A Bellingcat investigation has recognized 9 Fb teams with a mixed membership of greater than 70,000 individuals, through which coded language has helped unlawful wildlife sellers evade bans on the platform for years. Fb says it prohibits any type of animal buying and selling on its platform.
Investigating the operators behind all 9 teams, Bellingcat recognized six Fb profiles that led again to a single dealer in Jakarta, Indonesia. This investigation was carried out in partnership with Mongabay. You’ll be able to learn their report right here.
In an open Fb group, openly titled “West Bogor Animal Promoting and Buying and selling Discussion board,” one member posts an advert for a susceptible rhinoceros hornbill.
Commenting on the advert, one other member warns: “Simply watch out to not get caught.”
“That’s the danger,” replies the vendor.
Below Indonesian legislation, the seize, commerce, or possession of a rhinoceros hornbill is punishable by as much as 5 years’ imprisonment or a advantageous of as much as Rp100 million (US$6,000). (In response to Statistics Indonesia, the common month-to-month wage in August 2025 was simply over Rp3 million or US$180.)
Meta additionally states that the shopping for and promoting of animals on its platforms is prohibited. Nevertheless, on this group, together with eight others recognized by Bellingcat, animals have been traded in plain sight for years, together with wild and guarded species. Three of the 9 teams have been stay on Fb for a minimum of 5 years. 4 have been lively for 12 months or extra, and the remaining two have been created in 2025.
All 9 teams state of their “About” tab that they’re based mostly in or round Jakarta, the Indonesian capital. As some of the biodiverse nations on the earth, Indonesia is a hotspot for poachers and a key transit hub within the unlawful wildlife commerce.
A fast scan of those teams revealed a wide range of protected species on the market, together with Javan coucals, Javan scops owls, Javan langurs, binturongs, and each wreathed and rhinoceros hornbills.
In some of the lively teams, West Bogor Animal Promoting and Buying and selling Discussion board, greater than 200 adverts have been posted in a single week. Of those, 18 marketed susceptible species, together with these two toddler silvery gibbons.
With fewer than 2,500 mature people left within the wild, the silvery gibbon is taken into account endangered. Below Indonesian legislation, buying and selling on this species can lead to as much as 5 years’ imprisonment or a advantageous of as much as Rp 100 million (US$6,000).
Otters have been additionally ceaselessly posted within the group. Standard within the Southeast Asian pet commerce, most otter species are protected as a consequence of declining numbers within the wild. Nevertheless, as a result of lots of the adverts have been for infants, it was not at all times doable to find out which otter species was being bought, and subsequently whether or not it was protected.
“Utilizing Codes So The Group Stays Secure”
Regardless of Fb’s whole ban on animal buying and selling, together with pets, within the group titled: Civet/Pet Shopping for and Promoting within the Higher Jakarta Space, members have been instructed within the “About” tab to “prioritise utilizing codes so the group stays secure from being banned.”
Alphanumeric codes have been used to debate animal costs in eight of the 9 teams recognized by Bellingcat. In response to the Indonesian information outlet Jateng As we speak, the usage of pricing codes, meant to avoid Fb’s automated moderation methods, isn’t unusual amongst animal merchants on the platform.
Such codes use the letters A, B, and C to indicate completely different Indonesian rupiah denominations. A stands for a Rp100,000 notice (about US$6), whereas B represents a Rp50,000 notice (about US$3). An accompanying quantity specifies the amount, so A3 signifies three Rp100,000 notes.
Within the publish beneath, one member asks, “A2 dapet apa?” – “What does A2 (Rp 200,000; US$12) get you?”
The publish acquired 69 replies, with members providing the whole lot from otters to owls, civets and geckos.
The time period “Wc” – a standard shorthand in animal buying and selling teams for “wild-caught” – was additionally ceaselessly used throughout all 9 teams. Below Indonesian legislation, even when a species isn’t listed as susceptible or protected, capturing and promoting wild animals and not using a allow is illegitimate.
Requested whether or not its moderation methods might detect value codes (as textual content or embedded in photos) or key phrases akin to WC (when discovered subsequent to pictures of animals), Meta responded:
“Unhealthy actors continually evolve their techniques to keep away from enforcement, which is why we accomplice with teams just like the World Wildlife Fund and spend money on instruments and know-how to detect and take away violating content material.”
The Operators
Whereas investigating the operators behind all 9 teams, Bellingcat recognized six Fb profiles that led again to 1 particular person dealer based mostly in Jakarta.
By navigating to the “Folks” tab in one of many teams, a listing of admins and moderators seems, together with an account referenced beneath as AB. Regardless of AB’s profile being locked, a search with the time period “wa.” (WhatsApp’s click-to-chat characteristic) returned dozens of animal adverts alongside a telephone quantity.
Utilizing the telephone quantity to seek for AB’s historic posts, six out of the 9 teams underneath investigation have been discovered to have adverts for susceptible species, together with this advert for a binturong.
Listed as susceptible by the Worldwide Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), protecting a binturong, not to mention buying and selling it commercially, is prohibited underneath Indonesian legislation.
AB has additionally marketed this “Celepuk Wc”, a wild-caught scops owl, seen beneath. Though the species itself isn’t protected, promoting a wild-caught owl in Indonesia and not using a allow (that are tightly regulated) violates Indonesian legislation.
By following the telephone quantity shared by AB, 5 extra Fb profiles have been uncovered. The six profiles ceaselessly shared comparable adverts, usually inside days of one another, for a similar species, typically that includes an analogous inside background, and at all times itemizing the identical phone quantity.
