A joint team of Special Task Force (STF) and <keyword id="6356408" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="forest-department" source="Orion">forest department</keyword> has rescued 20 'langurs' in the Patan village in Unnao, officials said on Monday. The team also arrested two persons in the case. According to reports, the langurs were to be smuggled to a poacher in Badaun district. A case has been registered under the Wildlife Act, 1972, at the Bihar police station in Unnao in this regard. The police have also seized a four-wheeler from their possession. The accused confessed that they have been bringing langurs from Unnao and selling them for Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000. The smugglers have also revealed the names of their accomplices. Bihar police station in-charge Sudhir Kumar told reporters that a raid was conducted by the sleuths of STF and the forest department at a dilapidated structure in the Patan village from where two persons were arrested and 20 'langurs', locked in steel cages, were rescued. The accused Saddam Beg and Nadeem Khan are residents of Fatehpur district. However, the investigators are yet to ascertain why the langurs were being smuggled. "As of now, the smugglers revealed that they used to sell the 'langurs' to earn their livelihood," said an STF official. This is the third major <keyword id="6373326" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="smuggling" source="Orion">smuggling</keyword> incident of 'langurs' in the last five years, said forest officials. Earlier, in 2021, about 14 'langurs' were recovered from Badaun. Similarly, in 2018, 14 'langurs' were rescued from smugglers in Shahjahanpur. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/international/news/india-might-be-used-as-a-back-door-for-russian-oil-say-media-reports/articleshow/92480791.cms">India might be used as a 'back door' for Russian oil, say media reports</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/ola-shuts-it-used-car-and-quick-commerce-businesses/articleshow/92480954.cms">Ola shuts it used car and quick commerce businesses</a>

Langur smuggling racket busted in UP; 20 animals rescued and two arrested

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Authorities at <keyword id="13684553" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="bangkok" source="Orion">Bangkok</keyword>'s airport found at least 109 live animals packed into two suitcases. </li><li>Two women have been arrested and charged with violations of wildlife, animal disease and customs regulations.</li></ul>Two women were arrested in an airport in Bangkok, <keyword id="11906678" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="thailand" source="Orion">Thailand</keyword> after authorities found at least 109 live animals packed into two suitcases.The animals included 50 chameleons, 35 turtles, 20 snakes, two armadillos, and two white porcupines, according to Thailand's <a href="http://news.dnp.go.th/news/17734">Department of National Park, Wildlife and Plant Conservation.</a>At least two of the animals were dead, and many were dehydrated, according to <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/06/29/thailand-live-animals-luggage-bangkok-airport-arrest/">The Washington Post.</a>Authorities made the discovery during a routine X-ray inspection at Bangkok's Suvarnabhumi Airport on Sunday night, <a href="https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2334888/109-live-wild-animals-found-in-luggage-at-airport?fbclid=IwAR0khi-ZhjOsozgjaHj-yMv9PAoV7FoSCfjVwOVqrNTeHVe4rfYOjMR7NAA">The Bangkok Post</a> reported.The two women, Nithya Raja, 38, and Zakia Sulthana Ebrahim, 24, were attempting to travel to Chennai, <keyword id="11892747" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="india" source="Orion">India</keyword>, with the animals in their baggage.<div type="image" title="bangkok airport animals seen in x-ray" height="1108" width="1478" msid="92622152" hostid="261" sizebytes="124464"></div><div type="image" title="armadillo found in bangkok airport suitcase" height="1478" width="1108" msid="92622153" hostid="261" sizebytes="130082"></div>They were arrested and charged with violations of wildlife, animal disease, and customs regulations, the paper reported.Illegal <keyword id="14350339" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="wildlife-trafficking" source="Orion">wildlife trafficking</keyword> is rife in Thailand, with the country being a major transit hub for smugglers. Animal trafficking is one of the most lucrative illegal activities in the world.A <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/exclusive-wildlife-traffickers-creeping-back-pandemic-restrictions-ease-un-2021-09-21/">report from the UN </a>warned last year that wildlife trafficking in southeast Asia was likely to increase following a drastic reduction due to restrictions during the pandemic.

