Hip Hop Star Mally Mall's Encino Home Raided In Trafficking Case

ENCINO, CA — "Love and Hip Hop" star Mally Mall was reportedly arrested Wednesday after officials raided his home in a two-pronged investigation into human trafficking and the illegal trafficking of exotic animals.

Police and wildlife officials found an African serval -- a large cat resembling a spotted leopard -- inside the home. According to TMZ, a Tamarin monkey was also seized. Mall would be the second hip hop artist in the valley to face charges for illegally keeping a pet monkey. Chris Brown was arrested on the same charge last year. Mall was home during the raid, and video from the scene shows him slowly walking outside with his hands up as about a dozen officer train their weapons on him.

The warrant was served early Wednesday morning in the 4000 block of Grimes Place by personnel from the Los Angeles Police Department's Robbery-Homicide Division and the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, according to the LAPD. As of 2 p.m., the LAPD could not confirm reports that Mall was arrested following the raid.

Michele Budish, a warden with state Fish and Wildlife, told reporters celebrities who obtain such exotic animals exacerbate problems of trafficking when they post photos of them on social media. Mally Mall posted a photo of himself with what appears to be a serval on Instagram about two months ago, and his page also includes at least one photo with a monkey. He was also photographed with a monkey he brought to Ace of Diamonds strip club in 2016, according to TMZ.

"When people openly display these animals on their social media accounts, it creates a market for them, and as you can already assume, if the demand goes up the price for these animals go up," Budish said. "And these animals are taken from the wild and from their native habitat and they're trafficked. Again, we really need the public's help. Wildlife trafficking will not be tolerated in this state."

According to Mall's website, he has worked with artists such as Tyga, Drake, Justin Bieber, Future, Sean Kingston, and Snoop Dogg. Mall reportedly gifted a monkey and an ocelot to Bieber.

Brown, who has worked with Mall, was charged with a pair of misdemeanors late last year for allegedly possessing a capuchin monkey with a permit. Brown allegedly posted a photo online of his daughter holding the monkey, possibly prompting the state investigation.

LAPD officials confirmed they were conducting a search at Mall's home in relation to a human-trafficking investigation, but details were not released.

In 2014, federal agents raided Mall's home and office in Las Vegas in connection with a human-trafficking probe, but authorities at the time also declined to release details, saying the warrants were filed under seal.

City News Service and Patch Staffer contributed to this report.