‘Tiger King’ star Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle was taken to a South Carolina jail by the FBI on Friday night
Antle, 62, was jailed in a North Myrtle Beach detention center around 5:40 p.m., and no charges against him have been listed, according to government records. TMZ reported that the arrest was related to money laundering.
Antle – who was introduced as a rival to Joe Exotic in the hit Netflix docuseries – owns Myrtle Beach Safari.
In recent years, he has been charged with several crimes for trafficking and abusing exotic animals. Activists applauded his latest arrest in a statement to the Post.
“We commend the Department of Justice and the FBI for arresting Bhagavan ‘Doc’ Antle, a longtime villain engaged in the blatant and inhumane trade in dangerous big cats,” said Marty Irby, Executive Director of Animal Wellness. Stock.
“Irresponsible breeding, inhumane living conditions, and public exploitation are a serious problem in the United States, and the caging of these wild animals also poses a threat to human health and safety.
A Netflix follow-up documentary series “Tiger King: The Doc Antle Story” alleged that Antle had sex with minors, abused women and defrauded a wildlife charity.
Antle told WBTW-TV in December that all of the allegations were “absolutely false.”