Porcupines among 109 live animals smuggled in 2 suitcases discovered at Bangkok airport

India's decision to put a ban on cattle slaughter has become a cause of worry for several international fashion houses worried. Brands like Zara, Marks &amp; Spencer, Prada, Hugo Boss and Armani, or their agents, have begun contacting their Indian suppliers asking them whether they would be able to deliver their commitments on supplying footwear, handbags, jackets, belts and other products. These suppliers, however, are afraid because of the government’s decision to ban cattle slaughter, which will dent India's $13 billion-a-year <keyword id="118741" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="leather-industry">leather industry</keyword>. A major chunk of this business can now shift to Bangladesh, unless Indian importers get ready to import raw material. "An important agent from Spain, who sources finished leather for shoes for Zara, had called me last Friday enquiring whether I have enough stock for long-term commitment and how can I ensure supply in the backdrop of the recent government order," Mohammad Zia Nafis, MD, Zia Hide Skin Agency, told <a href="http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/cons-products/fashion-/-cosmetics-/-jewellery/cattle-slaughter-ban-making-global-brands-like-zara-marks-spencer-and-prada-jittery/articleshow/58901369.cms">ET</a>. "I have also received calls from Marks &amp; Spencer for whom we supply finished leather for shoes," he added. It was on Friday that the Indian government had imposed a ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter purposes, so that animal cruelty can be prevented, illegal trade can be curbed, and smuggling of animals can be stopped. The decision has stirred up a political storm, and there have been uncertainties in the meat and leather export sectors, since India is one of the largest players in the global industry. The leather that India produces is liked worldwide since it contains certain type of grains that leather from South America and Africa do not have. However, leather produced in Bangladesh is similar to that of India, which is why it may benefit from the ban. (Image source Scroll)

India's $13 billion leather industry is worried sick after cattle slaughter ban

<div class="image-container float_right click-to-enlarge" style="width:400px"><div class="image"><a title_source="P.Tansom/TRAFFIC" title_caption="" class="zoomin" href="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5155a8cdeab8ea2835000011-960/ploughshare-tortoise.jpg"><img src="http://static6.businessinsider.com/image/5155a8cdeab8ea2835000011-550-412/ploughshare-tortoise.jpg?maxX=400" border="0" alt="ploughshare tortoise" width="400" /></a></div><a href="http://www.traffic.org/home/2013/3/19/largest-seizure-of-critically-endangered-ploughshare-tortois.html">P.Tansom/TRAFFIC</a></div>Thai authorities <a href="http://www.traffic.org/home/2013/3/19/largest-seizure-of-critically-endangered-ploughshare-tortois.html">arrested</a> two smugglers who were trying to sneak 54 extremely rare <a href="http://www.arkive.org/ploughshare-tortoise/astrochelys-yniphora/">Ploughshare Tortoises</a> into the country, the wildlife trade monitoring group Traffic reports.
Ploughshare Tortoises are among the rarest species on earth, with a dwindling population of about 400 in northwestern Madagascar.
The smugglers — a 38-year-old Thai man and a 25-year-old woman who had flown from Madagascar to Suvarnabhumi International Airport — also had 21 <a href="http://www.arkive.org/radiated-tortoise/astrochelys-radiata/">Radiated Tortoises</a>, which are also critically endangered.
Earlier this year the Thai man was arrested on a different wildlife <keyword id="6373326" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="Smuggling">smuggling</keyword> charge.
The tortoises can command high prices in the <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/illegal-animals-photos-international-black-market-707997">animal black market</a> in South East Asia.
Earlier the same day, authorities at the airport found 300 <a href="http://www.tortoisetrust.org/care/celegans.html">Indian Star Tortoises</a> and 10 <a href="http://www.arkive.org/black-pond-turtle/geoclemys-hamiltonii/">Black Pond Turtles</a> when they inspected an unclaimed bag. Traffic notes that the Indian Star Tortoise is heavily traded as an exotic pet despite it being illegal to ship the species from its habitat in India, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan.
<div class="image-container" style="width:630px"><div class="image"><img src="http://static1.businessinsider.com/image/5155aa81eab8ea343d000006-1632-1224/stars1.jpeg" border="0" alt="star tortoises" width="630" /></div>P.Tansom/TRAFFICIndian Star Tortoises</div>

