By Joel Salvador Herrera and , Cesar B. Martinez-Alvarez

A growing body of evidence suggests that criminal organizations across the Global South actively exploit natural resources in the communities where they operate with important sociopolitical consequences. In this article, we investigate the case of Mexico where the incursion of criminal groups into the mining and export-agricultural sectors impacts violence at the local level. We propose two mechanisms that explain why criminal groups diversify. First, the war-profit motive suggests that competition and state repression prompt criminal organizations to look for non-traditional sources of incomes and to build up their violence-making capacities. Second, the governance motive suggests that extracting rents from key industries represents a strategy for these organizations to establish territorial control in local communities. Using homicide data from 2007 to 2011, we demonstrate that access to primary sector revenues is associated with higher levels of violence among Mexican municipalities. Using qualitative evidence from Michoacán, we show how the introduction of criminal governance systems to rural areas was a key factor in explaining why criminal groups diversified toward mining and export-agriculture.

World Development. Volume 151, March 2022, 105769

By: Henry Peyronnin

Regulating Illicit Gold draws on C4ADS analysis of the illicit gold trade to identify obstacles facing regulators and companies as they seek to achieve compliance with conflict minerals regulations, highlights the limitations of existing US laws pertaining to illegal gold and other minerals, and explores several potential areas in which these regulations can be strengthened or extended.

US lawmakers and public officials recognize the trade in illicit gold as a pressing environmental and social problem, but no comprehensive regulatory framework exists under which to stop the flow of illicit gold to the United States. The challenge of tracing gold supply chains is complicated by four key factors: gold’s physical and commercial characteristics; the growing sophistication of illicit gold trading networks; corruption in source, transit, and destination countries; and the fragmentation of the global gold market. Although two laws partially address this regulatory gap in the United States, neither provides a strong set of rules that apply equally to public companies and private entities. Regulating Illicit Gold draws on C4ADS analysis of the illicit gold trade to identify obstacles facing regulators and companies as they seek to achieve compliance with conflict minerals regulations, highlight the limitations of existing US laws pertaining to illegal gold and other minerals, and explores several potential areas in which these regulations can be strengthened or extended.

Washington, DC: C4ADS March, 2021. 18p.

By James Allan

Litter is ugly and an overwhelming majority of Britons want action. Since the 1960s littering has increased by 500%. Years of inaction, compounded by a lack of personal responsibility and a sharp increase in littering during the COVID-19 pandemic has made the problem worse.

Policy Exchange first recommended a national and coordinated approach to litter in Litterbugs published in 2009, but it was not until 2017 that the Government published the first ever national strategy that dealt with litter and littering behaviour. Furthermore, in 2022 the Office for Environmental Protection has said that the Government has yet to move beyond mere commitments to policy delivery.

This report calls for the Government to implement a new and revitalised Litter Strategy, including a significantly more aggressive approach to fines, including higher penalties, with a Local Authority League Table to name and shame those councils that are not using their powers; a new National Litter Awareness Course (modelled on the National Speed Awareness Course), backed by educational campaigns, to transform attitudes to personal responsibility; increased investment in bin infrastructure, with consideration of bins embedded in local design codes; and a large scale pilot of a digitised Deposit Return Scheme to enhance recycling.

London: Policy Exchange, 2023. 45p.

By Sarah Gluszek, Julie Viollaz, Robert Mwinyihali, Michelle Wieland, Meredith L. Gore

At unsustainable rates and in illegal contexts, the wild meat trade is a driver of species extinction; it can also threaten ecosystem services, local food secu-rity and contribute to the risk of zoonotic disease spread. The restaurant and catering sectors are understudied groups in conservation, both with regards to the legal and illegal wild meat trade and particularly in urban areas. Restaura-teurs are key actors between wild meat consumers and suppliers and thus play a central role in the supply chain. This study applied a crime science hotproduct approach to characterize: (a) restaurateur perceptions of urban wild meat consumption; (b) wildlife species most at risk in the urban wild meat trade; and (c) the differences between restaurants in Kinshasa (DemocraticRepublic of the Congo) and Brazzaville (Republic of the Congo). Through Focus groups in both cities, participants affirmed that in urban centers wild meat is considered a luxury item and sign of wealth. Monkeys were seen as a hot product in both cities, but we found a greater variety of hot wild meat products in Brazzaville. When looking at the differences between the restau-rant tier levels, middle-tiered restaurants identified pangolin and antelopes asbeing hot products, rather than monkeys as with upper and lower-tiered res-taurants. By applying a hot product analysis, we identified the wild meat groups most likely to be targeted by the urban wild meat trade. Findings Herein offer novel opportunities to better tailor and prioritize conservation interventions against illegal trade using design against crime or other crime prevention strategies.KEYWORDSbushmeat, Congo Forest Basin, elephant, hot product analysis, illegal wildlife trade, monkeys,pangolins, wildlife trafficking†Tn behalf of Society for Conservation Biology

