To contain poachers, follow the money trail

Government officials display ivory to the press at Mombasa port yesterday in October 2013. Two 40 feet containers with more than 1000 pieces of ivory bound for Turkey were seized. Photo GEORGE KIKAMI/ NATION

What you need to know:

  • A thief lifts your wallet or purse. What does he potentially have? Money, definitely, but he also holds a snapshot of your life.
  • Wildlife is being slaughtered in unprecedented numbers by individuals who know their movements, understand their habits and can follow their tracks.

The World Wildlife Day observed early this week was not a time to celebrate our planet’s infinite biodiversity.

We are living in a world where some of our most loved animals are fast disappearing. These animals are the victims of poachers and criminal networks who care nothing for the environment, and everything for profit.

There are now fewer than 3,000 tigers left in the wild. Rhino populations have also been decimated and thousands of elephants are being senselessly slaughtered each year. The proceeds earned from wildlife crime are staggering.

In the 21st Century, the phrase “worth its weight in gold” has become antiquated. According to a Chatham House report, rhino horn is now worth more than either gold or platinum on the black markets of some countries.

The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) estimates that, for instance, the total value of the illicit wildlife trade for East Asia and the Pacific is $2.5 billion.

Although most countries recognise the need for a strong law enforcement response, greater emphasis needs to be placed on tracking the criminals’ financial footprints. To fully appreciate this, let’s start with a simple concept.

A thief lifts your wallet or purse. What does he potentially have? Money, definitely, but he also holds a snapshot of your life.

He has credit cards identifying your name and your bank details; business cards revealing essential relationships, membership cards showing associations; and credit card stubs exposing where, when and how you like to spend money.

THINK LIKE BUSINESSMEN

That image can be polished in many ways to allow the criminals to attempt yet more crimes. But just as your wallet provides details of your life, modern law enforcement has the ability to examine a criminal’s financial activities, and in doing so, gain a greater understanding of his or her operations.

Peering into the criminal’s wallet is based on an inviolable principle: Criminal networks are businesses. They have to move their proceeds either through local banks or by using couriers holding bags of cash.

Through detailed investigations, we can build a picture of their activities based on bank accounts, courier movements, transport methods, and paper trails.

Chasing dirty money is the best way of putting the criminals out of business, but it is also challenging. Bar the criminal’s use of an airport, and the criminals will turn to the ports.

Block a port, and the criminals will seek a land route. Based on solid information gathering, however, we have the ability to think ahead of the criminals and place a policeman on the quayside, or at a border crossing.

Based on UNODC’s analysis, in 2009, criminals laundered some $1.6 trillion or 2.7 per cent of global GDP. Around $8-10 billion of this amount is conservatively estimated to be the profits of wildlife crime. Once this amount enters the financial markets, it becomes harder to trace and can be used to fund other criminal activities.

To prevent this, we need to think like businessmen and remove the liquidity from the criminal operations. Wildlife is being slaughtered in unprecedented numbers by individuals who know their movements, understand their habits and can follow their tracks. Let’s turn the tables on the criminal networks.

Mr Fedotov is the executive director, UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNDOC).