Issuu

From inception to impact: Ten years of Wildlife Justice

From inception to impact

Table of contents Foreword

Investigations

Page 5

Page 16

Born of desperation

Shaping the global response to wildlife trafficking

Page 6

Turning evidence into action Page 8

Testing the model Page 12

Page 28

The power of partnerships Page 32

Our next decade Page 35

From inception to impact

Foreword by Heather Grady

In the early days of the Wildlife Justice Commission, what I remember was our lack of certainty about what could be achieved, a strange mixture of doubt and hope. When we were founded ten years ago, the African poaching crisis seemed hopeless: elephants, pangolins, and rhinos were being slaughtered by the thousands. Existing models of prevention, focusing largely on product seizures and arresting low-level poachers, were simply not effective enough. And prevailing projections showed that these iconic species would soon be gone forever. But among those of us who were present at Wildlife Justice’s creation, there was also hope. That hope was based on identifying a novel way to fight wildlife trafficking: to address it as serious organised crime. Doing so would require pursuing accountability through a new approach. Although some specifics may have changed, the basic elements of the Wildlife Justice model were there from the outset: partnering with law enforcement agencies, shaping relevant treaties and policies, and relentlessly pursuing the kingpins at the top of the trafficking networks. Looking back, it is hard to believe that ten years have passed. And it is remarkable how well that radical new idea has worked: that Wildlife Justice’s approach has taken hold, and grown, and proven effective all over the world. In just ten years, this small, scrappy organisation has generated scores of arrests, disrupted dozens of trafficking networks, and rescued thousands of animals from the illegal pet trade. I am proud to have been part of the organisation’s journey from the beginning. I am honoured to have watched its progress over the past decade. And I am humbled to have seen supporters rally to its cause, from government officials to law enforcement agencies to philanthropic foundations to committed individuals around the world, all united by a shared determination to protect wildlife and hold criminal networks to account. Ten years ago, I was anxious. Today, I am beyond excited to see what Wildlife Justice will surely achieve in its next decade.

Born of desperation CHAPTER 1

From inception to impact

n 2015, a small group of people gathered in the Netherlands, driven by desperation.

The African poaching crisis had reached a critical tipping point: elephants, rhinos, and pangolins were being trafficked to extinction. Soon, there would be none left. From this small group of visionaries, a new idea emerged, one rooted in a simple but urgent question: What if wildlife crime was treated like the serious organised crime that it truly is? The existing models had failed. Enforcement efforts at that time focused largely on low-level actors, not those driving the trade. Meanwhile, the individuals orchestrating these crimes—the organisers, financiers, and kingpins—operated with relative impunity, generating vast profits and expanding their criminal networks across borders. The system was not designed to go after them. There was a gap—a failure to generate accountability for wildlife crimes. Founded by Peace Parks Foundation and WWF Netherlands, with support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery Dream Fund, Wildlife Justice was established in The

Hague, the City of Peace and Justice. This was a deliberate choice: to anchor the organisation in a place synonymous with accountability and justice. From the outset, Wildlife Justice was designed as an accountability mechanism— one that would bring the full weight of criminal investigation to bear on wildlife trafficking and ensure that those most responsible could no longer operate untouched. Rather than focusing on the products of crime, we focused on the networks behind them. Rather than reacting to seizures, we set out to build cases. And rather than targeting those at the bottom of the chain, we focused on those at the top. We brought together law enforcement and legal expertise and built an operational model grounded in penetrating the networks. We generated actionable intelligence, developed evidence that could stand up in court, and worked directly with national authorities to support enforcement action. We also held governments to account when action was lacking. This was a fundamental shift in approach, a recognition that wildlife trafficking is not a series of isolated incidents, but a system driven by organised crime. And that stopping it required a new, untested approach.

Turning evidence into action CHAPTER 2

From inception to impact

rom the outset, Wildlife Justice set out to do more than expose wildlife crime. We set out to shut it down. This required a different standard of evidence—one that could move beyond awareness and into enforcement. We sought to generate information that could be used immediately by authorities to identify, investigate, and prosecute high-level traffickers. At the heart of this approach was the Case File. Built through intelligence-led, undercover investigations, each Case File maps the full structure of a criminal network: its actors, operations, financial flows, and crossborder connections. These are detailed, actionable documents designed for direct use by national law enforcement agencies. Each Case File is independently reviewed before being formally submitted to the relevant authorities, accompanied by a process of direct engagement. The objective is clear: to support enforcement action and ensure that those most responsible are brought to justice. To date, cases supported by Wildlife Justice intelligence and prosecuted by national authorities have achieved a 100% conviction rate for all targeted arrests.

