This presentation was made during the National Wildlife Crime Coordination Task Force Meeting held at the source of the Nile hotel in Jinja in March 2019

1. Inter-agency coordination to combat
illegal wildlife trade

2. Introduction: Wildlife Conservation Society
Working in 60 countries
Has a growing counter wildlife trafficking programme
globally
Work with governments, formal and informal liaison
WCS network helps link information exchange and
liaison of governments

3. For wildlife criminals,
business is good
Organised, cooperating internationally,
innovative
Our job is to make their lives more
difficult and inter-agency networks can
help with that.

4. Global attention to address poaching, trafficking and demand
for endangered species has never been greater

5. High investment in INTERNATIONAL cooperation
mechanisms and platforms
But there is lower investment in national participation.

6. Low / different
capacity of
agencies
Weak /
confusing
laws
Lack of trust
between
agencies
Lack of
information
sharing
internationally
Corruption
Lower
priority
crime
Weak /
overlapping
mandates of
agencies
Demand
Availability of
products and
routes
Lack of
information
sharing
domestically
Reduces ability of law
enforcement to detect,
arrest, prosecute, convict,
give effective penalties
Criminals
have
opportunities
to profit
CASE STUDY: What enables the commercial
poaching and trafficking of rhino horn in
Vietnam?
Established
trafficking
groups

7. Build capacity
and mutual
understanding
Legal and
institutional reform
/ clarity
International and
domestic
cooperation
Build
accountable
transparent
agencies
Strategic and
actionable criminal
intelligence
Increase
prioritisation of
wildlife crime
SOLUTIONS: Building blocks
Engage transport,
financial and
media sectors

8. Governments consider wildlife trafficking a higher priority
High-ranking officials participate in wildlife events
Wildlife-focused institutions and mechanisms are created and
resourced
Increase (safe) exchange of criminal intelligence
Joint investigations are carried out, where appropriate
Criminals lose their illegally-gained money and assets
Increase in convictions through enhanced expertise and systems
THE STRATEGIC RESULTS

9. GLOBAL BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES AND LESSONS
LEARNED

10. THERE ARE DIFFERENT FORMS OF COOPERATION

11.  Establish standard operating procedures and rules of procedure:
how to sign off on actions, how to report
 Agree language and terms used for better understanding
 Map various mandates, including overlaps and differences: early
identification of potential conflict or obstacles
 Make a strategy and agree how to review progress and impact
 Identify capacity for delivery: political, financial, time, how often you
meet
 Have a clear chain of command and accountability
 Invite specialists and outside guests, in person or telephone
DOMESTIC INTER-AGENCY CO-OPERATION

12. MEDIA IS AN ALLY: engaging them when criminals are behind
bars gives an effective deterrent

13. BUT: if people can read about how the alleged money value
of wildlife - it can cause crime!

14. INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS ALREADY EXIST TO TAP INTO
INTERPOL
CITES
World Customs Organisation
UN Office on Drugs and Crime
World Bank
Plus, forensics expertise

15. However many initiatives don’t include objective indicators
that give a clearer understanding of achievements – and
limitations.
For example, reporting is often focused on amounts seized,
but not:
-How the offence was detected (by luck? by dedicated operation?)
-Prosecutions
-Convictions
-Laws applied (e.g. tax, anti-money laundering, corruption, wildlife
legislation)
-Penalties applied
-An overall assessment of different facets of wildlife crime
response.

16. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION

17. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
Established Irish criminals started to target museums, auction houses and zoos
throughout Europe to steal rhino horn and sell to Asian buyers.
 The problem was identified as a growing threat: these were not traditional wildlife
traders, they moved into the trade to make money
 The issue was escalated to the European police cooperation organisation,
Europol: to understand the true scale and international linkages
 It was treated as a serious organised crime: it features in European threat
assessments
 There was a blend of linked domestic and international actions:
 Dedicated investigations in each country, to determine the scale and nature of
the threat
 Targeted exchanges of intelligence through Europol
 Ongoing analytical reporting and cross-matching of information
 Distribution of alert messages to warn potential targets such as museums
 Awareness-raising for law enforcement and members of the public
Reference: Europol

18. In the UK, telephone analysis helped
locate the Irish suspects
Co-ordinated raids assisted by the UK’s
National Crime Agency:
26 different police forces and secrecy to
ensure the best chance of success
Reference: Vice, Irish
Times

19. INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION
Highly significant ivory traders were identified by an NGO, and Chinese law
enforcement took action.
 Chinese agencies conducted a series of raids and convicted suspects: so far
there have been 11 convictions, ranging from six to 15 years
 Use of international mechanisms: one major suspect had a long history in the ivory
trade and invested in multiple shipments of African pangolins and ivory. He was hiding
in Nigeria so an INTERPOL Red Notice was used to highlight his status
 China and Nigeria cooperated to extradite the suspect: he was repatriated to
China a few weeks ago
 The Chinese government is complementing policy change with enforcement
action: the legal domestic market has been closed, and tough action shows the
priority given by the government.

20. Small, vulnerable populations of Asian lions were targeted by tiger poachers.
 Mandated but complementary agencies cooperated: State CID, Forest
Department and Directorate of Forensic Sciences
 Use of scientific evidence gathering: forensics experts helped in the case. DNA
from the lions was matched to blood under the suspects’ fingernails. Victim – scene –
suspects were linked
 Forensic evidence allowed a robust prosecution: 36 people were convicted
 The convictions affected different levels of the network: some were repeat
offenders, and the network included poachers and traders
DOMESTIC INTER-AGENCY CO-OPERATION

21. In Thailand, agencies have built from the ground up in informal cooperation with
trusted colleagues.
 2-3 officers from police, forestry and customs who knew and trusted each other
found a way to informally communicate: they started a secure Line Whatsapp
group to communicate
 The method is quick and secure: they can send information in real time
 Trust is central to co-operation: they only add people to the group they can vouch
for and trust and all membership is clear to users
 They coordinate on cases and actions: building inter-agency cooperation
DOMESTIC INTER-AGENCY CO-OPERATION

22. In some countries, good cooperation is happening when the law is clear
about agency mandates.
 If agencies have clear mandates, they can cooperate successfully:
provincial forest police deal with the local manifestation of the case,
customs/anti-smuggling can deal with the trafficking side
 The cooperation makes a fuller picture for prosecution: roles are
complementary, not competing
 Clear roles and remits saves competition: there is less opportunity for
conflict over who takes credit
DOMESTIC INTER-AGENCY CO-OPERATION

23. TRANSPORT AND FINANCIAL SECTORS: Existing
mechanisms to tap into

24. SUMMARY
Formal platforms are important to provide
opportunities to communicate and coordinate on
strategies and policy development
Intelligence-sharing often requires trust at the
individual level: create opportunities for that within
formal platforms, but if officers know and trust each
other, that will lead to sharing of information

25. SUMMARY
Formal platforms are important to provide
opportunities to communicate and coordinate on
strategies and policy development
Intelligence-sharing often requires trust at the
individual and not agency level: create opportunities
for that in these platforms but recognize it may be about
allowing officers to know and trust each other that will
lead to sharing of information
Thank you!