Thai Turtle Smuggler Caught With 14 Percent Of An Extremely Rare Species

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/42632218.cms" /> <keyword id="2520139" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cow-trafficking">Cow trafficking</keyword> and slaughtering are words which don’t exist for many Indians, but visit the east and you would encounter the harsh reality — it (cow trafficking) is a regular affair, and a lucrative business for smugglers and butchers. This is precisely the reason why the country’s total cattle population declined from 20.45 crore in 1992 to 19.90 crore in 2007. 
 It is sad that cows are battling for life in India, a country where they are regarded as sacred and worshipped by the majority population. Our Vedic scriptures, which refer to them as ‘mothers,’ attached great importance to cows, and encouraged people to value as well as preserve them. Even Mughal emperors such as Akbar were against <keyword id="2520140" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cow-slaughtering">cow slaughtering</keyword> — the fact was highlighted during a hearing on The <keyword id="2520142" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="West-Bengal-Animal-Slaughter-Central-Act">West Bengal Animal Slaughter Central Act</keyword>, 1950. “Mughal Emperor Babar saw the wisdom of prohibiting the slaughter of cows as and by way of religious sacrifice and directed his son Humayun to follow this. Similarly, Emperors Akbar, Jahangir and Ahmad Shah, it is said, prohibited cow slaughter,” the Supreme Court had said. 
 
Cow traffickers spreading their wings across India The network of cow smugglers is spread across different states. According to local estimates, about 20,000 to 30,000 cows are smuggled to Bangladesh every day. The smuggling reaches its peak during <keyword id="6417740" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Eid-ul-Zuha">Eid-ul-Zuha</keyword> (<keyword id="6622052" type="PERSON" weightage="100" keywordseo="Bakrid">Bakrid</keyword>). From Bangladesh, they are exported all over the world, especially the Middle East, where beef is in huge demand. The route traffickers take for illegal export of cow is: cows from UP, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha and states as far as Haryana and Punjab are first transported to <keyword id="6357783" type="CITY" weightage="80" keywordseo="West-Bengal">West Bengal</keyword> from where they are smuggled to Bangladesh through <keyword id="55201" type="COMPANY" weightage="100" keywordseo="Murshidabad">Murshidabad</keyword>, the bordering district of India and Bangladesh. 
 On August 29, about 2000 cows stuffed in 100 trucks were caught in Govindpur (Jharkhand). The trucks, which were carrying cows from the neighbouring states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand for being sacrificed on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha (Bakrid), were on their way to West Bengal. These trucks, jam-packed with cows, were found by the volunteers of <keyword id="2520141" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Akhil-Bharatiya-Gau-Raksha-Mission">Akhil Bharatiya Gau Raksha Mission</keyword>, Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), Bajrang Dal and BJP activists. 
 
Holy cows facing the worst in West Bengal 
In Bihar, export of cows for any purpose is banned. In Muslim-dominated Jammu and Kashmir, there is a punishment of up to 10 years of imprisonment if someone is found guilty of cow slaughter. Even possession of flesh of slaughtered animals is a punishable offence with imprisonment up to one year. Transport of cows outside Jammu and Kashmir for slaughtering is also prohibitted. 
 
Sadly, the West Bengal police and administration isn’t taking any stern action in this regard. The Akhil Bharatiya Gau Raksha Mission activists allege that the West Bengal police behave rudely whenever they approach them to lodge complaint. According to them, when their activists rescued some cows in Kolkata’s Lalbazar, police threatened to arrest them under non-bailable sections. Now, the big question that arises is: Is the state police under some ‘external pressure’ not to act against the perpetrators? 
 
There surely seems to be some connection. The West Bengal government’s sheer apathy towards cow slaughtering has been witnessed on several occasions. For instance, the Bengal government used the provision granted in the West Bengal Animal Slaughter Central Act*, 1950, to allow cow slaughter on Eid-ul-Zuha (Bakrid). After this relaxation, more than one lakh young and healthy cows got slaughtered in Kolkata every year on this occasion. 
 
The Calcutta High Court intervened and struck down the exemption provided by the state government in 1982. The Bengal government and butchers took the matter to the Supreme Court, which upheld the High Court’s judgment. But, in spite of the court order, the West Bengal administration hasn’t taken any concrete measures; except for cosmetic steps like publishing advertisements in local newspapers. 
 
