Illegal Wildlife Trade Linked to Drugs, Arms, and Human Trafficking
Criminals worldwide are increasingly intertwining the trade of illegal animal parts with the trafficking of arms, humans, and more. They are even resorting to exchanging wildlife for drugs, shedding light on the dark underbelly of organized crime.
In a recent incident in 2021, investigators in South Africa received a tip about a Vietnamese organized crime ring operating from a local farm. Upon raiding the property, they uncovered over 800 pounds of lion "cake" – a traditional medicine product made by boiling lion bones to extract gelatin from joints. Shockingly, they also found 13 gallons of opium that the suspects had been adding to their lion cake.
The illegal wildlife trade industry is a multibillion-dollar enterprise run by organized criminal gangs with operations spanning continents. Recent research published in the Journal of Economic Criminology has confirmed that these criminal gangs are often involved in a plethora of criminal activities, including trafficking drugs, arms, people, stolen vehicles, mined resources, counterfeit goods, and even human body parts.
According to study lead author Michelle Anagnostou, a researcher at the University of Oxford, criminal networks are becoming more adaptable and interconnected, transcending specific commodities. This necessitates a comprehensive approach to combatting trafficking activities as a whole, shifting the focus away from the specific commodity being trafficked.
The study, which involved 112 interviews with sources in South Africa, Hong Kong, and Canada directly involved in crime-related fields, revealed a myriad of criminal overlaps. Cartels specializing in drugs, gold, diamonds, or human trafficking often incorporated wildlife goods like rhino horn, rare succulents, or bear gallbladders into their operations. Conversely, wildlife specialists expanded into drugs, stolen goods, or sex trafficking. The exchange of wildlife for drugs, such as abalone for methamphetamine or sturgeon for heroin, was also reported.
These criminal interconnections underscore the inadequacy of countering each type of organized crime separately. Anagnostou emphasizes the need for sharing intelligence, data, joint task forces, international cooperation, and coordinated legal strategies to combat this multifaceted criminal network effectively.
Mary Rice, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency, stresses the importance of acknowledging that wildlife crime frequently converges with other forms of organized crime. The findings of this study could pave the way for broader acceptance and recognition of this connection, propelling efforts to combat these illegal activities.
The intricate web of illegal wildlife trade intertwined with drugs, arms, and human trafficking underscores the urgent need for a unified approach to combat organized crime on a global scale. By addressing the root causes and interconnections of these criminal activities, we can work towards dismantling these networks and protecting our wildlife and communities. The world of technology is constantly evolving, with new advancements and innovations being made every day. From artificial intelligence to virtual reality, there is no shortage of exciting developments to keep an eye on.
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