It was June 2011, Carlos Magno Abreu, environmental analyst at IBAMA (Brazilian Federal Environment Institute), better known as “Batata”, entered Zoonit, in Rio de Janeiro, in the operation of IBAMA supported by Federal Police to close that center of mistreatment and trafficking of animals.

He stopped in front of the enclosure of the most famous guest of the Zoo, chimpanzee Jimmy, who looked curiously at him from his cage. He thought to himself “this is not right.” Their eyes met and there was a connection; he mentally apologized to Jimmy for the absurdity of having to live in that prison and assured him that he would put behind bars those who have done this to him. According to Magno, Jimmy, indirectly, may be the primarily responsible for Boitatá Operation.

Another responsible for the thorough job that was beginning at that time was Peter Singer, the Australian philosopher, founder of GAP Project and author of the book “Animal Liberation”. The book prompted him to fight for two years to expose human traffickers, who, hiden in zoos and breeding of animals, who destroyed millions of innocent lives of native and exotic wildlife.

In 2005, as usual, Environmental Police or the Fire Department led an animal who was captured to Zoonit. That day, that year, a very rare snake, pure white, was delivered there. On November 12, 2006, in an amateur video on YouTube, with 130,000 views, Boa constrictor leucistica was shown.

In 2011, when operations in Zoonit took place, a veterinarian said the white snake apparently no longer existed, as the Administrator of the Zoo told the firefighters that the snake was taken to his home and that a few days after he had died and was buried without autopsy. During nine months that genetic gem, for herpetologists, lived at th trafficking center, became famous at TV programmes and one day disappeared.

Magno’s curiosity is endless and his mental commitment to Jimmy made him diving for two years in an investigation that led to all sorts of places and situations, and he became an “expert” in cyber research.

Leucism – he says – is a bit different from albinism, though it is also a recessive genetic mutation that causes a generally dark animal bearing a lighter or even white color; in leucism, pigment loss is partial. Unlike albinism – he explains – leucism does not affect vision directly, because the animals still have pigment in their eyes, which can be of different colors.

According to Magno’s book, “The Story of Operation Boitatá”, there are more than one million people in the US who have snakes as pets and twelve thousand commercial breeding, which handle more than 100 million dollars a year. In 2008 alone, more than 30,000 snakes were imported legally in the United States.

However, for a creator and seller of wild animals as Jeremy Stone, who owns the company Jeremy Stone Reptiles, this case would not go unnoticed and that genetic rarity should be his. But for this, Princess Diamond – as he called the snake – would have to be bought at any price!

The Diamond Princess was in fact a male, and in his book Magno ended up calling her “Nascimento”, as a famous character of Brazilian movie “Tropa de Elite” (Elite Squad). However, due to the recessive character in his genetics, he could generate several  grandchildren with the same genetic rarity. This would turn into a huge source of money, for the collectors of rare snakes in the world.

Magno’s work culminated on September, 5, 2013, when, in a joint and simultaneous action of search and apprehension in Brazil and United States, new evidence was collected at Stone company and at the home of the administrators of Zoonit and Zoo administrators ended arrested. Jeremy Stone, according to Magno, hid “Nascimento” somewhere and notified the North American authorities he had died, but without showing evidence of the fact.

An order of international capture by Interpol was issued against Jeremy Stone, in case he is caught in a country that has an extradition treaty with Brazil.

Magno’s book is fascinating, since it shows, step by step, all his work on the Internet to gather evidence that led IBAMA to detonate Operation Boitatá.

Dr. Pedro A. Ynterian

President, GAP Project International

More info:

Open letter to Mr. Jeremy Stone: on confirmed crimes and fictional theories