The Animal Husbandry Department of the Government of India says that in West Bengal, the contempt of the Supreme Court's judgment is going on since 1994. “Any amount of follow-up action by the animal welfare organisations to persuade the state administration have not achieved the desired results. On the contrary, some peaceful agitators pleading with the administration for compliance with the Supreme Court order were rounded up and put behind bars on the occasion of Eid-ul-Zuha (Bakrid) in the year 2002.” 
 
Better fate awaits cows 
Except for West Bengal and the northeastern states, other states have been making effort to save cows. In 1982, the erstwhile Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, wrote a letter to chief ministers of 14 states, asking them to enforce the ban in letter and spirit. Sadly, the ban has remained only in ‘letters’ and never in ‘spirit.’ 
 
With the Narendra Modi-led government in power at the Centre, one can hope that stern action would be taken against the smugglers. After all, Modi had talked about the issue during his election campaign and promised to take care of farmers and their cattle. He ruthlessly attacked the UPA government for ‘pink revolution’ and increase in export of meat, including beef, while his supporters chanted Modi ko matdaan, Gai ko jeevandaan slogan. 
 
However, after coming to power, we have not seen any action from the BJP government on this front yet. Agreed, that government has several high-priority tasks at hand, but cow protection is also the need of the hour — not because of the religious sentiments attached, but for maintenance of the ecological balance. If slaughtering of cows goes on rampantly, they may get to the verge of extinction, which would disturb the ecological chain. 
 
* The West Bengal Animal Slaughter Central Act, 1950: The act was passed to “control the slaughter of certain animals with a view to increase the supply of milk and to avoid the wastage of animal power necessary for improvement of agriculture. Section 2 lays down that the Act applies to animals specified in the sched­ule. The schedule to the Act covers bulls, bullocks, cows, calves, male and female buffaloes, buffalo calves and castrated buffaloes.” However, the Act also has a provision for lifting the ban for religious, medicinal or research purposes.

With Cow Trafficking And Slaughtering On Rise, ‘Mother’ Cow Struggles For Existence

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/55c0cb97dd0895f3178b45a9-4992-3744/ap_418331564954.jpg" alt="Wildlife smuggling" data-mce-source="AP Photo/Tsering Topgyal" data-mce-caption="A tiger skin is displayed before authorities set fire to a stockpile of illegal wildlife parts at the Delhi Zoo in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014." />AP Photo/Tsering TopgyalA tiger skin is displayed before authorities set fire to a stockpile of illegal wildlife parts at the Delhi Zoo in New Delhi, India, Sunday, Nov. 2, 2014.</div></div></div>The <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/tragic-story-cecil-lion-zimbabwe-walter-palmer-2015-7">recent killing of a Zimbabwe lion named Cecil</a> by an American dentist and trophy hunter not only <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/cecil-the-lions-killer-revealed-as-an-american-dentist-2015-7">triggered outrage on social media</a>, it has also renewed concerns about the illegal wildlife trade, <a href="http://www.traffic.org/trade/">worth an estimated $10 billion (£6.4 billion) worldwide</a>.The buying and selling of exotic animals and animal parts, which may include the poaching of rhinos for their ivory or the hunting of lions and tigers for their skins, is at the center of a thriving underground black market.In 2012, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/id/47102606">CNBC's Brian Schatman</a> reported on the smuggling of live animals and animal products into the United States. With so much cargo coming into the country through various routes and very few wildlife inspectors, the report explained why the criminal enterprise is very difficult to stop.

The multibillion-dollar trade of exotic animals is much bigger and harder to stop than you think

