A jaguar cub was trafficked in California between drug dealers and an OnlyFans model sold it for tens of thousands

An adorable jaguar cub was passed astir betwixt cause dealers and an OnlyFans exemplary for the archetypal fewer months of its beingness earlier it yet reached its 'forever home.'

Tens of thousands of dollars were exchanged betwixt aggregate dealers to person the privilege of owning the exotic cat, but erstwhile they recovered the carnal to beryllium overmuch of a hassle, they routinely recovered ways to get escaped of it.

Six months aft it was born, the jaguar cub was recovered abandoned astatine a San Diego carnal sanctuary. It was malnourished, had patches of its fur missing and was covered successful feces.

Trisha Meyer, a pistillate who went by 'Texas Zookeeper,' was the archetypal to person possession of the jaguar cub, whom she called Amador.

Meyer, 42, would merchantability Amador successful April 2021 to Abdul 'Mannie' Rahman, a marijuana trader from California. And conscionable implicit a twelvemonth later, they were some indicted by national prosecutors with the Central District of California for wildlife trafficking.

Before Meyer got busted for this, she had a pursuing connected Instagram; her relationship was called 'Mimiseroticworld.'

Her relationship has since been toned down - featuring acold little scantily clad posts - and was renamed to mimisexoticworld.

In her heyday, Meyer made wealth done an OnlyFans leafage and done selling exotic animals from her location successful Texas, a authorities that has notoriously wide laws connected the types of pets radical tin own.

Meyer posted pictures of macaws, monkeys, tigers and foxes. 

Amador appeared connected Meyer's Instagram erstwhile helium was conscionable 14 days old, and she was holding him successful the thenar of her manus portion squeezing him to her cheek, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In 1 2021 video, arsenic the cub licked astatine the bare aerial portion lying connected Meyer's lap.

'thankful to beryllium his momma #catmom,' Meyer wrote astir the cub.

Meyer adjacent posed with Amador connected her OnlyFans page, placing him successful betwixt her exposed breasts.

It's unclear however Amador ended up successful Meyer's possession, though she has a agelong past of acquiring antithetic animals.

When Amador was little than a period old, Meyer decided she would rent him retired to high-paying customers alternatively of conscionable selling him consecutive away.

People came to a Austin edifice country and paid $1,000 an hr conscionable to person the pictures taken with Amador and cuddle with him.

Rahman was 1 of the radical who ventured into this strange, yet lucrative hustle for Meyer. 

As the cub wandered astir connected the edifice carpet, Rahman decided helium wanted to bargain it.

He paid a discounted complaint of $25,000 and different $1,000 to person it transported from Texas to California, which is against the law.

'All I knew was the jaguar was cute, and I had the money, and I wanted it,' Rahman, 36, told the LA Times.

Meyer's concern of selling animals persisted agelong earlier she ever got her hands connected Amador. 

She was erstwhile accused of accepting wealth for a giraffe - which was valued astatine $30,000 to $150,000 - but ne'er really handing implicit the long-necked mammal, KBTX reported successful November 2022.

This becomes a signifier with Meyer. A California nonmigratory who bought a Savannah kitten from her filed a transgression ailment successful 2016 alleging helium had ne'er received it.

Authorities would drawback up with Meyer successful November 2016 successful Nevada. They arrested her connected a felony warrant retired of Texas, but not earlier noticing 3 tigers escaped successful the backyard of the location she was staying at, LA Times reported.

Meyer was besides charged with kid endangerment, since a crippled warden discovered her 14-year-old girl petting 3 tiger cubs successful the backyard of her Houston home.

As a information of her bond, she could nary longer person oregon merchantability exotic animals. 

She'd aboriginal plead blameworthy successful 2017 to a theft charged connected to the Savannah kitten merchantability that she ne'er delivered on, receiving 2 years of probation.

She paid restitution and the kid endangerment complaint was dismissed, according to the Harris County territory attorney's office.

'My kid was ne'er successful danger, nary of my 4 children person ever been successful danger,' Meyer told a newsman aft her blameworthy plea. 'Nobody's been wounded by our animals.'

Meyer called her kids 'young zookeepers.' 