Late final yr, one of many accounts referenced beneath as W, posted this wreathed hornbill, a protected species in Indonesia.
Of the six profiles, just one, named Azie Soka Smithh has ever posted private information, together with a profile image of a person with a toddler.
Additional investigation into Azie Soka Smithh confirmed their presence on different platforms, together with Telegram and Instagram. Nevertheless, their full authorized title remained unknown. Whereas trying to find visible clues to their location, it grew to become obvious that the overwhelming majority of photos had been tightly cropped, revealing little about their whereabouts – apart from a handful of photos that appeared to have been taken on the similar location: a pet store.
Within the adverts proven beneath, a poster will be seen on the wall behind the cage displaying the store title Station Sato Unique and a telephone quantity. Of all the photographs seemingly taken in the identical store, none featured species protected underneath Indonesian legislation. Nevertheless, the long-tailed macaque proven beneath is thought of endangered in response to IUCN as a consequence of declining numbers within the wild.
A Google seek for the store’s title and quantity returned a Google Maps itemizing for Station Sato Unique. A person named “beni” had left a five-star ranking in addition to a number of dozen pictures and movies of the pet store’s inside, together with one which appeared to indicate a person sitting subsequent to an similar poster as seen within the animal adverts.
In response to beni’s Google account, his full title is Beni Abdul Hamid (translated from Arabic). His bio reads: “We promote numerous sorts of equipment, cages, animal feed, and so forth” (translated from Bahasa Indonesia).
Of the 16 pictures and 25 movies posted by Beni, a number of confirmed a left hand holding animals as much as the digital camera, with a particular mole seen on the wrist. A seemingly similar mole appeared in a number of of the adverts posted by the six Fb accounts sharing the identical telephone quantity. Notably, the mole and wrist weren’t seen holding species protected underneath Indonesian legislation. Nevertheless, the long-tailed macaque proven beneath is thought of endangered in response to IUCN.
Upon visiting Station Sato Unique, our companions at Mongabay confirmed that Google reviewer Beni Abdul Hamid was in truth the proprietor. His son, Jordan Bastian, who was current on the day, informed their reporter he now manages the store on his father’s behalf.
Bastian confirmed that it was his wrist and mole within the adverts and that he had taken the entire pictures contained in the store. Nevertheless, he stated he was not behind any of the six Fb accounts and that they have been almost definitely run by an area dealer. He defined that his enterprise depends on a community of brokers working on Fb and WhatsApp. He sends them pictures of the animals he has on the market, they usually deal with sourcing and organising the whole lot with the customer in trade for a reduce of the earnings.
“I’m a dealer. I’m concerned in advertising the animals, so I present the pictures,” stated Bastian. “I don’t need to know in regards to the purchaser.”
When proven the Fb account for Azie Soka Smithh, Bastian confirmed that the person within the profile image was an area dealer, however one who seldom visited the store.
Station Sato Unique Pet Store additionally has a web based presence on Tokopedia, a serious Indonesian market. The platform’s tips prohibit the sale of endangered species, however usually are not clear relating to the sale of different animals, together with pets.
Of Station Sato Unique’s 71 present listings, the big majority have been miscategorised. Animals are listed as instruments, toys, aquarium decorations and books. They’re additionally miscategorised as different species; for instance, birds and squirrels have been listed as hamsters or reptiles.
One advert contains a susceptible cuckoo species, the Sunda Coucal. Endemic to Java and numbering fewer than 10,000, this fowl has been listed as susceptible since 1994.
Requested whether or not he had bought many animals through Tokopedia, Bastian stated his account had been blocked after he was banned for promoting squirrels. When proven the advert above for the Sunda Coucal, he stated he was stunned to be taught it was categorized as susceptible. Tokopedia didn’t reply to requests for remark relating to an advert for a susceptible species showing on their platform.
On the sale of protected or susceptible species extra broadly, Bastian admitted he had previously, however has since stopped, describing “the danger is massive” and saying he prefers to “play it secure.”
After contacting the native authorities for remark, three officers from the West Java Pure Assets Conservation Company (BBKSDA) made a shock go to to Station Sato Unique, as a result of store having beforehand been reported for promoting protected species. Head of Conservation Stephanus Hanny stated that upon arrival, “We went inside and checked each animal… We didn’t discover any protected species.” He added that even the sale of non-protected wildlife requires a allow, which the store doesn’t at the moment maintain. Nevertheless, because it’s not a prison offence, Hanny stated they may solely difficulty the homeowners with a warning.
Bellingcat additionally contacted the telephone quantity related to Azie Soka Smithh. The particular person replied, confirming they managed all six accounts however denied promoting any animals, together with protected and susceptible species. “I’m only a hobbyist. An animal lover,” they stated.
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On condition that the account had been discovered promoting susceptible and guarded species on the market, the Indonesian Director Normal of Forestry Regulation Enforcement, Dwi Januanto Nugroho, stated authorities would examine. Requested how their workforce of investigators was adapting to the unlawful wildlife commerce rising on-line, Nugroho replied:
“Legal behaviour continues to breed itself in an effort to survive. In actual fact, it might evolve quicker than the legislation enforcement system itself. In response …cyber patrols and desk evaluation through the operations room will proceed to be intensified, whereas we additional optimise assist from volunteer networks, working companions, and public participation.”
After contacting Meta, all six accounts, together with Azie Soka Smithh, and all 9 teams, totalling 70,000 members, have been shut down. Meta confirmed: “We eliminated the Fb teams and profiles in query for violating our Restricted Items and Companies Coverage.”
Merel Zoet and Claire Press contributed to this report.
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