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Airport officials in India found 22 snakes and a chameleon in the luggage of a woman last week.</li><li>The woman, who was not named, attempted to smuggle the animals in plastic containers, they said. </li></ul>A woman snuck more than 20 snakes and a chameleon onto a plane by packing them in her check-in luggage before being caught in India, airport officials said last week.The woman, who was not named, had landed at Chennai Airport from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on April 28, Chennai Customs <a href="https://twitter.com/cbic_india/status/1652687033788399616?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweeted.</a>"On examination of check-in baggage, 22 Snakes of various species &amp; a Chameleon were found," airport officials tweeted, alongside several videos of the animals seized at the airport. The videos show snakes of different sizes slithering around on the airport floor and on airport trolleys. Some were filmed curled up in large plastic containers. It is unclear whether the woman was arrested. Chennai Customs did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet blockquote" data-lang="en" data-cards="" data-conversation="">—CBIC (@cbic_india) <a href="https://twitter.com/mims/statuses/1652687033788399616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 30, 2023</a></blockquote>India is a big hub for smugglers trafficking exotic animals to other countries, Atul Bagai, Head of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in India, <a href="https://www.unep.org/news-and-stories/story/new-initiative-combats-wildlife-trafficking-indias-airports" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said in a 2020 report.</a>"India is among the top ten countries in terms of using the airline sector for wildlife trafficking, this is an unwanted accolade," Bagai said.In 1972, the government enacted the Wildlife Protection Act, which protects plants and animal species.

A woman managed to get 22 snakes and a chameleon onto a plane after packing them in her luggage

Amidst serious debate over <keyword id="3472564" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="100" keywordseo="Cow-vigilantism">cow vigilantism</keyword>, the cental government has proposed to the Supreme Court for providing a unique identification number to cows, on the lines of <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/life/Aadhar-card-the-most-widely-held-identification-document-with-enrolment-of-92-crore-people/articleshow/49194812.cms">Aadhaar</a>. "Each cow and its progeny across India should get a Unique Identification Number for tracking," said the report filed by government to the apex court.Other than this, special care for cattle that have crossed the milking age along with the idea of a scheme for distressed farmers have also been proposed. Also read: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/verify-drivers-and-domestic-helps-using-Aadhar-Cards/articleshow/50818292.cms">Verify your drivers and domestic helps using Aadhar Cards before hiring</a>In the report, the government also talked about the issue of cow protection and cattle smuggling to Bangladesh.Nearly one lakh technicians have been assigned the task of fixing a polyurethane tag in the centre of the ear lobe of the cattle with a tag applicator.After the tag is fixed, the technician will update the number in an online database, while also providing the cattle owner with an "animal health card" which would state the <keyword id="45808" type="ORGANIZATION" weightage="100" keywordseo="UID">UID</keyword> number, owner's details, status of periodic deworming, breeding details and vaccinations of the animal. For this project, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.in/small-business/people/cabinet-approves-2-hike-in-da-for-government-employees-and-pensioners/articleshow/57654122.cms">the centre</a> has made a fund of Rs 148 crore.

Indian cows to have a unique ID number

<img class="gwt-Image" src="/photo/53269271.cms" style="width: 800px; height: 600px;" /> 
 <keyword id="6356826" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="environment">Environment</keyword> Minister of India today said popular websites like <keyword id="6381424" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Quikr">Quikr</keyword>, <keyword id="6360657" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="OLX">Olx</keyword>, Ebay, Amazon and Youtube are involved in trade of rare animals and their body parts. In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha, Environment Minister Anil Madhav Dave said online smuggling of rare animals and their parts are being monitored by the state and central governments as part of combating cyber crime. He also said "Several websites are seen advertising sale of rare animals and their parts". 
 He furnished a list of 106 such websites collated by the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB). The 106 websites include prominent names like quikr.com, olx.in, alibaba.com, eBay.com, youtube.com, amazon.com, shopping.rediff.com, petsmart.com and <keyword id="541988" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="SnapDeal">snapdeal</keyword>.com. Dave said several steps have been taken to prevent such illegal activities which include utilising services of cyber crime specialists on contractual basis to carry out regular cyber patrolling to detect posts and offers on such portals. He said if any such offer is detected, details are retrieved of the suspect and information is passed on to relevant enforcement agencies for legal action. 
 
A meeting of representatives from online trade portals was convened in May this year to discuss issues pertaining to online wildlife trade, sensitise them about it and discuss modalities to assist WCCB in case of such detections. Dave said during training and sensitisation programmes conducted by WCCB, the issue of illegal online wildlife trade is being highlighted so that officials involved in the enforcement are abreast of such trends. A wildlife body had recently alleged that a prominent website was selling wildlife specimens, including sea horses and alligator heads, protected under the country's laws. 
 
