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If you look hard enough you’ll be able to find just about anything for sale on Miami’s black market, apparently, including monkeys.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission announced today that they’ve cracked down on an illegal business that was breeding and selling monkeys, and seized 28 primates from the biz.
The sale, breeding, and ownership of wild animals is highly regulated in Florida, but Jorge Garcia, 55, was running his monkey business off the books. He didn’t have a permit to sell the animals and he was doing business with costumers who didn’t have permits to own wild animals.
The FWC says that the business has been in operation for seven years now.
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“Anyone wishing to possess, exhibit or sell monkeys in Florida must be properly licensed,” the agency said in a statement. “This ensures that the animals are treated humanely and kept in healthy conditions, and that all humans interacting with the animals remain safe.”
After a two-month investigation the business was shut down. The 28 remaining monkeys were seized along with a few other unspecified animals. The monkeys were of several species.
Garcia now faces charges of charges of possession of wildlife without a permit, sales of wildlife without a permit, and improper caging amongst others.
However, Garcia is not believed to have ever left a monkey at an Ikea.
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