The Wildlife Justice Commission is launching a new podcast in the Wildlife Kingpin series. Following on from “Wildlife Kingpin: The Rise and Fall of Ah Nam”, comes “Operation Dragon”. This second series sheds light on the investigation conducted by the Wildlife Justice Commission that brought to justice some of the biggest turtle and tortoise traffickers in Southeast Asia.
The Wildlife Justice Commission is proud to be one of the 301 civil society organizations and experts from 99 countries across the globe signed an open letter urging the states that have ratified the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) to adopt a Resolution at the 10th UNCAC Conference of States Parties (CoSP 10) taking place next month in Atlanta, United States.
This report builds on our first crime convergence report, published in 2021, which analysed a set of 12 case studies, and illustrated the varied ways that wildlife crime can overlap or intersect with other serious and organised crimes.
In a joint intelligence-led operation with the Wildlife Justice Commission, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) Special Wildlife Office and the Enforcement Team has arrested Mr Felix Maiva on 28 September. Mr Maiva was arrested in connection with the January 2021 seizure of illegal wildlife products from Apapa Port, Nigeria, which was bound for Haiphong, Vietnam.
The Wildlife Justice Commission is pleased to announce that is is expanding its global reach by establishing a presence in the United States of America. This expansion aims to further our mission of disrupting and helping to dismantle the transnational criminal networks trading in wildlife, timber, and fish.
As we approach World Rhino Day tomorrow, I would like to highlight the threat to rhinos from transnational organised criminal networks and to recognise the progress that has been made in the fight against rhino horn trafficking over the past few years. While rhinos still face a number of threats, there is hope on the horizon.
Teo Boon Ching, one of the largest wildlife traffickers operating across the world, has been convicted of wildlife trafficking in the United States District Court, Southern District of New York, and sentenced to 18 months of imprisonment.
Today, the BBC has published a special report highlighting the work of the Wildlife Justice Commission in Nigeria and the successes it has achieved in disrupting the trafficking of wildlife from the country, in partnership with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS). The report features an interview with the Wildlife Justice Commission’s Director of Programs Steve Carmody and Van, one of our female undercovers.
On Wednesday 19 July, the trial of three Vietnamese and one Guinean national accused of trafficking 7.1 tonnes of pangolin scales and 850 kgs of ivory concluded in Nigeria with the conviction of the four accused. The judge of the Federal High Court of Nigeria in Lagos sentenced the accused to six years of imprisonment each or payment of fines in lieu of imprisonment.
Last week, in Port Klang, Malaysia, the Wildlife Justice Commission supported the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in an operation targeting corrupt customs and other members of an international wildlife trafficking network with the support of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Thailand.
Since the creation of the Wildlife Justice Commission in 2015, a constant that has been observed in all intelligence-led investigations into wildlife trafficking across the globe is the role of corruption in enabling this form of organised crime. Corruption is the air that wildlife crime breathes; it is one of the key enablers of widespread and large-scale wildlife trafficking and one of the biggest obstacles to effective law enforcement.
We are excited to announce three new partnerships with respected funders, who share the Wildlife Justice Commission’s vision of a world without wildlife crime. Joining our list of partners are the UK Government, through the Illegal Wildlife Trade Challenge Fund, the Swedish Postcode Foundation, and the Robert H.N. Ho Family Foundation Global.