Wildlife SOS had claimed the website was offering an array of wildlife trophies, including alligator heads, preserved snakes, butterflies, starfish, rare beetles and seahorses, besides hunting manuals and devices.

Amazon, Quikr, Ebay, Snapdeal involved in wildlife trade: Govt

<div class="KonaFilter image-container float_right"><div class="image"><img src="http://static2.businessinsider.com/image/52e90b426da811cc306a4c94-541-405/wild-tiger-india.jpg?maxX=480" border="0" alt="Wild tiger India" width="480" />AFP</div></div>A wild tiger is believed to have claimed its eight victim in northern India, even as forest officials attempt to track down and kill the animal, an official said Wednesday.
A tiger mauled and killed a farmer while he was working in the fields on Sunday in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh state, senior state wildlife official Roopak Dey said.
"Our officers are on the ground. There are shooters waiting to spot the tiger and kill it. As the tiger is master of concealment, we need to be patient," Dey said, confirming the latest death.
The farmer's wife was quoted in local media as saying the tiger dragged her husband to a nearby forest before killing him.
A local said "the tiger has been managing to hide itself in the cane fields. It is getting difficult to trap or kill it."
Officials suspect the same tiger has killed all eight victims since the first death was reported in the state on December 29, although Dey said this was impossible to confirm.
The tiger is thought to have strayed from the Jim Corbett National Park, around 80 kilometres (50 miles) from Bijnor, a popular tourist attraction and home to some 200 tigers.
The death comes after forest officials in southern India last week shot dead a tiger suspected of killing three people, ending its three-week reign of terror which forced dozens of schools to close.
Forest workers spotted and shot the female tiger in a tea plantation in Tamil Nadu state after trying to trap it with the help of elephants and sniffer dogs, motion detection cameras and cages laced with meat.
Conservationists blame towns and villages encroaching on tigers' natural habitats for the deadly incidents occasionally reported in India.
India is home to some 1,700 tigers -- half of the world's rapidly shrinking wild tiger population -- but has been struggling to halt the big cats' decline in the face of poachers, international smuggling networks and loss of habitat.
The country has seen its tiger population plummet from an estimated 40,000 when it gained independence in 1947.
<div>
Copyright (2014) AFP. All rights reserved.
</div>