She besides said teachers astatine her kids' schools started referring to Meyer arsenic the 'tiger mom.'

'She's going to comply with the instrumentality to a T,' her attorney, Penny Wymyczak-White, said.

This proved to beryllium an elusive task for the 'tiger mom' who rapidly racked up much transgression complaints against her.

In 2019, 1 lawsuit alleged Meyer sold her a diseased Savannah kitten for $4,500. The feline would aboriginal die, and emaciation was the contributing factor, according to a necropsy.

As portion of the aforesaid Texas transgression complaint, a Las Vegas-based purchaser told investigators Meyer sold them 5 Savannah kittens for much than $16,000.

After 1 of them was infected with a deadly disease, each of them had to beryllium euthanized.

A 2nd transgression ailment alleged that a Nevada nonmigratory agreed to bargain a Bengal kitten from Meyer for $6,500. The animal, hissing and thrashing successful a bag, jumped retired and attacked her.

She told constabulary the feline drew blood. Later, she recovered retired that Meyer sold her a Geoffroy's feline - a chaotic taxon - and not a Bengal, which is exotic-looking but domesticated.

According to the complaint, Meyer initially agreed to instrumentality the feline backmost but blocked the purchaser connected societal media, changed her telephone fig and ne'er gave her a refund.

On April 17, 2021, close arsenic each of these cases were moving their mode done the Harris County tribunal system, Meyer took Amador, the jaguar cub to the Hyatt Regency edifice room.

It was the precise aforesaid 1 wherever Amador illegally went location with Rahman, his new, short-lived owner.

When helium arrived successful Southern California, Amador was renamed Hades.

'I'm an carnal person. I emotion animals, particularly chaotic ones,' Rahman told the LA Times. 'When I'm getting offered to bargain a chaotic animal, and it's truthful cute erstwhile you spot it, erstwhile it's small, who the f— is gonna accidental no? No 1 will.'

Rahman kept the increasing jaguar successful his 5 chamber location successful Murrieta, astir an 80 mile thrust from downtown Los Angeles.

Investigators said Meyer texted Rahman aft photos of Hades were posted online, telling him to 'get a grip connected that.'

'If I got connection of it here. That means others are seeing that & volition snitch and they volition beryllium trying to way him down,' according to a California transgression complaint.

Meyer was allowed to ain a jaguar successful Texas, but she wasn't allowed to transport it beyond authorities lines. It was besides amerciable for Rahman to ain the jaguar successful California.

Eventually Rahman realized that caring for Hades was excessively difficult, according to national food and wildlife investigators, and sold him for $20,000.

The idiosyncratic who bought it from Rahman lived successful a location with 'a large woman oregon girlfriend,' according to the October 2022 indictment against Meyer and Rahman.

That's erstwhile the cub started showing up again successful Instagram videos. Apparently the location was successful Riverside County.

This caught the attraction of Bobbi Brink, the laminitis and manager of the Lions Tigers & Bears Sanctuary successful San Diego County.

Brink notified Austin Smith, a warden with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

'All we knew astatine that constituent was that determination was a jaguar successful Riverside,' Smith told the LA Times.

The indictment claims that the idiosyncratic who bought the jaguar from Rahman yet decided it would beryllium champion to instrumentality it to a rescue halfway aft someone 'expressed concerns astir having a juvenile jaguar and a newborn babe successful the aforesaid house.'

The idiosyncratic who expressed this interest - identified successful tribunal documents by initials 'R.A.' - teamed up with his roommate to get escaped of the jaguar. They enactment it successful a ample canine kennel and drove it to an carnal rescue halfway successful Alpine, California, connected September 17, 2021, according to the indictment.

It was Brink's rescue center. Surveillance cameras captured a antheral driving up to the beforehand gross astatine astir 10 p.m. successful a Mitsubishi Outlander earlier abandoning the canine kennel.

Brink remembered uncovering the jaguar the adjacent day. It was shaking and urinating successful fear, she said.

They named the cub aft the operation idiosyncratic who archetypal recovered it: Eddie.

Once the jaguar was yet safe, it was clip to displacement absorption to who was down this large feline trafficking scheme.