In our early years, we recognised that while some governments were willing to act, others lacked the resources, the information, or the impetus to do so. To address this, we developed a model built on both collaboration and accountability. We engage authorities through dialogue: sharing intelligence, supporting investigations, and working to strengthen their capacity to respond. But where this engagement does not lead to sufficient action, we retain a final mechanism: a Public Hearing. Conceived as a tool of last resort, the Public Hearing brings together an independent panel of experts to assess the evidence, validate the Case File, and issue recommendations to the relevant authorities. It is designed to create both legal and political momentum—ensuring that inaction carries consequences. In 2016, we put this model to the test. Through an 18-month undercover investigation, Wildlife Justice identified a major wildlife trafficking hub in Nhi Khe, Vietnam, a village near Hanoi. There, the illegal trade in ivory, rhino horn, tiger parts, and other protected species was conducted openly through physical shops and increasingly through social media platforms. The scale was staggering. Over a single year, our investigators documented an estimated USD 53 million worth of illegal wildlife products for sale. They identified 51 traffickers, mapped smuggling routes into China, and traced the financial infrastructure underpinning the trade, including bank J

The Wildlife Justice Commission

accounts used to receive payments from international buyers. This was not a hidden operation. It was an overt marketplace run by transnational organised crime groups. In November 2016, Wildlife Justice convened a Public Hearing at the Peace Palace in The Hague. An independent panel of international criminal law and anti-corruption experts reviewed the evidence and confirmed its credibility, issuing clear recommendations for action. In the months that followed, Vietnamese authorities took decisive steps. The head of one of the identified syndicates was arrested in possession of 36 kilograms (kg) of rhino horn. Other enforcement actions followed, targeting organised networks operating within the country. Within a year, the impact was visible. The once-open trade in Nhi Khe had largely been eradicated. Just as importantly, a new dynamic was established. Wildlife Justice continued to work in close collaboration with Vietnamese authorities—sharing further intelligence, submitting additional Case Files, and supporting ongoing efforts to disrupt trafficking networks. This moment marked a turning point. It demonstrated that when provided with targeted, credible, and actionable intelligence, authorities can act—even against high-level criminals. It showed that accountability, when combined with partnership, can drive sustained enforcement outcomes. And it reshaped our model. From that point forward, Wildlife Justice shifted to working alongside law enforcement to actively disrupt transnational organised wildlife crime.

It demonstrated that when provided with targeted, credible, and actionable intelligence, authorities can act—even against high-level criminals.

Wildlife Justice’s Public Hearing at the Peace Palace, The Hague, the Netherlands, November 2016.

Testing the model CHAPTER 3

From inception to impact

ith Wildlife Justice’s new model validated, the next question was clear: Could this approach work at scale—across borders, across species, and against increasingly complex criminal networks? Operation Dragon provided the answer. Launched in 2016, Operation Dragon marked a significant evolution in Wildlife Justice’s work. Until then, much of the conservation world’s focus had been on iconic species such as elephants and rhinos. But beneath the surface, another crisis was unfolding—one receiving far less attention. Freshwater turtles and tortoises were being trafficked at alarming rates to supply the illegal pet trade. These species, among the most threatened vertebrates in the world, were being quietly pushed towards collapse. Their rarity—and the growing demand for exotic pets—made them highly valuable commodities. Yet the networks driving this trade remained largely unexamined, and the standard enforcement efforts continued to focus on low-level couriers. Once again, those most responsible remained out of reach.

For Wildlife Justice, this was precisely where intervention was needed. Using systematic intelligence gathering and analysis, our investigators began mapping trafficking activity across Asia. Social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps, and online marketplaces became key entry points—revealing a highly organised and increasingly digital trade. Over the course of the two-year investigation, Wildlife Justice identified more than 200 persons of interest and focused on eight interconnected criminal networks operating across India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, and Thailand. These were not isolated actors, but coordinated systems linked through shared suppliers, routes, and infrastructure. Investigators were offered more than 20,000 live animals representing 16 different protected species, including critically endangered turtles and tortoises. Based on the traffickers’ own pricing, the documented wholesale value exceeded USD 3 million—with far higher returns at retail level. But the most important insight was not the scale. It was the structure. J

For Wildlife Justice, success would no longer be measured by the number of seizures alone.

At the centre of the trade was a consistent and critical enabler: corruption. Traffickers referred to “settings”—trusted channels within airports and transport hubs that allowed shipments to pass with minimal risk of detection. Investigators documented 59 such “settings” across 14 countries, illustrating the scale of the corruption facilitating the trade. Routes shifted depending on where these protections were strongest, demonstrating the adaptability of the networks and the systemic nature of the problem. Armed with this intelligence, Wildlife Justice worked closely with international partners, including INTERPOL and national law enforcement agencies. In one case, our intelligence led to the identification of a “safe house” in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Authorities acted swiftly, arresting five suspects and seizing hundreds of animals, including critically endangered species.