Conservation Science and Practice Volume 3, Issue 5, 2021.

By Allan Thornton, et al.

A report into how the first CITES-approved ivory sale led to an increase in elephant poaching.

In 1997, CITES Parties voted to down-list the elephant populations of Botswana, Namibia and Zimbabwe, followed swiftly by a supposedly one-time only sale in 1999 of stockpiled ivory to Japan.

This report provides documentation of the resulting soaring rates across the African continent, despite the predictions of ‘experts’ that such a sale would satiate the market.

London: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), 2020. 36p.

By Richard Chelin

Pangolin trafficking is not simply an environmental management problem – it is a transnational organised crime.

Pangolins – also known as scaly anteaters – are among the most trafficked wildlife species in Africa and are considered the most trafficked mammal globally. The huge demand for their scales and meat, largely from Southeast Asia, has created a lucrative illicit market run by transnational criminal syndicates.

In Africa, most countries use generic anti-wildlife crime policies and strategies to address the illicit trade in pangolins. This approach fails to address specific issues related to the protection of pangolins, such as the loopholes in policies in dealing with the illegal trade in the species.

This policy brief identifies the gaps in existing policies and strategies, and offers evidence-based policy recommendations for the protection of pangolins and to stem illicit trade in Africa.

Enact Africa, 2019. 16p.

By Felber J. Arroyave, Alexander M. Petersen, Jeffrey Jenkins & Rafael Hurtado

Illicit wildlife trafficking poses a threat to the conservation of species and ecosystems, and represents a fundamental source of biodiversity loss, alongside climate change and large-scale land degradation. Despite the seriousness of this issue, little is known about various socio-cultural demand sources underlying trafficking networks, for example the forthright consumption of endangered species in different cultural contexts. Our study illustrates how wildlife trafficking represents a wicked problem at the intersection of criminal enforcement, cultural heritage and environmental systems management. As with similar network-based crimes, institutions are frequently ineffective at curbing wildlife trafficking, partly due to the lack of information detailing activities within illicit trading networks. To address this shortcoming, we leverage official government records documenting the illegal trade of reptiles in Colombia. As such, our study contributes to the understanding of how and why wildlife trafficking persists across robust trafficking networks, which are conduits for a broader range of black-market goods. Leveraging geo-spatial data, we construct a multiplex representation of wildlife trafficking networks, which facilitates identifying network properties that are signatures of strategic trafficker behavior. In particular, our results indicate that traffickers’ actions are constrained by spatial and market customs, a result which is apparent only within an integrated multiplex representation. Characteristic levels of sub-network coupling further indicate that traffickers strategically leverage knowledge of the entire system. We argue that this multiplex representation is essential for prioritizing crime enforcement strategies aimed at disrupting robust trade networks, thereby enhancing the effectiveness and resources allocation of institutions charged with curbing illicit trafficking. We develop a generalizable model of multiplex criminal trade networks suitable for communicating with policy makers and practitioners, thereby facilitating rapid translation into public policy and environmental conservation efforts.

