The WCO and partner organisations forming the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) on 18 June 2015 welcomed the results achieved during Operation COBRA III, an international law enforcement operation that focused on combating wildlife crime and bringing the criminals involved to justice.
Conducted in May 2015, the Operation resulted in 139 arrests and more than 247 seizures, which included elephant ivory, medical plants, rhino horns, pangolin, rosewood, tortoises and many other species. Key successes during the operation included the arrest of a Chinese national believed to have been coordinating rhino-horn smuggling from Namibia, the arrest of a notorious elephant poacher in India and the seizure of 340 elephant tusks and 65 rhino horns in Mozambique. Over 50 000 illegal wildlife items were seized in the United Kingdom, as well as an additional 10 000 in Austria and 5 000 in Germany, which included large volumes of illegal supplement capsules containing wildlife products. Other countries where large numbers of illegal items were seized include China, Singapore and South Africa. In total 37 countries reported seizures and/or arrests during the operation.
Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), commented that "the success of Operation COBRA III sheds light on the widespread and intricate network of criminals who are profiting from wildlife trafficking worldwide. While I congratulate the participating countries on these seizures, I also hope that equal emphasis is placed on the prosecutions and intelligence-led investigations which have to follow. It is key to keep in mind that it takes a network to defeat a network."
Multilateral cooperation and collective efforts stood at the centre of the operation organised by regional enforcement networks and intergovernmental organisations under the chairmanship of the Association of South East Asian Nations Wildlife Enforcement Network Law Enforcement Extension Office (ASEAN-WEN LEEO). Officers from customs, police, forestry, wildlife and other law enforcement agencies from 62 countries in Africa, America, Asia and Europe worked together closely to combat the illegal wildlife trade.
“Wildlife poaching and smuggling continue to threaten many endangered species with extinction. Cooperative enforcement operations such as this one are crucial to combat these nefarious activities and to raise awareness of the problem’s scale. I commend the Customs authorities and other agencies that are making a difference on the ground in the struggle against wildlife crime,” said WCO Secretary General Kunio Mikuriya.
Further arrests and prosecutions could be expected, as follow up investigations resulting from the operation continue.