Across the operation, the results were significant. – Eight criminal networks were disrupted. – 30 individuals were arrested. – More than 6,000 live reptiles were rescued from the illegal trade. But the impact went beyond these outcomes. For the first time, the interconnected nature of wildlife trafficking networks was clearly mapped. The role of corruption was documented in detail. And the dynamics of supply, demand, and criminal organisation were brought into focus across multiple countries and species. For Wildlife Justice, success would no longer be measured by the number of seizures alone, but by the extent to which networks were disrupted, corruption exposed, and highlevel actors brought to justice. Operation Dragon showed that the model was not only effective—it was adaptable, scalable, and capable of addressing the complexity of modern wildlife crime.

Investigations CHAPTER 4

y this stage, Wildlife Justice’s model had moved beyond proof of concept.

Over the past decade, Wildlife Justice’s investigations have exposed some of the world’s most significant wildlife trafficking operations—networks moving ivory, rhino horn, pangolin scales, live animals, and marine species across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Though the commodities differed, the underlying system remained strikingly consistent. High-level traffickers operated through sophisticated international supply chains. Corruption, fraudulent permits, and complex financial structures concealed criminal activity. And at every stage, the greatest profits flowed to the kingpins at the top. Taking down those organisers became the focus of Wildlife Justice’s work. 17

The Wildlife Justice Commission

The downfall of Vietnam’s “Wolf of Wall Street” One of the clearest examples of this approach emerged through Operation Medusa. Launched in 2016, the investigation targeted Nguyen Van Nam, also known as “Ah Nam,” a Vietnamese trafficker operating a major criminal pipeline moving elephant ivory and rhino horn from Africa to Asia. At the time, Vietnam was a centre for high-value wildlife products moving into China. Networks operating between Africa and Southeast Asia were expanding rapidly, supported by established smuggling routes, corrupt facilitators, and growing demand for ivory and rhino horn. Ah Nam was one of the key brokers driving this trade. Over three years, Wildlife Justice investigators infiltrated his network and documented the scale of his operations. The investigation verified his access to at least 17.6 tonnes of ivory, valued at more than USD 9 million, and 477 kg of rhino horn, valued at over USD 8 million— quantities representing the killing of approximately 1,700–1,800 elephants and over 106 rhinos. These figures likely represent only a fraction of his criminal activity. In one instance alone, Ah Nam offered a shipment involving 76 rhino horns—the

largest quantity Wildlife Justice investigators had encountered in a single deal at that time. But beyond the quantities involved, the investigation revealed something more important: the structure and sophistication of the trafficking system itself. The network operated across borders, linking African source countries to Asian markets through brokers, couriers, financiers, and corrupt facilitators. This was organised crime operating on a massive scale. The investigation also highlighted the importance of following the money behind wildlife trafficking. Evidence gathered during Operation Medusa provided insight into the financial structures of the trade, the movement of illicit proceeds, and the assets acquired through criminal activity. These financial links offered important opportunities to further unravel the network, identify additional actors, and pursue the broader criminal enterprise beyond the immediate trafficking offences. Strengthening the use of financial investigations alongside wildlife crime investigations remains a critical opportunity for future enforcement efforts.

Information and evidence gathered during the investigation were compiled into a comprehensive intelligence brief and shared with authorities in Vietnam and China. In September 2019, Ah Nam was arrested in Hanoi alongside his top associate. He was later convicted and sentenced to 11 years in prison. The broader impact extended well beyond Ah Nam’s conviction. Seizures in three countries followed, totalling nearly 2.9 tonnes of ivory and over 160 kg of rhino horn, while 20 individuals were imprisoned. Just as importantly, the case established a new operational direction for Wildlife Justice. It demonstrated the value of tracing trafficking routes from end markets back to source countries, targeting the individuals coordinating the trade across continents, and building long-term investigations capable of exposing entire criminal systems, not just isolated transactions. This approach would directly shape the expansion of Wildlife Justice investigations across Africa, particularly into Nigeria.

In one instance alone, Ah Nam offered a shipment involving 76 rhino horns—the largest quantity Wildlife Justice investigators had encountered in a single deal at that time.

