Rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crime 2012-2021

2022 GLOBAL THREAT ASSESSMENT

Synopsis: Rhino horn trafficking as a form of transnational organised crime

The Wildlife Justice Commission acknowledges the immense challenges facing law enforcement agencies that are investigating the transnational organised criminal networks trafficking in rhino horn.

Read the synopsis

Introduction:
An overview of 10 years of rhino horn trafficking

In 2006, southern Africa saw the beginning of a new wave of rhino
poaching that would sweep across the continent.

Read Chapter 1

Criminal dynamics of rhino horn trafficking

This 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 2

The criminal supply chain

Since 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 3

Distribution in the marketplace

Online 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 4

Value of rhino horn

During 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 5

Use and consumption of rhino horn

The 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 6

Impact of law enforcement efforts

This 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 7

Role of corruption in illegal trade

Corruption 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 8

Impact of COVID-19

It 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 9

Recalibrating 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.

Read the news article

Read the synopsis in Chinese

Read the synopsis in Portuguese

Read the synopsis in Vietnamese