Rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crime 2012-2021
27 October 2022
2022 Global Threat Assessment
Rhino horn trafficking remains a severe problem that needs to be addressed with a new sense of urgency as transnational organised crime. Over the past 10 years, the illegal killing of rhinos and trafficking of their horns has grown as a global criminal enterprise, comprising multiple criminal components dominated by greed and the pursuit of substantial profits.
This threat assessment presents a comprehensive analysis of rhino horn trafficking during the decade from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2021.
Read the synopsis arrow_forward_iosSynopsis: Rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crimeThe Wildlife Justice Commission acknowledges the immense challenges facing law enforcement agencies that are investigating the transnational organised criminal networks trafficking in rhino horn.Read Chapter 1 arrow_forward_iosIntroduction: An overview of 10 years of rhino horn traffickingIn 2006, southern Africa saw the beginning of a new wave of rhino poaching that would sweep across the continent.Read Chapter 2 arrow_forward_iosCriminal dynamics of rhino horn traffickingThis chapter presents an indicative analysis of the criminal dynamics of rhino horn trafficking and major trends and changes that have occurred over the past 10 years.Read Chapter 3 arrow_forward_iosThe criminal supply chainSince 2015, the Wildlife Justice Commission has collected extensive volumes of intelligence and evidence on the composition of criminal networks and the inner workings of the rhino horn supply chain from Africa to Asia.Read Chapter 4 arrow_forward_iosDistribution in the marketplaceOnline trade, social media platforms, and instant messaging services are a key tool to connect criminal actors and facilitate the distribution of rhino horn throughout the supply chain to the marketplace.Read Chapter 5 arrow_forward_iosValue of rhino hornDuring its investigations, the Wildlife Justice Commission collects wholesale price data of raw rhino horn and other wildlife products at different criminal levels along the supply chain and in different geographical areas.Read Chapter 6 arrow_forward_iosUse and consumption of rhino hornThe rhino horn trade in Asian consumer countries appears to centre on two diverse markets: one which uses horn as a luxury product and symbol of status, and the other for its purported medicinal properties.Read Chapter 7 arrow_forward_iosImpact of law enforcement effortsThis chapter identifies examples of positive law enforcement developments to combat rhino horn trafficking during the past 10 years and areas where some crucial gaps remain.Read Chapter 8 arrow_forward_iosRole of corruption in illegal tradeCorruption threatens, weakens, and undermines the regulatory and enforcement systems put in place to protect rhinos, and all other efforts to combat rhino poaching and illegal rhino horn trade will fail unless corruption is tackled.Read Chapter 9 arrow_forward_iosImpact of COVID-19It is more than two years since the novel coronavirus outbreak was first reported by China on 31 December 2019, causing unprecedented shutdowns across the world.Read Chapter 10 arrow_forward_iosRecalibrating the response to tackle transnational organised crime With 9,561 rhinos poached across Africa292 and 7.5 tonnes of rhino horns seized from illegal trade globally during the past 10 years, the scale of the rhino crisis has now likely eclipsed anything that was envisaged in 2012.
It was compiled following analysis of 674 rhino horn seizure incidents collected from open-source reports that occurred globally during this decade, in addition to seven years of criminal intelligence and findings from Wildlife Justice Commission investigations into rhino horn trafficking conducted since 2015, and other open-source research.
This assessment aims to examine the driving forces behind the trade and changes in the criminal landscape. It also considers the threat to rhinos in 2022, with recommendations to help inform interventions to address this issue and ensure the global response is commensurate and appropriately targeted to current and future needs.
Why is the Wildlife Justice Commission releasing this report?
We hope that this assessment will go some way towards assisting law enforcement agencies working across the illegal rhino horn supply chain to maximise their response and impact in addressing this issue, and to continue to build on the important progress and achievements that are being made.
*Addendum: Please note that a correction has been made to the legend of Figure 2 in the Synopsis and Figure 13 in the full report.