Nguyen Van Nam, Vietnam, 2016. 18

From inception to impact

Operation Hydra: Disrupting pangolin trafficking networks Nowhere did this model come to life more powerfully than in Nigeria, during Operation Hydra. Between 2016 and 2019, Nigeria emerged as the world’s largest hub for pangolin trafficking, linked to more than half of global seizures; the country also served as a major transit point for elephant ivory bound for Asia. Vast criminal networks exploited the country’s ports, shipping infrastructure, and established trafficking routes. Thousands of pangolins and elephants were being killed to supply the trade. Yet enforcement approaches continued to focus on seizures rather than the criminal infrastructure driving the trafficking. Wildlife Justice, working closely with the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), deployed its new approach. Rather than targeting couriers or isolated shipments, investigators focused on identifying and disrupting the high-level traffickers coordinating and financing the trade between Africa and Asia. Through undercover operations, intelligence analysis, and network mapping, investigators infiltrated trafficking groups, identified key actors, and traced supply chains operating across multiple jurisdictions. The results were substantial. Between July 2021 and December 2025, Wildlife Justice-supported operations contributed to 42 arrests and 15 convictions. Authorities seized 25.3 tonnes of pangolin scales—representing up to 135,000 pangolins—alongside ivory from the killing of more than 250 elephants. Notably, 91% of pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria during this period were driven by Wildlife Justice’s intelligence. But the significance of Operation Hydra extended beyond enforcement statistics. The operation fundamentally altered the trafficking landscape.

Major Vietnamese and Chinese networks operating between Africa and Asia were identified and disrupted. In 2022, intelligence developed through the NCSWildlife Justice partnership led to the arrest of three Vietnamese network leaders involved in pangolin scale and ivory trafficking. Their convictions in 2023 marked a major milestone in prosecuting high-level wildlife traffickers operating across continents. As later investigations revealed, this network extended well beyond Nigeria and formed part of one of the most sophisticated transnational wildlife trafficking enterprises identified to date. Further investigations culminated in the arrest of a Chinese kingpin in 2025 linked to the largest global seizure of pangolin scales since 2020. Trafficking routes from Nigeria effectively collapsed: as of the end of 2025, there had been no major seizures at Asian seaports linked to Nigeria in more than three years. Market prices have dropped and stabilised, reflecting increased risk and reduced profitability. Syndicates have splintered, and the fundamental economics of the trade have shifted. This is the critical aspect of disruption. Success is not measured solely by seizures or arrests, but by the extent to which wildlife trafficking becomes riskier and less profitable. By increasing pressure on trafficking networks, Operation Hydra also reduced pressure on wild populations, slowing the rate of exploitation and giving species a chance to recover and rebound over time. Operation Hydra demonstrated that Wildlife Justice could transform trafficking from low risk/high reward to high risk/ low reward.

Trafficking routes from Nigeria effectively collapsed: as of the end of 2025, there had been no major seizures at Asian seaports linked to Nigeria in more than three years.

The Wildlife Justice Commission

From “untouchable” to convicted: The Navara case

Simon Valoi during his arrest in Maputo, Mozambique, July 2022.

The idea that certain traffickers were “untouchable” had begun to erode.

Wildlife Justice’s work in Mozambique further demonstrated the long-term value of intelligence-led investigations and trusted partnerships. At the depth of the global rhino poaching crisis, southern Africa was the epicentre. Criminal networks operated across borders with relative impunity, supported by corruption, local facilitators, and deeply entrenched smuggling systems. Among the most prominent figures was Simon Valoi, known as “Navara” and widely regarded as “untouchable”. Protected by corrupt networks and embedded within local communities, he was one of the region’s most notorious rhino horn traffickers. In 2020, Wildlife Justice launched a covert investigation aimed at building a prosecutable case against him. Working closely with Mozambique’s Serviço Nacional de Investigação Criminal (SERNIC), our investigators documented Navara’s direct involvement in rhino horn trafficking through a series of undercover engagements that generated critical intelligence and evidence. In August 2024, the investigation culminated in Navara’s arrest and conviction. Navara was sentenced to 27 years in prison for rhino horn trafficking, money laundering, and criminal association, while his top associate received a 24-year sentence. The significance of the case extended far beyond the convictions themselves. It marked the first time NGO-provided evidence played a pivotal role in securing the conviction of a high-level wildlife trafficker. The operation disrupted a network linked to the killing of more than 100 rhinos and sent a powerful signal throughout the region that even high-level traffickers could be brought to justice.

It also reflected a broader principle underpinning Wildlife Justice’s work: longterm disruption depends not only on investigations, but on strengthening trusted partnerships and institutional capacity within national law enforcement agencies. Crucially, it demonstrated the importance of an effective criminal justice response— where strong evidence, sustained enforcement action, and proportionate sentencing combine to increase accountability and raise the risks for those involved in organised wildlife crime. The conviction of Navara, alongside parallel disruptions targeting Vietnameseled trafficking networks operating across southern Africa, significantly increased the perceived risk environment for organised criminal actors operating between Africa and Asia. The idea that certain traffickers were “untouchable” had begun to erode.

