Nicola Okes and Gabriel Sipos, TRAFFICFirst published on TNRC (Tackling Natural Resource Corruption) The rhino horn trade represents one of the four largest illegal wildlife trade flows (UNODC 2020) by value. Although the drivers and uses of rhino horn differ across user groups and market destinations (e.g., medicinal use or status-conferring prestige products), the overall Read more >
Posts
CORRUPTION NEWS
At the beginning of August, the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) published a disturbing insider account of the global criminal trade in birds. An organised crime group – one of many in existence – smuggled rare birds from Asia and South America to willing buyers in Europe, making millions in profit but carelessly Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
With so many lucrative avenues for criminals to choose from nowadays, the fact that international wildlife crime (IWT) and the smuggling of wildlife products continues to increase is a measure of the vast sums of money to be made from this illegal practice. According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), for example, which it spelled out in its 2020 World Wildlife Crime Report, “the Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Image: Wilson Lau, TRAFFIC A humble marine mollusc, Haliotis midae, has been the inadvertent cause of one of South Africa’s biggest poaching/smuggling challenges. The largest abalone in South Africa, it is known locally as perlemoen, from the Dutch meaning ‘mother of pearl’. Occurring naturally along the South African coastline, perlemoen is nothing more than a Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
A new study titled Convergence of wildlife crime with other forms of organised crime, released in May 2021 by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), sheds light on this phenomenon of crime convergence, which has been noticed more and more over the last two decades. The report shows that criminal networks are dealing in wildlife Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Consider this statement: “Bribes can make up to 10% of the wholesale value of ivory in Asia.” And given that according to an investigation by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), raw ivory currently commands a price of between US$597/kg and $689/kg, on the Asian market – down from a mind-boggling high of $2 100/kg in Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Image: Flickr/gmacfadyen Corruption is an enabler of wildlife, forest and fisheries crime. There are no surprises in that statement, as many will be aware that corruption occurs at every stage of the wildlife trafficking supply chain – and it’s a big reason for the continued prevalence of wildlife trafficking routes and networks. There are also Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
Image: PGZambia.com Issued by Transparency International Secretariat Following reports that the President of Zambia, his daughter and several high-ranking politicians are allegedly involved in the illicit trade in mukula wood, Transparency International calls for all competent authorities in Zambia to fully investigate the allegations and prosecute wrongdoing regardless of the rank or status of the Read more >
CORRUPTION NEWS
By John Grobler and Khadija Sharife First published on OCCRP Major gaps between South African and Namibian legislation that regulates the endangered species trade allowed for the sale of at least 13 white rhino bulls from a South African game park to a Russian big game hunting outfit in Namibia. Nine of these rhinos were Read more >
