Wildlife Money Trails: Building Financial Investigations From Wildlife And Timber Trafficking Cases In The European Union

By Davyth Stewart, Christian Nellemann, Ben Brock, Emilie Van der Henst

Wildlife and timber trafficking often involves transnational organised crime networks and generates significant illicit proceeds, billions each year. Despite the seriousness of this criminal activity, related financial investigations and asset recovery approaches remain largely under-utilised in the EU, with investigations and prosecutions of wildlife trafficking still relying primarily on charges for poaching or trafficking. Wildlife criminals are, therefore, not punished for the financial crimes they have committed, and their criminal assets remain in their hands, allowing them to further invest in their illegal business.

TRAFFIC International Cambridge, United Kingdom. 2023. 86p.