From inception to impact

What initially appeared to be separate trafficking operations was, in reality, part of a coordinated transnational criminal enterprise.

Investigation A Mozambique • rhino horn Investigation B Nigeria • pangolin & ivory

Exposing one of the most sophisticated trafficking networks identified to date One of the most significant outcomes of Operation Hydra was the exposure of a highly sophisticated transnational wildlife trafficking network operating between Africa and Asia. Through intelligence developed during Wildlife Justice’s investigations in Nigeria and Mozambique, investigators uncovered a criminal enterprise coordinating the movement of rhino horn, pangolin scales, elephant ivory, and big cat products through complex supply chains destined for Asian markets. The investigation into this network first began as two separate operations: one targeting rhino horn trafficking in Mozambique and another targeting pangolin scale and ivory trafficking in Nigeria. In 2021, analysis of a major seizure in Lagos revealed that both investigations were, in fact, targeting different parts of the same criminal network. What initially appeared to be separate trafficking operations was, in reality, part of a coordinated transnational criminal enterprise. Working alongside the Nigeria Customs Service and Mozambique’s SERNIC, Wildlife Justice investigators helped expose the full structure of the network and its operations across multiple jurisdictions. Evidence demonstrated the trafficking of rhino horn, pangolin scales, elephant ivory, and lion and

2021 Lagos seizure One network revealed

tiger bone products through highly organised supply chains operating over many years. The network was sophisticated, financially resilient, and highly adaptive. Investigators documented the use of shell companies, cryptocurrency transactions, fraudulent documentation, and cooperation with other criminal syndicates to finance and coordinate large-scale shipments. Even after major seizures, the network retained the capacity to continue operating. In July 2023, three senior Vietnamese members of this network were convicted in Nigeria for wildlife trafficking offences following intelligence developed through Operation Hydra. Their convictions marked a major milestone in efforts to hold highlevel traffickers accountable and demonstrated the impact of intelligence-led investigations combined with sustained international cooperation. The case demonstrated the true scale of organised wildlife crime: networks operating across continents, trafficking multiple species, and adapting in response to enforcement pressure. By exposing the links between trafficking routes, criminal actors, and financial structures, the investigation showed how intelligence-led approaches can reveal and disrupt the systems that allow wildlife crime to persist.

July 2023 3 convicted • Nigeria

The Wildlife Justice Commission

The illegal pet trade: Rescue and repatriation While many Wildlife Justice investigations focus on wildlife products such as rhino horn and pangolin scales, the same organised criminal networks also traffic live animals for the illegal pet trade. This trade presents a different operational challenge and a different measure of impact: securing the recovery and return of trafficked animals, still alive. A major transnational operation involving endangered species trafficked from Madagascar through Southeast Asia illustrated both the scale of the trade and the complexity of responding to it. In 2024, Thai authorities intercepted a shipment of more than 1,300 live animals,

These outcomes demonstrate how intelligence-led investigations can create opportunities not only for prosecutions and disruption, but in some cases for rescue and return to the wild.

including critically endangered tortoises and lemurs. Captured for profit and destined for international collectors and exotic pet markets, the animals had been transported through organised trafficking channels. Wildlife Justice’s investigation uncovered a sophisticated criminal network operating at both ends of the supply chain. Authorities ultimately identified and prosecuted ten traffickers in Madagascar, including the network’s kingpin and several senior associates. Eight traffickers received ten-year prison sentences, while additional custodial sentences, fines, and asset freezes were imposed on other members of the network. International arrest warrants were also issued for senior figures still at large. More importantly, the operation led, in collaboration with our partners, to the historic repatriation of the seized animals to Madagascar. Many of the species involved face catastrophic population decline in the wild. These animals’ rescue and return contributed directly to species survival and wider conservation efforts. In a similar operation in 2025, four orangutans seized during Wildlife Justice-led operations in Thailand were repatriated to Indonesia, where they were rehabilitated before being released into the wild. These outcomes demonstrate how intelligenceled investigations can create opportunities not only for prosecution and disruption, but also, in some cases, for the rescue and rehabilitation of trafficked wildlife. Since 2016, Wildlife Justice-supported operations have contributed to the rescue of more than 13,000 live animals globally.

