Wildlife traffickers are funneling ‘dirty money’ into organized crime networks, researcher finds

A new study has found that the illegal wildlife trade is closely linked to other forms of organized crime, including arms dealing, drug trafficking and human trafficking.

Michel Anagnostou led the research as part of his PhD at the University of Waterloo (UW).

He said that while doing research he was surprised to learn that a large knowledge gap exists when it comes to illegal activity. Worth billions annually.

“We don’t have a full understanding of how these organized crime networks are moving their dirty money internationally,” Anagnosto told CBC K-W. The Morning Edition,

“So, especially when they have such a sophisticated money laundering system that they have established from their trafficking in drugs and human trafficking and are now using it to favor wildlife, how can we better reach out to those who are making millions and millions of dollars from wildlife and human exploitation?

“And they may not even be touching the product. So, we keep arresting poachers in protected areas and smugglers at the border, and many times they are lower in the value chain than the people we need to target,” Anagnostou added.

Wildlife trafficking is an illegal business that involves the illegal harvesting or trading of animals and plants. According to the study, illegal wildlife trade has wide-ranging impacts on society globally.

RCMP committed to disrupting criminal threats: spokesperson

The RCMP, Canada’s national police force, says it is committed to protecting Canadians and Canadian institutions by detecting, investigating and disrupting the most significant criminal threats.

A spokesperson for the force said that most of these investigations focus on organized crime networks that smuggle many commodities in and out of Canada.

“The RCMP is committed to working with provinces, territories and international partners to address the illegal wildlife trade and investigate the involvement of organized criminal networks in this market,” Robin Percival wrote in an email to CBC News.

Percival said the RCMP works with partner law enforcement agencies and the private sector to investigate the laundering of the proceeds of crime derived from the criminal trafficking of a number of commodities.

Percival said the force also investigates and charges criminal actors suspected of involvement in the smuggling of multiple commodities.

Brent Doberstein, a professor in the environment faculty at the UW and Anagnosto’s doctoral supervisor, said the study is a prime example of the kind of research that can inform policy with real-world experience to solve a global problem.

“This work promises to expand what we know about the complex world of illegal wildlife trade and help design interventions to reduce the extent of this crime,” Doberstein said.

Anagnosto’s research used “innovative methods of data collection” and access to law enforcement and intelligence experts who often cannot share opinions or experiences publicly.

Anagnostou Said The next phase of research will focus on understanding how to best implement anti-money laundering interventions to combat wildlife trafficking in Canada.

“How do we do this better? How do we follow the money, so to speak, and use financial transactions and leverage banks and financial intelligence units to better address this crime and essentially get to these high-ranking criminal offenders who are really making a lot of money?”