Notable Cases and Useful Documents
INTERPOL has organised several operations tackling wildlife crime:
Project Predator
This project has been enhancing law enforcement’s capacity to conserve Asian big cats and other wildlife since its creation in 2010. These big cats are killed due to the high value of their fur on the black market and the demand for their body parts for traditional medicines and other uses.
Project Predator assists countries with organising transnational operations, intelligence gathering, provides investigative support and links up law enforcement with international organisations and non-governmental organisations to bring poachers and smuggling rings to justice.
Project Wisdom
Elephants and rhinoceros are poached for their ivory and horn respectively. Ivory is carved and sold as artifacts, while rhino horn is reduced to powder and used in traditional medicine.
Project Wisdom supports member countries in the conservation of these precious species and brings down the criminal networks that are hunting elephants and rhinos. Record numbers of elephants and rhinos have been poached since 2010, with two sub-species of rhino shot into extinction in recent years.
Operations coordinated under Project Wisdom have so far resulted in more than 1 100 arrests, the seizure of tonnes of raw ivory, and of 50 000 carved ivory items. Conviction rates for those arrested exceed 80%.
Operation Thunderstorm (2018)
This operation targeted the people behind the illegal trade in wildlife and timber, and involved police, customs, border, environment, wildlife and forestry agencies from 93 countries. The operation saw almost 2 000 seizures and the identification of some 1 400 suspects, triggering arrests worldwide.
Operation Thunderbird (2017)
A global operation tackling the illegal trade in wildlife and timber that resulted in the identification of nearly 900 suspects and 1 300 seizures of illicit products worth an estimated USD 5.1 million. The operation involved police, customs, border agencies, environment, wildlife and forestry officials from 49 countries and territories, and resulted in a range of seizures.
Operation Worthy II (2015)
This operation targeted ivory trafficking in Africa and resulted in 376 arrests and the seizure of 4.5 tonnes of elephant ivory and rhino horn. IT deployed specialised teams to assist in the investigation of 25 criminal groups involved in the illicit trade.
Operation Paws (Protection of Asian Wildlife Species) II (2015)
More than 13 tonnes of pangolin products were seized in this operation, representing some 1 000 animals, at an estimated street value exceeding USD 2 million. Paws II sought to enhance communication and intelligence sharing between countries through cyber investigations, DNA analysis, and joint enforcement activities involving police, customs and wildlife agencies.
There are several publications and documents which might be helpful in implementing CITES rules:
- Communication on the revised EU action plan against wildlife trafficking (EU)
- SWiPE Report Uncovering the Invisible: Successes and Challenges for Wildlife Crime Prosecution in Europe
- Other SWiPE Resources (link here)
- Publications by the TRAFFIC organisation (link here).
- Transnational Enforcement Strategy to Combat Tiger Crime (INTERPOL)
- Global Wildlife Enforcement (INTERPOL)
- The Environmental Crime Crisis (INTERPOL)
- Guidelines on Methods and Procedures for Ivory Sampling and Laboratory Analysis (INTERPOL)
- Project Web – An investigation into the ivory trade over the internet within the European Union (INTERPOL)
- UNEP-INTERPOL Report: The Rise of Environmental Crime (2016)