From inception to impact

Marine species trafficking: Inside the shark fin underworld More recently, Wildlife Justice expanded its investigations into marine species trafficking—a rapidly growing area of organised wildlife crime that remains significantly under-enforced despite its enormous scale and profitability. This work began, as many Wildlife Justice investigations do, with fragments of intelligence: names, patterns, and unexplained movements of product across Latin America. Gradually, investigators began to piece together a picture of sophisticated trafficking networks moving high-value marine wildlife products through international supply routes to buyers in Asia. The investigations revealed that these networks relied on many of the same criminal dynamics seen across terrestrial wildlife trafficking: corruption, fraudulent permits and documentation, sophisticated logistics systems, and coordinated cross-border activity. Through undercover operations and close collaboration with enforcement partners, Wildlife Justice investigators identified key actors, trafficking routes, storage facilities, and other infrastructure supporting the illegal trade.

Using shipment data, customs documentation, communication analysis, and financial intelligence, Wildlife Justice built a comprehensive intelligence picture before sharing evidence with authorities across jurisdictions. This work has resulted in significant enforcement action, including a major seizure of shark fin and sea cucumber, and the arrest of high-level traffickers and facilitators. One operation marked a particular milestone: It was the first major Wildlife Justice operation targeting a top-tier marine wildlife trafficker and demonstrated that the same intelligence-led model used against ivory, rhino horn, and pangolin trafficking networks could also be applied effectively to marine species crime. The urgency of this work is clear. Sharks have existed for more than 400 million years and play a critical role in maintaining ocean health. Yet an estimated 100 million sharks are killed each year, primarily for their fins, and many shark species are now threatened with extinction. More broadly, the illegal trade in marine species, valued at up to USD 23.5 billion annually, continues

Networks trafficking shark fins are frequently connected to money laundering, corruption, and drug trafficking. to drive biodiversity loss, weaken ocean ecosystems, and undermine climate resilience. What distinguishes Wildlife Justice’s approach is its focus on the land-based bosses controlling marine trafficking networks. While traditional enforcement efforts have operated at sea, the real control of these networks lies on land with the brokers, exporters, financiers, and corrupt officials. By targeting these actors, Wildlife Justice investigators are disrupting trafficking systems at their core. The investigation also reinforced a broader reality increasingly visible across Wildlife Justice operations: wildlife trafficking rarely exists in isolation. Networks trafficking shark fins are

frequently connected to money laundering, corruption, drug trafficking, and other forms of organised crime. Targeting wildlife trafficking therefore creates opportunities to expose and disrupt wider criminal ecosystems. Building on these operations, Wildlife Justice is expanding investigations into trafficking networks dealing in sea cucumbers, live reef fish, and other high-value marine species, with early outcomes indicating encouraging progress. Together, these investigations reflect the evolution of Wildlife Justice’s intelligence-led model across continents, species, and trafficking systems. Whether targeting ivory and rhino horn networks between Africa and Asia, dismantling pangolin trafficking syndicates in West Africa, securing landmark prosecutions in southern Africa, rescuing live animals from the illegal pet trade, or confronting marine trafficking networks in Latin America, the underlying principle remains the same: wildlife trafficking must be treated as organised crime.

Shaping the global response to wildlife trafficking CHAPTER 5

From inception to impact

s Wildlife Justice’s investigations expanded across continents, another challenge became increasingly clear. Disrupting criminal networks required more than enforcement alone. Even the strongest investigations could only go so far if laws remained weak, penalties inconsistent, or international cooperation fragmented. Traffickers exploit these gaps strategically by moving products, money, and operations across jurisdictions faster than legal systems can respond. To change the risk environment for organised wildlife crime, the system itself must change. This is the idea behind Wildlife Justice’s policy work. From the outset, the organisation’s investigations generated more than operational outcomes. They produced something rare and valuable: a detailed, real-world understanding of how transnational organised wildlife crime networks actually function. Undercover investigations revealed how criminal groups adapted to enforcement pressure, exploited legal loopholes, corrupted officials, concealed financial flows, and coordinated operations across borders. These insights provided a level of operational intelligence rarely available within international policy discussions. Wildlife Justice began translating this evidence into policy influence. Across the globe and within international multilateral forums, the organisation works to ensure that wildlife trafficking, and more broadly environmental crime, are recognised not solely as a conservation issue, but as serious forms of transnational

organised crime requiring stronger coordinated policy responses. This creates a critical feedback loop. Investigations expose the vulnerabilities within enforcement systems. Policy engagement works to close those gaps. Stronger legal frameworks then improve the ability of authorities to investigate, prosecute, adjudicate, and disrupt organised criminal networks in practice. Enforcement and policy are mutually reinforcing, and Wildlife Justice occupies a unique position bridging these two worlds. The organisation’s policy engagement is grounded not only in theory, but in direct operational experience: undercover investigations, intelligence analysis, network mapping, and collaboration with law enforcement agencies confronting organised crime in real time. Over the past decade, this work has informed and influenced some of the world’s most significant international legal and policy frameworks addressing transnational organised crime, corruption, and environmental crime. These include: – The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) – The United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) – The United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice (CCPCJ) – The Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law – The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Across these forums, Wildlife Justice has consistently advanced a central principle: Wildlife trafficking must be treated as serious transnational organised crime, not because of the species involved, but because of the criminal systems driving it. J