A Man-Eating Indian Tiger Is Suspected Of Killing Its Eighth Victim

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image"><img src="http://static4.businessinsider.com/image/52d98c0eeab8ea5771769271-800-400/globe-epcot.jpg" border="0" alt="globe epcot" /><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Epcot_IllumiNations-_Reflections_of_Earth_2.jpg">commons.wikimedia.org</a></div></div></div> 
SOME lawmen chase villains down mean streets. Others chase fraudsters across balance-sheets. In the stomach-churning stench of the Vetport at John F. Kennedy International Airport, yet others don surgical masks, goggles and rubber gloves, and peer with penlights into crates holding thousands of little birds.
These inspectors with the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) examine not just live animals entering America--such as the 45 outlaw jays they found lurking in a legal shipment of thousands of birds--but plants and animal products such as handbags and caviar. In 2011 FWS agents raided Gibson Guitar facilities in Tennessee and seized wood worth hundreds of thousands of dollars that they suspected had been illegally imported from India and Madagascar.
The buyers may be besotted ornithophiles, air-brained fashionistas or greedy gourmets. But the sellers are crooks, supplying a market which, according to America's Congressional Research Service, is worth as much as $133 billion annually. Commodities such as rhino horn and caviar offer criminals two benefits rarely found together: high prices and low risk. Rhino horn can fetch up to $50,000 per kilogram, more than gold or the American street value of cocaine. Get caught bringing a kilogram of cocaine into America and you could face 40 years in prison and a $5m fine. On January 10th, by contrast, a New York court sentenced a rhino-horn trafficker to just 14 months.
The appeal of such trade is increased, however unwittingly, by governments trying harder to protect what is precious and rare. "When we finally get it together to agree that we'll only take ten tuna out of the water this year because that's all we can afford to take, that 11th tuna will be worth a lot of money," says Theodore Leggett of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). As with tuna, so with ebony, ivory and rhino horn--all being regulated more tightly, and all still desirable.
<h3>The world is their oyster</h3>
Organised crime is globalising and diversifying. Mono-ethnic, hierarchical mafias are being replaced by multi-ethnic networks that operate across borders and commit many types of offence. In an ongoing investigation into rhino-horn trafficking, the FWS arrested Irish travellers using indigent Texans to procure material for Chinese and Vietnamese buyers. Europol, the European Union's law-enforcement agency, estimates that just a quarter of Europe's roughly 3,600 organised-crime groups have a main nationality, and that some operate in dozens of countries. A third are involved in more than one criminal enterprise, with half of those linked to drug-trafficking.
And though traditional trafficking in drugs, guns and people is still lucrative, gangs are increasingly moving into lower-risk, higher-reward areas--not just wildlife, but fraud and illegal waste-disposal. The UNODC says the value of cross-border trade in counterfeit goods could be as much as $250 billion a year. On January 14th it launched a campaign to tell consumers about the dangers posed by fake electronics, food, medicines and the like--and how the buyers of knock-offs enrich some highly unpleasant people.
Gangs in Britain make around £9 billion ($14.8 billion) a year from tax, benefit, excise-duty and other fraud--not much less than the £11 billion they earn from drugs. In America cigarette-trafficking deprives state, local and federal governments of $5 billion in tax revenues annually. The European Union estimates that losses within its borders from cigarette smuggling, tax fraud and false claims on its funds by organised groups total EUR34 billion ($46.5 billion) a year. But member states bring fewer than ten cases each a year for defrauding the EU, and sentences tend to be light.
According to the FLARE Network, an international group of campaigners against organised crime, criminal groups in Italy make around EUR14 billion a year from being mixed up in agriculture. In some parts of the country mafias control food production and distribution; Franco La Torre, FLARE's president, says they also enrich themselves through fraudulent claims on EU agricultural funds. Increasingly strict regulation of waste disposal has created another profitable opportunity for organised crime in Europe--particularly, according to Europol, for the Italian Camorra, 'Ndrangheta and Cosa Nostra.
Where politics is corrupt and law enforcement weak, as in much of Latin America, gangsters still look much as they have for decades: brutal and keen on the brand-enhancing effect of highly visible violence. But in the rich world, the shift to new lines of business is changing the face of organised crime. The FBI estimates that the four big Italian Mafia groups still have 3,000 members and affiliates in America. But as traditional industries have shrivelled so, too, have the unions and tight-knit neighbourhoods that were once their fertile breeding grounds.
Old-style loan sharks and drug-dealers are finding a new role as distributors for the modern mobsters who manage the supply chains, marketing, finance and human resources needed to move goods, money and people across borders. "The new generation are very talented businessmen and technologically advanced experts," says Mr La Torre. They prefer invisibility to showy violence. Many also have legitimate business interests.
Clever criminals acting across borders are extremely difficult to prosecute. They profit from gaps in enforcement and regulation, and conceal their illegal acts in complex supply chains. If a network of Nigerian scammers based in Amsterdam defrauds French, Australian and American credit-card holders, where does the crime occur? And who has the motivation, not to mention the jurisdiction, to prosecute?
A commodity such as oil, ivory or fish will be transported on a ship flying a flag of convenience, explains Mr Leggett. The ship will be owned by a holding company registered in a tax haven with a phoney board. Thus the criminals can disguise the provenance of their ill-gotten goods and middlemen can plead ignorance.
Governments are reacting by getting law-enforcement agencies to work together. America is trying to improve the flow of information between them. Britain's recently created National Crime Agency will have the power to order local police forces to make arrests, unlike the body it replaced. Europol analyses and distributes information from EU member states.
But organised crime sells things that people want--not just drugs and sex, but handbags, sushi and wardrobes, too. Businesses and consumers will have to accept, says Mr Leggett, "that there is no such thing as just wood. It has to be wood from somewhere." And they will have to agree not to sell or buy illegally harvested wood, however beautiful or cheap.
Until then, illicit goods will keep coming in quantities too great for governments to stop. One FWS inspector estimates that for all the peering, prodding and chirping, for all the rewards promised and rhino-horn traffickers caught, the agency picks up perhaps 5% of wildlife brought illicitly into America. For criminals, that is merely a light tax on the profits from the rest.
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You Searched For "animal smuggling india" and got 11 results

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