Transnational organized crime is a big business. Global Financial Integrity, an advocacy group which is focused on addressing systemic weaknesses and rooting out illicit funds flowing through the global financial system, estimated that organized crime groups rake in up to $2.2 trillion per year. That amount is roughly equal to the GDP of Canada. The huge amount of money connected to organized crime can compromise countries’ financial systems and governments, leading to the problems of bribery and corruption that are prevalent in many parts of the world.
When we think of transnational organized crime, we normally associate it with the crimes of drug and weapons trafficking, migrant smuggling, counterfeiting, and cyber crime, among others. Millions of victims are affected by the activities of transnational organized crime groups and many lives are lost due to the drugs, violence and human trafficking that they perpetuate. One business that organized crime groups increasingly find lucrative, to the tune of billions of dollars each year, is the illegal wildlife trade. Wildlife smuggling consists of the illegal gathering, transport and sale of endangered species and protected wildlife, and includes animals, fish, plants and the products that are derived from them, such as skins, bones, and meat. The wildlife most vulnerable to trafficking are rhinoceros, pangolins and elephants, which combined account for almost 75% of wildlife crime. Criminal syndicates see this form of organized crime as high-profit and low-risk. Looking at the numbers, we can see why. A few years ago, the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime produced a joint report on wildlife crime and the illicit funds that flow from it. The authors of the report surveyed authorities in 45 jurisdictions to ask about how the illegal wildlife trade has affected their country. The results show that the response to wildlife crime is lacking and that many jurisdictions either do not recognize the scope of the problem or lack the political will to prioritize and manage it. 86% of jurisdictions reported that wildlife crime is an issue that affects them. However, the failure to deal with the problem is shown by the following:
- Only 26% of jurisdictions conducted any financial investigation into wildlife crimes;
- Just 11% of wildlife crime cases were successfully prosecuted, and only 7% received prison penalties;
- Only 11% of jurisdictions reported that they conducted further investigations into the wider criminal network beyond the poacher or courier, indicating the underlying criminal networks behind wildlife crimes remained intact.
The insufficient amount of financial investigation into wildlife crime is troubling for several reasons. First, a failure to identify and criminally charge those bankrolling the illegal wildlife trade allows them to remain in the background and continue to finance further crimes. In addition, many countries have harsher penalties for money laundering than for wildlife crimes. If authorities became more serious about focusing on the associated offense of money laundering than only the wildlife crime itself, they could remove the low-risk/high-reward factor that proves so attractive to the criminals involved in wildlife trafficking. Lastly, wildlife traffickers often have their hand in many different types of crime. A successful prosecution of the crime of money laundering can also root out other societal harms that the syndicate can be involved in, including fraud, tax evasion and bribery of local officials.
As wildlife crime is a global problem and one in which the illegal goods are frequently trafficked between countries, it’s vital that international cooperation is used to detect and deter wildlife trafficking. Some of the crime syndicates which engage in wildlife crime can be large and located in a number of different countries, so they require a multi-jurisdictional response in which the law enforcement agencies of countries work together to dismantle these syndicates and stop the illegal activity. However, there remains a lot of work to do in ensuring that different jurisdictions work in harmony in this regard. A few years ago, the Financial Action Task Force, which is the intergovernmental organization that develops policies and recommendations to combat financial crime, conducted a study on the illegal wildlife trade. They noted that, among the nearly 50 countries which participated in the study, there was a vast difference in countries’ legislative approaches to wildlife crime, and these differing legal frameworks were one of the main obstacles to international cooperation. Differing cultures can also make cooperating difficult. Even among endangered species, a country may find certain wildlife goods to be part of their tradition, a sign of luxury status, or associate them with cuisine or decorative preference. As such, it may be more difficult to obtain cooperation from them. Corruption can also be a detriment as well. Government officials and law enforcement authorities in poorer countries with a lower standard of living are more susceptible to bribery from criminal networks and this can hamper international cooperation efforts as well.
Stopping wildlife crime takes a collaborative effort, not just between countries, but among agencies and experts within each country. Law enforcement agencies need sufficient resources and training to investigate suspected instances of wildlife trafficking. Customs and border officials need to have the proper expertise to recognize when endangered wildlife is being illegally shipped internationally. Financial institutions should be aware of transactions that may be associated with the illegal wildlife trade and report such suspicious transactions to the appropriate government authorities. Such an approach is necessary to stop this fast-growing branch of organized crime and to dismantle the criminal networks who engage in it.
