separated from their mothers.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife agents testified that poachers must often incapacitate or kill a mother and her troop to capture baby Mexican spider monkeys. Genetic tests conducted on the three monkeys interdicted in 2023 revealed they each had different mothers.
The three monkeys smuggled in 2022 and 2023 weren't quarantined as required, posing a potential public health threat from zoonotic diseases. The three intercepted monkeys in 2023 were later placed at the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums Wildlife Confiscations Network.
For the August 2023 interdiction, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, responsible for the quarantine and care of the monkeys at the San Diego Zoo, ensured proper placement.
The Brookfield Zoo now hosts a troop including the three seized monkeys and others from a separate smuggling incident.
Prosecutors for the case were Sabrina L. Fève and Robert J. Miller.
Dafar, aged 33, faced charges under Title 18, U.S.C., Section 371, with a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service led the investigation.