Shaping the new Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law One of the clearest examples of this work has been Wildlife Justice’s contribution to the negotiations for the new Council of Europe Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law. The Convention is the first legally binding international treaty to provide a common framework for countries to adopt legislation criminalising transnational environmental crimes. From 2023 to 2024, Wildlife Justice was one of the few nongovernmental organisations participating as observers in the process, contributing our expertise directly to negotiations surrounding a new international Convention on the Protection of the Environment through Criminal Law and its accompanying Explanatory Report. We helped strengthen key provisions on offences against wild fauna and flora in the Convention by advocating for consistency in definitions and scope and by reinforcing the interpretative guidance in the report to support effective implementation.

Disrupting trafficking networks requires more than arrests and seizures.

Extending beyond Council of Europe Member States, the Convention is expected to strengthen international cooperation, improve sentencing frameworks, and support more effective investigation and prosecution of environmental crimes, including wildlife trafficking. For Wildlife Justice, this reflects a broader strategic objective: ensuring that the legal architecture addressing environmental crime evolves in step with the increasing sophistication of organised criminal networks.

Strengthening global action against corruption facilitating wildlife trafficking through UNCAC Corruption is a key enabler of wildlife trafficking and broader environmental crime. It significantly undermines enforcement efforts, accelerates biodiversity loss, weakens climate action, and causes irreversible harm to communities, economies, the rule of law, security, and public health. From ports and border crossings to permitting systems, shell companies, and law enforcement structures, corruption enables criminal networks to move products, launder illicit profits, and avoid detection. As the world’s only comprehensive, legally binding anti-corruption treaty, the UNCAC is a vital framework for strengthening

global efforts to tackle the corruption that enables wildlife trafficking. It offers powerful tools—such as measures to combat money laundering, support international cooperation, recover stolen assets, and follow illicit financial flows—but these remain underused in the fight against wildlife trafficking. To help close these gaps, Wildlife Justice co-founded the Working Group on Environmental Crime and Corruption within the Global Civil Society Coalition for the UNCAC in 2021 and has chaired it ever since. Bringing together close to 280 civil society representatives worldwide, the group works to encourage governments to take stronger action against the corruption that enables crimes affecting the environment, including wildlife trafficking. After three years of sustained collaboration, these efforts led to a major milestone: the unanimous adoption of Resolution 11/9 at the 11th Conference of the States Parties to the UNCAC in December 2025. The resolution marks the strongest global commitment to date under the UNCAC to addressing corruption linked to crimes affecting the environment, including wildlife trafficking. Although UN resolutions are not legally binding, they help shape how countries implement international agreements and respond to shared challenges. Resolution 11/9 encourages all 192 States Parties to strengthen investigations, recover the proceeds of corruption, improve international cooperation, and increase transparency and accountability—key measures needed to tackle the corruption that enables environmental crime.

Wildlife Justice and its partners continue to work with policymakers and governments to help turn these commitments into practical action, strengthening global efforts to protect wildlife, ecosystems, and communities from the impacts of corruption.

From investigations to systemic change Over the past decade, Wildlife Justice’s policy work has evolved alongside its investigations. What began as an effort to expose wildlife trafficking networks has increasingly become an effort to reshape the systems that allow those networks to operate. Wildlife trafficking is not sustained solely by demand for wildlife products. It is sustained by legal loopholes and enforcement gaps, fragmented international cooperation, weak penalties, corruption, and governance systems that organised criminal networks have learned to exploit with remarkable sophistication. Disrupting trafficking networks requires more than arrests and seizures. It requires strong legal frameworks capable of matching the scale, speed, and complexity of the crime itself. This is why we work simultaneously on parallel tracks: disrupting networks operationally while strengthening the international systems governing the global response to these crimes. Together, they form a single strategy aimed at changing the global risk environment for transnational organised wildlife crime.

