The Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC)
commenced an extensive covert
investigation during 2015 into a major
criminal network involved in the
trafficking of raw and processed CITES
Appendix I and II listed species1 including
African elephant, African rhino, tiger,
pangolin and helmeted hornbill, centered
upon the village of Nhi Khe, Viet Nam.
Following review by two Independent
Review Panel Members, we submitted
a Case File presenting the results of this
investigation to the government of Viet
Nam in January 2016 and to the Chinese
authorities in February 2016. The purpose
of the Case File was to provide these
governments with actionable evidence
and intelligence that would support the
initiation of criminal cases against the
identified persons of interest (POIs).
We continued to investigate the activities
of those POIs after the submission of this
Case File in 2016.
We aimed at maintaining an up-to-date
understanding of the illegal wildlife trade
in Nhi Khe and to assess whether there
was any indication of law
