The Wildlife Justice Commission today welcomed the convictions by a Vietnamese court of two wildlife traffickers caught in possession of nearly one tonne of African pangolin scales.
Wildlife Justice Commission applauds conviction of Vietnamese pangolin scale traffickers Read more »
Media releases News
A suspected wildlife trafficking kingpin, Shamsideen Abubakar, has been arrested in Nigeria following a joint operation involving the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESREA), Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), and the Wildlife Justice Commission.
The Wildlife Justice Commission’s new documentary Seizure has drawn significant global attention following its premiere on 9 December on the Wildlife Justice YouTube channel. The award-winning short film provides a rare look into the inner workings of transnational organised crime networks involved in the trafficking of endangered species – one of the largest and most profitable forms of transnational organised crime.
Wildlife trafficking remains one of the most urgent threats to biodiversity today. Across regions, species, and ecosystems, it continues to drive extinction, degrade governance, foster corruption, and fuel transnational criminal networks that often traffic not just wildlife, but also drugs, arms, and people.
How enforcement can give wildlife a fighting chance Read more »
News
The Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) has published a new report revealing a remarkable and sustained disruption in the trafficking of pangolin scales and ivory from Africa to Asia. Titled Disruption and Disarray: An analysis of pangolin scale and ivory trafficking, 2015–2024, the report documents a sharp decline in significant seizures since 2020, pointing to a shift in the criminal landscape and the potential long-term impact of targeted law enforcement efforts.
We’re proud to share our latest report, Disruption and Disarray, which takes a deep dive into pangolin and ivory trafficking trends over the last decade —revealing a significant and sustained disruption in the flow of these products from Africa to Asia.
In a major strike against wildlife trafficking in Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), supported by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), arrested five suspects and seized 3.765 tonnes of pangolin scales in Lagos, an amount estimated to represent the killing of over 1,900 pangolins.
In a significant victory against transnational wildlife crime, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the arrest of a suspected high-level Chinese wildlife trafficker in Lagos. Acting on intelligence provided by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), NCS carried out the arrest on 19 February 2025. This operation represents a critical disruption to organised wildlife crime networks operating between Nigeria and Asia.
On 5 December 2024, a major operation led by Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), with support from the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), has resulted in the arrest of a suspected pangolin scale broker and the seizure of 2.179 tonnes of pangolin scales, equivalent to approximately 1,100 pangolins.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), with support from the Wildlife Justice Commission, successfully conducted two major operations on 8 August 2024, resulting in the combined seizure of over 9.4 tonnes of pangolin scales and arrests of four suspects. These operations mark a significant achievement in the ongoing efforts to dismantle wildlife trafficking networks in Nigeria.
In a coordinated effort, the Special Wildlife Investigations Unit (SWIU), supported by Focused Conservation and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), successfully conducted a joint operation resulting in the arrest of four suspects and the seizure of 525 kilograms of pangolin scales in Monrovia, Liberia, on 10 July 2024.
Joint operation leads to four arrests and major seizure of pangolin scales in Liberia Read more »
Investigations Media releases News
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.
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.
The Wildlife Justice Commission has published a report on the rise and fall of one of Vietnam’s biggest wildlife traffickers. Nguyen Van Nam, referred to in the report as Ah Nam, was the focus of a Wildlife Justice Commission investigation from 2016 until 2019.
Ah Nam: The Downfall of Vietnam’s Wolf of Wall Street Read more »
News
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) announced today that they have arrested eight suspects connected with the trafficking of pangolin scales and ivory from Nigeria.
Acting on local intelligence, the Nigeria Customs Service conducted an operation in Awoyaya on 2 February 2022, arresting four suspects and seizing 839.40 kilograms of pangolin scales and 145 kilograms of elephant ivory.
This new operation follows up on the one effected last July into the criminal network believed to be responsible for more than 50% of the major global ivory and pangolin seizures between 2018-2021.
The Wildlife Justice Commission congratulates the Nigeria Customs Service for this successful operation, the ninth largest pangolin scale seizure in three years.
In 2020, Wildlife Justice Commission investigators were offered staggering quantities of pangolin scales, raising concerns about a post-COVID19 surge in trafficking.
World Pangolin Day 2021: The continuing threat of pangolin trafficking Read more »
News
Our new criminal intelligence analysis Scaling Up: The Rapid Growth in the Industrial Scale Trafficking of Pangolin Scales (2016-2019) has been published today on the run up to World Pangolin Day.
The Pangolin Crisis Fund has issued a grant to the Wildlife Justice Commission in support of our investigations into the trafficking of pangolin scales.
Commonly referred to as the most trafficked mammal in the world, the plight of the pangolin looks bleak.
No rest for pangolins: Trafficking rates spike while crime displaces to new regions Read more »
News