The power of partnerships CHAPTER 6

From inception to impact

longside our on-the-ground investigations and our efforts to strengthen international policy responses, Wildlife Justice also works with law enforcement agencies and governments in wildlife trafficking hotspots to enhance their intelligence and investigative capabilities. Combining our investigative expertise with the knowledge, experience, and authority of our partners, we help deliver operational results while supporting the continued development of intelligence-led enforcement. Wildlife Justice delivers tailored capability-building programmes to strengthen the use of intelligence-led approaches to combat wildlife trafficking. Through practical training and ongoing mentoring, we work with investigators, intelligence analysts, prosecutors, customs officers, and other enforcement personnel to share specialist methodologies, analytical techniques,

and investigative approaches developed through years of operational experience. These programmes foster long-term professional networks, encourage knowledge exchange, and support the continued application of intelligence-led investigations within partner agencies. Since 2016, Wildlife Justice has delivered training and mentoring programmes for law enforcement partners in Mozambique, Thailand, Angola, Zambia, Nigeria, South Africa, the Philippines, Malaysia, Lao PDR, Botswana, Kenya, Fiji, Papua New Guinea, and the United States of America contributing to a growing international network of investigators and analysts equipped to target the organised criminal networks driving wildlife trafficking. One example of this approach was Project Galvanise, launched in 2021 with support from the Dutch Postcode Lottery to advance intelligence-led enforcement in Southeast Asia. The project brought together law enforcement agencies, NGOs, and other stakeholders to strengthen regional collaboration, enhance intelligence capabilities, and expand analytical expertise. The training and mentoring delivered through the project contributed directly to operational outcomes, including the investigation of a network of corrupt customs officials involved in the sale of seized pangolin scales, resulting in the arrest and prosecution of 12 suspects, including two customs officers, by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission.

Our next decade CHAPTER 7

The Wildlife Justice Commission

From inception to impact

he story of the Wildlife Justice Commission is one of growth, improvement, and everincreasing effectiveness. Our approach has evolved with every operation. We have learned from every seizure, every arrest, and even every near miss. And while our approach has changed over time—from holding a Public Hearing to working alongside governments to proactively identify and target kingpins and their networks—our drive and determination have not changed. Just ask accused pangolin trafficker Shamsideen Abubakar, who evaded arrest for five years before being apprehended through the persistence of Wildlife Justice investigators working closely with Nigerian authorities. But our success has also reinforced an important lesson about the nature of organised crime: when enforcement pressure increases in one place, criminal networks adapt. As trafficking routes are disrupted and enforcement strengthens in one country, illicit activity often shifts to jurisdictions where legislation, enforcement capacity, or political attention may be weaker. Criminal groups constantly evolve their methods, exploit new opportunities, and diversify into emerging forms of environmental crime. These shifting dynamics present an ongoing challenge, but they also underscore the importance of remaining

agile. Our independence, intelligence capabilities, and operational flexibility allow us to respond quickly, work where we are needed most, and support governments as new threats emerge. As we embark on our second decade, we look back with pride on our many major accomplishments. With a small team and modest budget, we have transformed the global approach to fighting wildlife trafficking. The nearly 90% decrease in pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria is just one example of the measurable impact of this approach. We look forward to our second decade with a renewed sense of purpose and mission. Because we have a model that we know works. Our blueprint of intelligenceled investigations, partnering with law enforcement, shaping policy, and targeting the kingpins has proven to be effective— and scalable. Today, we are expanding into new geographies to combat new forms of criminality. Our work fighting marine-species trafficking is advancing, and has already contributed to the arrest of a major shark fin trafficker in Latin America. His arrest and the ensuing collapse of his network mean there are hundreds of thousands of sharks swimming in our oceans right now that would have otherwise been killed. At the policy level, we will continue working closely with governments and partners to strengthen the global response to environmental crime. This includes supporting efforts to ensure that international legal frameworks keep pace with the evolving nature of transnational organised environmental crime, including through ongoing engagement around the potential

We have a model that we know works. development of a new UNTOC Protocol and other mechanisms to strengthen international cooperation. Our next great challenge is to bring our proven model to bear against timber traffickers. Illegal logging is decimating the world’s forests, but we know how to stop it. To do so, we will use the tools that have proven effective, combined with new technologies including AI to keep pace with the everchanging dynamics of trafficking groups. None of these successes would be possible without our committed partners, from law enforcement agencies to policymakers to our invaluable donors and supporters. We remain guided by a clear and constant mission: to disrupt the organised criminal networks driving species to extinction. With a proven model and dedicated partners, we enter our second decade ready to confront these threats wherever they emerge.

The Wildlife Justice Commission

Be a part of our fight against wildlife crime. Join us.

Share our mission.

Chamber of Commerce: 62800248

Design Batweb.es

Disrupting criminal networks. Saving species from extinction.

From inception to impact: New report charts 10 years of Wildlife Justice