Ed Newcomer, a peculiar cause for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for implicit 20 years, led the probe alongside Smith. 

It was Newcomer's past lawsuit earlier helium retired.

He said helium seldom busted radical for selling jaguars and different akin animals. He did archer the LA Times astir a location helium raided filled with containers that had snakes jammed wrong them. They ne'er saw the sun.

'When you apprehension these people, and they extremity up successful beforehand of a judge, they archer the judge, "I’m an carnal lover. I conscionable got a small carried away." And thing pisses maine disconnected more. They are not carnal lovers,' Newcomer said. 

'They are either successful it for the wealth oregon they’re successful it for the obsession of collecting and owning and having and controlling.'

Newcomer was capable to dredge up 2 different individuals that whitethorn person owned the jaguar cub anterior to it being abandoned astatine the Lions Tigers & Bears Sanctuary.

Videos helium came crossed showed a antheral - identified successful tribunal records arsenic A.G. - lodging the jaguar astatine his residence connected Lakepointe Drive successful Riverside. Another video showed an influencer identified arsenic O.B. posing with the jaguar and an costly car successful the background.

Mathias Tobler, manager of colonisation sustainability astatine the San Diego Zoo Wildlife Alliance, helped Newcomer corroborate that these videos successful information were of Eddie, and not immoderate different jaguar.

'It’s beauteous horrific to spot that and to cognize that that happens,' Tobler said. 'People treating him similar a small favored feline and passing him astir for entertainment.'

A.G. denied knowing thing astir the jaguar, contempt owning the location connected Lakepointe Drive. 

Eventually, investigators discovered a antheral named Hector Gomez, who was renting the location from A.G., was the 1 who had possession of the jaguar.

Gomez had apprehension warrants successful Texas and Arizona for allegedly selling drugs to an undercover serviceman and trafficking marijuana via bid betwixt California and Texas.

Gomez was arrested successful March 2022, and a witnesser interviewed by Newcomer and Smith told them Gomez had been readying to termination the jaguar earlier it got excessively big.

O.B. yet told Newcomer astir the pistillate who sold Rahman the cub. She was described arsenic a blond pistillate who wore a batch of makeup.

Newcomer took that statement to a Texas national cause who was instantly capable to marque the identification.

‘Instantly helium said, "That’s Trish Meyer, we person been aft her for years. She is notorious,"' Newcomer said. 'That’s the archetypal clip I heard Trish Meyer’s name.'

A national expansive assemblage returned a four-count indictment against Meyer successful October 2022. She was a fugitive from the instrumentality for much than a period earlier she turned herself in.

Among the charges she faced were interstate proscription of an endangered taxon successful the people of commercialized activity, interstate merchantability of an endangered species, trafficking prohibited wildlife species, and trafficking endangered species.

Rahman was charged with each the aforesaid crimes but the interstate merchantability charge.

He was sentenced successful July 2023 to a twelvemonth of probation and was ordered by the tribunal to wage $30,000 successful restitution to Brink's sanctuary.

Meyer pleaded blameworthy successful June 2023 to trafficking endangered taxon and is scheduled to beryllium sentenced adjacent month. 

She could spell to situation for 5 years.

Despite the perchance life-altering consequences she faces, Meyer is inactive rather progressive connected Instagram. 

She inactive often takes pictures with her exotic animals, including a lemur, a achromatic tiger and assorted birds and cats.

She adjacent did a full photoshoot to observe her youngest daughter's gestation successful May of this year.

She is, however, rather wide successful her bio that she doesn't merchantability animals anymore.

Nowadays, the jaguar known arsenic Eddie is simply a 118-pound quality that roams astir successful his habitat, which features grass, rocks, climbing platforms and a pool.

Eddie lives adjacent to a erstwhile movie celebrated grizzly carnivore named Rocky and Louie, a lion who was besides utilized successful the amusement industry. 

They are 3 of the much than 60 rescued animals that unrecorded connected the 142-acre property. 

'It’s their everlastingly home,' said John Schorman, a sanctuary keeper. 'It’s a privilege watching each the animals thrive.'