TRAFFIC Says Malaysian Raid Proves Organized Crime Link

From the Malaysian Insider...

A police raid that uncovered 42 stolen vehicles and a mini-zoo of exotic animals in Taman Wahyu here yesterday is proof that wildlife trafficking is linked to organised crime, said wildlife trade monitoring group TRAFFIC.

Police said the vehicles were stolen from impound yards and were worth nearly RM1 million while at least two Birds of Paradise found in the warehouse in Taman Wahyu were said to be worth RM1 million each on the black market.

UN Refuses to Re-open Ivory Trade

Zambia and Tanzania proposed re-opening the trade, but the UN said no.

$10 Million Euros in Smuggled Wildlife Seized

From the AFP...

Police seized tiger bones, anteater scales and bear gall bladders in an international operation against the use of endangered plants and animals in traditional medicine, officers said Friday.

Illegal animal and plant products with a retail value of 10 million euros (13.6 million dollars) were seized in a month-long drive carried out by forces around the world, the global law enforcement agency Interpol said.

"National wildlife enforcement authorities, police, customs and specialised units from 18 countries across all five continents worked together as part of Operation Tram which ran from 1 to 28 February," Interpol said.

Operation Tram "revealed a large amount of medicines either containing or marketing the use of illegal ingredients such as tiger, bear and rhinoceros," according to the French-based international coordinating body.

Zambia Calls for Tougher Wildlife Crime Enforcement

Wildlife crime such as poaching and live animal smuggling is becoming increasingly sophisticated. This because it is being run by organized crime networks with professional and ruthless criminals. It's not just some guy with a gun and snare.

Zambia's Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources is calling for a greater cooperation between her country's agencies in dealing with this serious issue. The worst areas of wildlife crime appear to be in rhino and elephant poaching. Obviously, this is due to one word....ivory.

Trafficking Should be Crime Story, Not Wildlife Story

Interesting. This piece is in the Huffington Post, and it's by Bryan Christy, author of The Lizard King. He says inflated wildlife smuggling numbers are hurting the fight against the crime. I myself had no idea that the numbers were inflated.

He makes a lot of sense.

In other words, puffing wildlife smuggling to sell stories hurts efforts to fight crime.

Recall any wildlife smuggling story you've ever read or watched in the past 20 years. Now, substitute the word "cocaine" for whatever wildlife is featured in the story. Chances are you'll see a bizarre overemphasis on cocaine and how it grows and who sells it on street corners and little attention on major traffickers, their national and transnational syndicates, and the government regulators and prosecutors who failed to stop the trafficking. You will see no names beyond the lowest level traffickers. You would demand more in a narcotics trafficking story, and you would hope for more in a child trafficking story, but you won't see more in a wildlife crime story because too often wildlife crime stories are little more than eco-tourism pieces with sad endings.

In the past few years, the U.S. Justice Department's lead environmental crimes prosecutors have been making the pitch both here and abroad that investigators, prosecutors, and judges should pursue wildlife criminals as traditional criminals, charging them with smuggling, money laundering, etc. Reporting on wildlife crime likewise should treat the matter as a crime story not a wildlife story. More time should be spent on paper and money trails, less on jungle adventures. Choices count. With paltry government resources allocated to fighting international wildlife crime, journalists are often nature's best hope against smugglers. Weak reporting kills wildlife.

Crime Gang Dealing in Rhino Horn and Elephant Ivory

This is big, scary business out there, not some struggling poor people trying to survive. Like in arms dealing and drug smuggling, we are talking dangerous and powerful criminals.

And where is the demand coming from? China of course!

But there are some really courageous people out there trying to expose this trade, including the author, a writer for the UK's Daily Mail. He's got a lot more guts than I have.

From the African Conservation Foundation....the story was actually published earlier in August, but still worth posting

A shocking undercover journey reveals that a poaching cartel known as ‘The Crocodile Gang’, led by Zimbabwe’s Emmerson Mnangagwa, is slaughtering rhinos and elephants to fulfill ‘requests’ for horn and ivory.

Dubbed the Crocodile Gang, this cartel - whose existence can be revealed by the Mail today - is behind the ‘industrial-scale slaughter’ of black rhinos, prompting warnings that the species will be hunted to extinction in the region within two years.

And the “godfather” of the poaching cartel is said to be Emmerson Mnangagwa - known by locals now as “The Crocodile.” Also referred to as “The Butcher of Matabeleland”, he is the architect of Zimbabwe’s terrifying state security apparatus, creator of Zimbabwe’s Central Intelligence Office (CIO) - and rumored to be next in line for president after Mugabe.

Sharp Increase in Rhino Poaching

It's the highest rate in 15 years, with an increasing market in Asian traditional medicines. Organized crime is also heavily involved in trafficking of rhino products and other endangered species'.

This statement in the USA Today article says it all...

"Rhino poaching is no longer used as a means of survival and sustenance,” says Susie Ellis of the International Rhino Foundation, in a statement.