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Namibian Wildlife Crimes article archive
This archive of published media articles about wildlife crime in Namibia aims to:
- provide easy public access to published information and statistics
- enable easy stakeholder access to articles
- provide a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia
Public access to information is a vital component of ensuring community engagement in prevalent issues. Wildlife crime is one of the pressing environmental issues of our time.
Wildlife crime investigations are generally covert operations requiring utmost confidentiality to succeed. Investigations and prosecutions in complex cases may take months or even years to complete. For this reason, the information that can be released to the public without compromising cases is often limited. Nonetheless, the Namibian government strives to share as much information as possible with the public.
The Namibian media has welcomed this approach and regularly publishes statistics and feature articles on wildlife crime. These are entered into the database at regular intervals, creating a comprehensive archive of wildlife crime reporting in Namibia.
Explore your search results using the filter checkboxes, or amend your search or start a new search.
On March 23, 2025, a critical wildlife crime operation unfolded in Port Harcourt, Nigeria, a known hub for organized crime and wildlife trafficking. With assistance from Focused Conservation, the Nigeria Special Wildlife Office (NSWO), supported by the Nigeria Customs Police, executed Operation Willow - an intelligence-driven sting to dismantle a key trafficking network supplying pangolin scales. The NSWO acted on intelligence indicating that a trafficker in the region was actively supplying pangolin scales for the illegal wildlife trade.
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| NIG_2025_04_Operation Willow_Major pangolin trafficking bust in Nigeria_Focused Conservation.pdf | 117.78 KB |
Lyon, France - Nearly 20,000 live animals, all endangered or protected species, have been seized in a global operation against wildlife and forestry trafficking networks, jointly coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization (WCO). Operation Thunder 2024 (11 November - 6 December) brought together police, customs, border control, forestry and wildlife officials from 138 countries and regions, marking the widest participation since the first edition in 2017.
Berlin, Germany - The Federal Environment Ministry of Germany, INTERPOL and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) are joining forces to combat the devastating impact of environmental crime. With a EUR 5 million investment from the German government's International Climate Initiative (IKI), the three-year project aims to identify and prevent transnational crimes impacting the climate, biodiversity and the environment across five key areas: fisheries crime, forestry crime, illegal mining, pollution crime, and wildlife crime.
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| INT_2025_01_Tackling Environmental Crime_Germany_INTERPOL and WWF unite efforts_Interpol.pdf | 479.66 KB |
In a major breakthrough for wildlife conservation efforts, the Special Wildlife Investigation Unit (SWIU) has successfully apprehended Amadou Bah, an internationally renowned trafficker of pangolin scales. This significant arrest comes after Bah had eluded capture since January 2024, following the seizure of 176 kilos of pangolin scales in Grand Gedah County, Liberia. The SWIU, mentored by Focused Conservation, is comprised of officers from the Liberia National Police, Liberia Forestry Development Authority, and Liberia Customs.
Singapore - An eight-week INTERPOL operation against wildlife crime and trafficking resulted in arrests and seizures across Asia and Africa. Codenamed Golden Strike, the operation - which ended late last year - targeted the criminals and networks smuggling wildlife protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) from Africa to Asia.