Applied Network Science volume 5, Article number: 20 (2020)

By Tanya Wyatt, Daan van Uhm & Angus Nurse

Historically, the poaching of wildlife was portrayed as a small-scale local activity in which only small numbers of wildlife would be smuggled illegally by collectors or opportunists. Nowadays, this image has changed: criminal networks are believed to be highly involved in wildlife trafficking, which has become a significant area of illicit activity. Even though wildlife trafficking has become accepted as a major area of crime and an important topic and criminologists have examined a variety of illegal wildlife markets, research that specifically focuses on the involvement of different criminal networks and their specific nature is lacking. The concept of a ‘criminal network’ or ‘serious organized crime’ is amorphous – getting used interchangeably and describes all crime that is structured rather than solely reflecting crime that fits within normative definitions of ‘organized’ crime. In reality, criminal networks are diverse. As such, we propose categories of criminal networks that are evidenced in the literature and within our own fieldwork: (1) organized crime groups (2) corporate crime groups and (3) disorganized criminal networks. Whereas there are instances when these groups act alone, this article will (also) discuss the overlap and interaction that occurs between our proposed categories and discuss the complicated nature of the involved criminal networks as well as predictions as to the future of these networks.

Trends in Organized Crime (2020) 23:350–366

By Meredith L. Gore , Robert Mwinyihali , Luc Mayet Gavinet Duclair, Makaya Baku-Bumb , etc.

Urban wildmeat consumption can contribute to significant declines in wildlife populations, ecosystem function, and food insecurity security. Describing types of individuals involved in illegal urban wildmeat trafficking can help distinguish ordinary citizens from members of criminal organizations and urban vs. rural dimensions of the activity. This research aimed to: (1) create and apply a typology for urban wildmeat traffickers and sellers; and (2) explore linkages between types of urban wildmeat traffickers and sellers. We used focus groups with experts in the Republic of the Congo, February 2019 (N = 2, n = 7–10) to achieve objectives and focused on pangolins, great apes, and dwarf crocodiles. Participants generated risk rankings for each species, typology and city; data was encoded and indexed. Results illustrate heterogeneity in actors involved in the illegal supply chain. Business sideliner and trading charity trafficker types were associated with the highest total risk to wildlife trafficking. A similar pattern of divergence was detected for seller typologies; hidden and casual sellers were associated with the greatest total risk in Pointe Noire and Brazzaville, respectively. Differentiating but not stove piping stakeholders involved in urban wildmeat trafficking will help clarify stages of illegal supply chains as well and promote thinking about new sectors to involve in interventions and solutions, particularly in urban ecosystems thought to be outside the scope to wildlife crime.

Global Ecology and Conservation. Volume 27, June 2021, e01557

By Michelle Anagnostou

The intensified illegal trade of wildlife has contributed to the unsustainable decline of wildlife populations, the destabilization of ecosystems, and threatens economic development and human security. Though often lacking empirical evidence, convergence theory has emerged recently as a topic of interest among researchers, practitioners, and the media to explain the growing overlap of criminal activities in an increasingly globalized world. In this paper, I explain the interdisciplinary theoretical foundations for the interconnectivity of criminal networks, including connections between illegal wildlife trade networks and non-state armed groups. I also outline and discuss various perspectives on the convergence of the illegal wildlife trade with other organized crime activities. I conclude by highlighting the urgent need for a better understanding of the role of the organized criminal groups involved in the illegal wildlife trade, and of how these groups converge with other types of criminal activities. The policy implications of filling in this knowledge gap are twofold: firstly, understanding how criminal networks converge can facilitate the implementation of more effective law enforcement and investigations that target high-profile offenders, as opposed to focusing on low-level poachers; and secondly, this understanding can foster more cooperation across agencies and jurisdictions to address multiple crime types and crime in convergence settings

Environmental Challenges. Volume 5, December 2021, 100222

By Earth League International and John Jay College of Criminal Justice

Environmental crime convergence, the focal point of this report, poses an imminent threat to our planet’s delicate ecosystems. To address this urgent issue, ELI, and John Jay College present ELI’s revolutionary 4-Type Environmental Crime Convergence paradigm to comprehensively understand and combat the intricate web of transnational organized crime operations that perpetuate environmental degradation.

The foundation of this report is built upon the fieldwork and intelligence analysis of ELI’s investigators and crime analysts, who have gathered first-hand evidence of Environmental Crime Convergence directly from some of the world’s most notorious environmental criminals and their networks. Drawing on years of investigative fieldwork in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, over two dozen case studies have emerged from ELI’s work as primary sources of data.

This report highlights five (5) case studies of the transnational criminal networks in Latin America identified by ELI that illustrate the convergence of environmental and wildlife crime with other serious crimes and expose the severity of the issue at a global scale.

