Introduction Wildlife Crime Pollution Crime Environmental Crime Committee Wildlife Crime Working Group Pollution Crime Working Group Conferences and Meetings News Manuals Ecomessage Partners and acknowledgements Previous projects Restricted website Apply for restricted access Links Environmental crime

Environmental crime news 24 April Thailand - Governemt Orders Halt to Elephant Exports The Thai Ministry of Natural Resources and the Environment has announced it will suspend all exports of elephants for five years. This move is to provide time to develop better registration of elephants and ensure exported elephants are from farms rather than the wild. It is hoped this will help to combat poaching of the country's elephants. Read more... 24 April United States - Owner of Korean Commercial Cargo Vessel & Chief Engineer Plead Guilty to Marine Pollution Related Charges STX Pan Ocean Co. Ltd. (STX), headquartered in Seoul, Korea, and the owner of the commercial cargo ship, M/V Ocean Jade, pleaded guilty today to conspiracy as well as falsifying and failing to properly maintain records meant to ensure compliance with maritime pollution laws. The chief engineer of the M/V Ocean Jade also pleaded guilty today to failing to maintain environmental records and making false statements. Read more... 21 April France - INTERPOL Receives Award in Recognition of Activities to Combat Wildlife and Environmental Crime The Humane Society of Canada (HSC) today presented INTERPOL with its Heroes for Animals award - the first time an international organization has received the honour which recognizes individuals or organizations for their efforts to protect wildlife Read more... 15 April INDONESIA - Illegal Orangutan Trade on the Rise A report by TRAFFIC has claimed that more of Idonesia's orangutans are being caught for the pet trade now than since the 1970's. Less than 8,000 Sumatran orangutans remain in the wild. Read more... 15 April United Kingdon - Rare Animal Parts Seized at Port UK customs officers have seized a lion's skull, pieces of ivory and parts of a giant clam which were being brought into the UK through a Suffolk port. The UK Border Agency found the items in a shipment which arrived at Felixstowe port from South Africa. Read more... Read more news...

Orang-utan, Indonesia Dave Currey / Environmental Investigation Agency

A seizure of canisters of CFCs and HCFCs labelled as CFC-12 and CFC-22, stacked up in storage, Delhi, India. Environmental Investigation Agency

Burned forest near Sarawak border, Indonesia. Environmental Investigation Agency

Environmental crime is a serious and growing international problem, with criminals polluting the air, water and land and pushing commercially valuable wildlife species closer to extinction.

Crimes against wildlife and the environment – such as the illegal trade in ivory or the pollution of waterways – can have a harmful impact on the economies and security of multiple nations.

Links with serious and organized crime

There is clear evidence that environmental criminals engage in other major areas of crime such as document and passport fraud, corruption, the possession and use of illegal weapons, murder, and other smuggling issues notably in drugs, firearms and people.

A significant proportion of both wildlife crime and pollution crime point to the involvement of organized crime networks. This is evidenced by the types of 'crossover crime' listed above, along with the detailed planning of operations, substantial financial support, the careful management of international shipments and massive profits.

Our mission

INTERPOL’s mission is to assist its member countries in the effective enforcement of national and international environmental laws. In this way we can contribute to the ongoing conservation of the world’s environment, biodiversity and natural resources.

INTERPOL became actively involved in fighting environmental crime in 1992 when it established the INTERPOL Environmental Crime Committee. Its programme has grown significantly over the years and continues to expand as member countries become more active in the two working groups:

• Wildlife Crime Working Group
• Pollution Crime Working Group

Staff

Peter Younger - Wildlife Crime Programme Manager, Project OASIS.

David Higgins - Environmental Crime Programme Manager - Wildlife.

Alexander Mears - Administrative Attaché, Environmental Crime Programme.