A Bellingcat and @mongabay investigation has identified nine Facebook groups, in which coded language has helped illegal wildlife dealers evade bans on the platform for years. Facebook says it prohibits any form of animal trading on its platform. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwQNZlVO21o
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bellingcat@mstdn.social
@bellingcat@mstdn.social
Posts
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A Bellingcat and @mongabay investigation has identified nine Facebook groups, in which coded language has helped illegal wildlife dealers evade bans on the platform for years. -
How are the leaders of the Kinahan cartel, known for drug trafficking, arms smuggling and violence in Europe, linked to Hezbollah and the Iranian stateHow are the leaders of the Kinahan cartel, known for drug trafficking, arms smuggling and violence in Europe, linked to Hezbollah and the Iranian state?
Find out in short:
https://youtube.com/shorts/xb5ZF9QBrCI?feature=share
Watch the full documentary with Search Party on our YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kj0GLUXWhWo -
Wildlife traffickers selling protected animals on Facebook use coded language to evade moderation.Wildlife traffickers selling protected animals on Facebook use coded language to evade moderation. Research by Bellingcat and @mongabay has identified nine groups, with more than 70,000 members combined, leading back to six profiles and one broker in Indonesia. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03/19/how-wildlife-traffickers-are-using-coded-language-to-sell-protected-animals-on-facebook/?utm_source=mastodon
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De Telegraaf, the Netherlands’ largest newspaper published an interview with a woman claiming to organise her own evacuation flights from Dubai, promoting seats at €1,600.De Telegraaf, the Netherlands’ largest newspaper published an interview with a woman claiming to organise her own evacuation flights from Dubai, promoting seats at €1,600. Bellingcat found that the image in the interview was likely AI-generated, and flight-tracking data suggests no such plane took off.
https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03/12/ai-used-to-promote-non-existent-evacuation-flights-from-the-middle-east/?utm_source=mastodon -
Exclusive: Two of the world's most wanted men, Daniel and Christy Kinahan, were photographed at a Mixed Martial Arts event in Dubai — their most recent sighting since the US issued multi-million dollar bounties.Exclusive: Two of the world's most wanted men, Daniel and Christy Kinahan, were photographed at a Mixed Martial Arts event in Dubai — their most recent sighting since the US issued multi-million dollar bounties. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/03/07/new-footage-shows-wanted-kinahan-cartel-kingpins-post-sanctions/?utm_source=mstdn
Bellingcat found the images of the father and son cartel leaders at the 971 Fighting Championship last June, where they are seen with the event’s founder and former UFC athlete, Mounir “The Sniper” Lazzez. -
Trying to make sense of an aircraft’s movements during a conflict?Trying to make sense of an aircraft’s movements during a conflict? Context is everything. That’s why we built Turnstone, an open source tool that searches historical flight data to allow researchers to explore flight patterns over time and in specific locations. https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2026/03/05/turnstone-flight-tracking-tool/?utm_source=mstdn
For example, flight data before both the June 2025 and February 2026 strikes showed a uniquely large number of American aerial tankers leaving the US and crossing the Atlantic towards Iran. -
How do you monitor live events in real time, know what to look or listen out for and archive before it disappears?How do you monitor live events in real time, know what to look or listen out for and archive before it disappears? OSINT researcher Aram Shabanian joins us tomorrow to break down his favourite public tools for tracking natural disasters and civil emergencies:
https://discord.gg/XDvTb8v8?event=1475541963477487847 -
Exactly four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bellingcat’s Volunteer Community looks back at the data we have collected on civilian harm during this time - documenting attacks on cities and the near-total destruction of rural villages.Exactly four years since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Bellingcat’s Volunteer Community looks back at the data we have collected on civilian harm during this time - documenting attacks on cities and the near-total destruction of rural villages. https://www.bellingcat.com/news/2026/02/24/how-russias-war-has-devastated-civilian-life-in-ukraine/?utm_source=mastodon
In over 2,500 cases of civilian harm that we have verified, more than 1,100 residential structures were hit. The data only represents a snapshot of the extent of civilian harm across Ukraine.