Los Angeles: Earth League International, 2023. 83p.

By R. Nishino and T. Kitade  

 TRAFFIC conducted online surveys to track changes after voluntary ivory bans were introduced from November 2019 on Yahoo Shopping and Yahoo Auction, Japan’s largest platforms for online ivory trade, following similar voluntary bans already implemented by Rakuten-Ichiba, Rakuma and Mercari. The trading practices of a major auction house, Mainchi Auction, and trends in illegal ivory exports were also examined to understand better the domestic ivory market in Japan. The COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult to assess physical markets. RESULTS: Effective measures by companies The number of shops selling ivory on Yahoo Shopping and Rakuten-Ichiba as B2C (business to consumer) trade and the volume of ivory trade on Yahoo Auction, a mixture of B2C and C2C (consumer to consumer) trade, have reduced by almost 100% and more than 99%, respectively as a result of the platform-wide voluntary ivory ban. There was no observable shift in either B2C or C2C trade to other platforms after the introduction of the ivory ban on Yahoo’s platforms. Monitoring of ivory bans by companies such as Mercari and Rakuma was seen to have been effective 

TRAFFIC, Japan Office, Tokyo, Japan., 2020. 30p.

By Norman O. Brown

Life Against Death: The Psychoanalytical Meaning of History (1959; second edition 1985) is a book by the American classicist Norman O. Brown, in which the author offers a radical analysis and critique of the work of Sigmund Freud, tries to provide a theoretical rationale for a nonrepressive civilization, explores parallels between psychoanalysis and Martin Luther's theology, and draws on revolutionary themes in western religious thought, especially the body mysticism of Jakob Böhme and William Blake. It was the result of an interest in psychoanalysis that began when the philosopher Herbert Marcuse suggested to Brown that he should read Freud.

Connecticut. Wesleyan University Press. 1959. 364p.

By ENACT AFrica and INTERPOL

Over the last decade, criminal actors engaged in illegal mining have made huge amounts of illicit profits at the expense of countries’ economies, vulnerable populations, and the environment across the Central African region. In the region, gold is mainly produced by artisanal and small-scale gold miners and semi-mechanized companies. The exact quantities of gold produced is unknown to authorities; gold smuggling within and out of the region is well organized, systematic, and concerns the majority of gold leaving the region. The dominance of crime in the industry is enabled by a variety of factors affecting the entire gold supply chain. Illegal financing, by gold, cash, or other means, fuels the process. Fraudulent practices are a central aspect in land exploitation, and allow criminals to employ more effective methods for extraction and production, and to conceal the real quantity of gold produced. A network of illegal buyers collects gold from production sites and smuggles it to regional traders and refiners, who, in turn, are likely to obscure its real origin, ownership, and quantity. Gold is then smuggled out of the country or region mainly by air, often via Cameroon or Uganda, towards Asia (United Arab Emirates, India, and China). Smuggling gold to neighbouring countries allow criminals to benefit from discrepancies in export taxes. It also allows them to introduce gold onto the global market masking its origin, especially if originating from conflict zones. Information suggests that gold mining is largely controlled by criminal consortia composed of different actors, who, collectively, benefit from criminal synergies: members of organized crimes groups (OCGs) and /or corrupt officials in high-ranking positions, economic players, and non-state armed groups in conflict zones. The presence of non-state armed groups in gold mining areas, who seek to finance their activities with the illicit proceeds from this natural resource, is likely to be controlled.

Paris: INTERPOL; ENACT AFRICA, 2021. 53p.

By The American University Center for Latin American & Latino Studies and InSight Crime

This report details the causes, consequences, and responses to IUU fishing crimes in nine countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guyana, Jamaica, Panama, Suriname, and Uruguay. Our analysis draws on academic research; press reports; interviews with fishers, experts and government officials conducted in 2021 and 2022; and comments by participants in off-the-record workshops hosted virtually at American University. The report first details the adverse consequences of IUU fishing in Latin America and the Caribbean, including its direct and indirect economic costs, environmental consequences, contributions to food insecurity and potential conflict. The second section analyzes the scope of crimes associated with IUU fishing in the nine countries, describing three distinct dynamics of IUU fishing at work in the hemisphere. The third section analyzes the legislative sources of the weak government response to IUU fishing in the nine countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, discussing the gaps in existing legislation, patchwork international agreements, and a web of bilateral agreements with a variety of international actors. The fourth section evaluates the considerable variation in three significant measures of regional law enforcement capacity: physical capacity, surveillance capabilities, and prosecutorial-judicial capacity. Finally, the report concludes by recommending areas in which policies against IUU fishing could be strengthened to deter fishing-related crime across Latin America and the Caribbean.

