Investigation Exposes Global Monkey Torture Ring

A laboratory monkey sitting in its cage in a breeding center in Southeast Asia on May 23, 2020. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images

A 12-month investigation by the BBC’s World Service has reportedly exposed a global monkey torture ring stretching from Indonesia to the United States.

The BBC found that customers across the UK, USA, Australia, and other countries were paying individuals in Indonesia sometimes thousands of dollars to torture and kill baby long-tailed macaques on camera including via amputations, decapitations, and drownings.

Some of the monkeys had developed physical tics from the stress inflicted upon them in the videos, many of which were shared widely across social media, according to the BBC. Many of the monkeys later died from their injuries.

The torture ring reportedly began on YouTube, before moving to private groups on the encrypted messaging app Telegram, according to the BBC, with at least one of the groups, known as the “Ape’s Cage,” containing nearly 400 members.

The outlet was able to track down some of the animal torturers and informed local police who later conducted sting operations and arrested the individuals, although some were later released.

At least 20 people are now under investigation across the globe as a result of the probe, including three women living in the UK who were arrested by police last year and released under investigation, according to the BBC.

Another individual, 48-year-old David Christopher Noble of Oregon, was indicted last week for his role in the alleged global ring, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

Prosecutors said in a June 13 statement that Noble—a former United States Air Force Officer who was dismissed from the Air Force and ordered to serve six months in military custody following a court martial for fraud and an unprofessional relationship—was charged with conspiring to engage in animal crushing and creating and distributing animal crush videos, creating animal crush videos, and illegally possessing a firearm as a dishonorably discharged person.

A laboratory monkey interacts with employees in the breeding centre for cynomolgus macaques (longtail macaques) at the National Primate Research Center of Thailand at Chulalongkorn University in Saraburi, on May 23, 2020. Mladen Antonov/AFP via Getty Images

US Nationals Allegedly Involved

From around January 2022 to February 2023, Noble allegedly knowingly conspired with others to “view, encourage, and fund” animal crush videos as part of an online group using an encrypted chat application, prosecutors said.

“As a group administrator, Noble paid for the creation of and celebrated videos depicting the torture, sexually-sadistic mutilation, and murder of adult and juvenile monkeys,” prosecutors said. “Noble further managed the group’s membership and repeatedly changed the group’s name to evade detection by law enforcement.”

Creating animal crush videos is punishable by up to seven years behind bars and three years supervised release. Nobles’s charge for the illegal possession of a firearm as a dishonorably discharged person is punishable by up to 15 years in federal prison and three years supervised release.

It is not clear if Noble has legal representation.

Three other people suspected of involvement in the ring are U.S. nationals Mike McCartney, known online as “The Torture King,” Stacey Storey, a 46-year-old grandmother who worked at a gas station and lived with her son in rural Alabama and was known online as “Sadistic,” and a Florida man known online as “Mr. Ape,” who the BBC did not name.

In an interview with the BBC, “Mr. Ape” reportedly said he had been responsible for the deaths of at least four monkeys and the torture of many more.

He also reportedly confessed to commissioning “extremely brutal” monkey torture videos with Storey.

None of the three individuals identified have been charged in the case, however Special Agent Paul Wolpert, who is leading the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s investigation into the case, told the BBC that anybody involved in buying or distributing the monkey torture videos should “expect a knock on the door at some point.”

Macaques eat donated peanuts during a feeding time at Sangeh Monkey Forest in Sangeh, Bali Island, Indonesia, on Sept. 1, 2021. Firdia Lisnawati/AP Photo

Social Media Sites Take Down Videos

In a statement to the BBC, YouTube said that animal abuse would not be tolerated on the platform and that it was “working hard to quickly remove violative content.”

“Just this year alone, we’ve removed hundreds of thousands of videos and terminated thousands of channels for violating our violent and graphic policies,” the statement said.

Telegram said it was “committed to protecting user privacy and human rights such as freedom of speech,” adding its moderators “cannot proactively patrol private groups.”

Meta, formerly Facebook, told the outlet that it had taken down the groups involved in the distribution of the monkey torture videos.

“We don’t allow the promotion of animal abuse on our platforms and we remove this content when we become aware of it, like we did in this case,” a spokesperson said.

Animal advocacy group Lady Freethinker, which worked with the BBC on the year-long investigation, also praised the report and subsequent arrests in a June 16 press release.

“I applaud law enforcement for taking action to stop the horrific torture inflicted on innocent monkeys for profit,” Nina Jackel, founder of Lady Freethinker, said. “These videos, sold privately and also persistently shared on YouTube and other platforms, depict what is easily the worst animal cruelty I have seen in my years working for animal protection. The helpless baby macaques who suffered and died for these videos deserve justice.'’

An international investigation into the torture ring remains ongoing.