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| Crime Syndicates Smuggling Wildlife | |
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| Topic Started: Jun 9 2007, 12:03 AM (55 Views) | |
| Deleted User | Jun 9 2007, 12:03 AM Post #1 |
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Crime Syndicates Smuggling Wildlife June 07, 2007 — By Arthur Max, Associated Press THE HAGUE, Netherlands -- It could be ivory concealed in a container, cans of caviar in a suitcase or baby chimpanzees in a crate. The smuggling of wildlife goods is a low-risk, high-profit enterprise proving increasingly attractive to crime syndicates. Exports of wildlife, including fisheries and timber, are estimated at $150 billion to $200 billion a year. The illicit side of the business is likely worth tens of billions of dollars, experts say. "It's big, and it's getting bigger," says Peter Younger of Interpol, the international police coordinating agency. Stacked against drug running or international terrorism, wildlife crime claims minimum priority with national police forces. If caught, smugglers often face little more than a fine or short jail term. In countries with weak judiciaries, suspects can stall their cases indefinitely while resuming their illicit business, he said. "It's a business loss, and then you can go on with what you were doing," said Steven Broad, director of TRAFFIC, which monitors the international wildlife trade. The United States also has a thriving black market in live animals, carved ivory, reptile skins, medicinal plants and illegally logged lumber, said Claudia McMurray, the assistant secretary of state for environmental affairs. Anecdotal evidence indicates it largely is supplied by organized crime. "You have wildlife and drugs together," she told The Associated Press, citing one case in which a live snake was stuffed with small sacks of cocaine -- in the hope customs officers would not want to inspect the legally imported snake too closely. "It's something we are pursuing quite aggressively," she said. "If you catch them on one activity, you're probably going to cut off some other activities and then you can put them in jail." Poachers capture baby chimpanzees and gorillas and crate them north through Egypt and on to Europe, Younger said. Russian crime gangs smuggle beluga caviar in suitcases, fetching $4,450 per kilogram in the retail market. In raw ivory alone, Interpol made 13 major interdictions in the last two years worth $26 million, said Younger. Last year, Hong Kong customs officials discovered elephant tusks concealed behind walls of three shipping containers that had made a tortuous route from Africa through several Asian ports. http://www.enn.com/todays-news/12915 |
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| Kahu | Jun 9 2007, 01:41 PM Post #2 |
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Wildlife Smuggling Dead Birds and Legal Loopholes Pet shops in Germany, zoos in the United States, circuses in eastern Europe, traditional medicines in Taiwan and private collections in Saudi Arabia. Each year millions of plants and animals are wrenched from their natural habitats, often by poor people desperate for quick money, then fed through a complex and highly organised chain of middlemen and dealers till they reach their destinations. Sometimes the animals are wanted for their coats, for their bones or tusks, or to be ground up in oriental medicines. In other cases collectors want them alive, for private display. There is currently a growing interest in living reef aquaria with live hard corals – estimates are that over 300,000 pieces are taken from the sea and traded each year. Most of the trade is illegal and is thought to be the third biggest international contraband business after drugs and arms. Increasingly it is a major threat to global biodiversity and it all seems a long way from New Zealand. But is it? Not only are New Zealand’s unique birds and reptiles targeted by this trade, this country has become a major focal point for the laundering of species from other parts of the world. Although we have long been a signatory to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), deficiencies in our laws are allowing birds smuggled into New Zealand to be legally exported as local captive-bred birds. As well as involving New Zealand in an illicit, ecologically destructive and inhumane business, this import and export of exotic species also presents a massive disease risk to our own flora and fauna. Kea, kaka, tuatara and frogs are some of the native New Zealand fauna caught up in the international smuggling networks. Smuggled animals nearly always suffer horribly, with an estimated 70 percent dying before arrival due to bad handling and overdosing with sedatives such as valium. Species such as kea are said to be worth around $30,000 on the overseas market and while the size of the smuggling problem is unclear, the level of recent investigative and customs interceptions confirm that our native wildlife is very much part of a world-wide trade.............. Wildlife Smuggling |
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| agate | Jun 10 2007, 04:41 AM Post #3 |
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Here in BC it is smuggling eagle parts..it is wonder that we have any wild spieces left. 11 B.C. men charged over bald eagle poaching Updated Sat. Apr. 29 2006 10:40 PM ET CTV.ca News Staff After a 15-month investigation into the discovery of more than 50 mutilated bald eagle carcasses in British Columbia, authorities have charged 11 B.C. men in connection with crimes against the protected species. The men face 105 charges for possession and trafficking in dead wildlife. The accused are James Carl Joseph, Gary Abbott, Ralph Leon, Reynold Collins, David Essary Bill, Wesley Francis, Thomas Lawrence Shaw, Francis James, William Michael Visser, Jerome Richard Seymour and William Arthur Seymour. In October 2005, CTV News first revealed that investigators were watching Jimmy Joseph. Joseph, a native carver who liked to depict eagles in his carvings, is facing 21 charges of possession, trafficking and exporting dead wildlife. All of the suspects have been released from police custody and will appear in court in June. Officials said that up to 1,000 birds are killed illegally each year, which means that the eagle-smuggling ring likely earned millions of dollars. Police are expected to provide more details on today's arrests on Sunday. Investigators are also looking into the arrest of two Ontario men who were found in possession of illegal eagle parts while crossing into the state of Washington from B.C. Lance Sunquist, the regional manager for the Conservation Officer Service, said the parts were sold in Canada and the U.S. and possibly elsewhere. "Some of it is within the First Nations community and with regards to the powwow circuit and the dancing circuits that go on," Sunquist told reporters on Saturday. "I think that the number of charges today and the number of individuals that have been charged speak to the scope of the issue that we're dealing with," he said. Wildlife officers said that these killings are quite common because there is a large market for the feet and tail feathers of bald eagles. The bird parts, which are used for ceremonial or artistic purposes, are sold for anywhere from $100 to $1,500 per part. Leonard George, an elder with the Burrard First Nation, acknowledged that some of the men arrested were part of his community. First Nations are issued permits to use parts of eagles that have died naturally for traditional ceremonies. With eagles being a secret part of Native culture, George blames drugs for clouding the men's morals. "Drugs unfortunately removes a conscience. The first thing that goes in any kind of addiction is a conscience," he told CTV Vancouver. When dead birds are passed on to a native band, they are blessed to release their spirit, and prayers are said to apologize on behalf of man for their death. Because of the special place bald eagles occupy in both western and native cultures, penalties for killing or even possessing dead ones can be severe. Canada's federal law has penalties as high as $150,000 or five years in jail for first-time eagle trafficking offenders. B.C. is home to approximately 20,000 bald eagles, which are included in Canada's protected species list. |
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7:51 AM Jul 12