Washington, DC: American University Center for Latin American & Latino Studies and InSight Crime, 2022. 77p.

By EMS Foundation, and Ban Animal Trading

This Report examines and investigates substantial problems and endemic loopholes in the CITES permitting, enforcement and oversight system. It further demonstrates the failings of South Africa’s national policies and procedures, all of which translate into a convergence of the legal and illegal trade in wild animals.

Honeydew, South Africa: EMS Foundation, 2018. 122p.

By The Donkey Sanctuary

Global donkey populations are in crisis. Donkeys are being traded and stolen as the demand for their skins increases, driven by the production of ejiao, a traditional Chinese remedy believed by some to have medicinal properties. It is estimated that the ejiao industry currently requires approximately 4.8 million donkey skins annually. With China’s donkey herd reducing from 11 million in 1992 to just 2.6 million currently, the ejiao industry has had to source donkey skins from around the world, placing unprecedented pressure on donkey populations globally, and contributing to the collapse of some national donkey populations. For many of the world’s most vulnerable communities, and women in particular, donkeys are a pathway out of poverty and can be the difference between destitution and modest survival. They are used daily to collect water and provide transport for families to attend health clinics and children to attend school. The income generated by donkeys transporting goods to market enables owners to invest in savings schemes, contributing to building stronger economies within their communities. For these people the trade in donkey skins has had a catastrophic impact

Sidmouth, Devon, UK: The Donkey Sanctuary, 2019. 60p.

By The Donkey Sanctuary

The global donkey population is estimated at 44 million(1) and is largely associated with economically developing nations where donkeys are predominantly working animals. The donkey’s role socially, culturally and economically varies widely depending upon the communities in which it lives and works. Its traditional, domesticated roles have included packing, riding, ploughing and carting, with lesser roles in entertainment and food production. Whilst the role of the donkey as a production animal has been evident throughout history, with records of donkey meat and milk being prized by the ancient Egyptians(2), the consumption of products of donkey origin was limited in the 20th century, with a re-emergence noticed in the 21st century. During the last three years The Donkey Sanctuary has become aware of an emerging interest in the use of donkeys as production animals, with the most highly valued products being skins (often referred to as hides), meat and milk. Global demand for diverse products of donkey origin has escalated rapidly, with a particular interest in the premium products resulting from donkey skins.

Sidmouth, Devon, UK: The Donkey Sanctuary, 2017. 32p.

By The Donkey Sanctuary

The illegal wildlife trade is a serious transnational organised crime. It is also a significant financial crime. Worldwide, for every wildlife product trafficked illegally, money changes hands – from online marketplaces to cross-border wire transfers. At United for Wildlife, our mission is to bring together relevant and leading players from the public, private and not-for-profit sectors to combat this heinous crime and save protected species from extinction.

Sidmouth, Devon, UK: The Donkey Sanctuary, 2022. 54p.

By Liwalam Madikiza

In this paper, a review and assessment of the status of the fishery was done by looking at the abalone policy objectives for the Long Term Fishing Rights Allocation Process and examine the status of those specific policy objectives. In addition, a general assessment of the fishery focusing on important topical issues was conducted. Since the implementation of MLRA, a reasonable progress has been made towards legalizing and management of abalone fishing industry, but the major threat of escalating reports of illegal fishing or poaching has a detrimental effect to the resource. Most of the abalone (legal and illegal) is exported to the Far East. Political changes in South Africa i.e. the end of apartheid regime added both urgency and expectations of broadened access and might have prompted those that were disappointed by the outcome of the process of rights allocation to join illegal fishing. There are currently 303 authorized commercial abalone right holders as opposed to 5 right holders prior to the transformation process, with a further number of people directly depending on this fishery to meet the basic requirements for living.

United Nations University, Fisheries Training Program, Iceland. 2015. 44p.