We are thrilled to announce that we are organising a one-day workshop Dismantling and disrupting criminal networks illegally trading in endangered wildlife at the General Police Equipment Exhibition and Conference (GPEC) on 21 February 2018. The GPEC will take place in Frankfurt (Germany) on 20-22 February 2018.
The workshop will be conducted by our members of our team and senior-level speakers from law enforcement agencies in Malaysia and Kenya as well as Europol and eminent experts on the economic analysis of international crimes and cyber security.
The world has lost approximately 50% of its biodiversity in the last 40 years (1). Poaching and trafficking of endangered flora and fauna are major factors for this loss and they are currently taking place at an industrial scale. It is a high-reward-low-risk criminal activity: it is an estimated USD 20bn per year illegal business (not including illegal fishing and logging) (2).
Many endangered species face imminent extinction, marine ecosystems and fish stocks are collapsing and forests are being lost forever due to illegal logging. In addition to accelerating the loss to biodiversity, wildlife crime de-stabilises societies: it affects local communities; poses serious threats to global health by contributing to the spread of diseases through consumption and transport; and fuels corruption as well as other types of auxiliary crimes such money laundering and fraud.
The WJC conducts in-depth investigations that are well-planned and diligently documented. We make use of case management and intelligence analysis software employed by law enforcement agencies to track transnational organised wildlife criminality with the intention of providing our evidence and criminal analyses to law enforcement agencies in an actionable format they are familiar with.
We would like to thank the organisers of GPEC for their support on the developing of this workshop.
Download here the detailed agenda and bios of the speakers.
(1) https://www.worldwildlife.org/press-releases/half-of-global-wildlife-lost-says-new-wwf-report
(2) https://cites.org/eng/international_dimension_of_illegal_wildlife_trade