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This comprehensive tool provides a summary of the Philippine Anti-money Laundering (AML) legal framework and practical guidance on basic financial investigations, evidence gathering and case development. Wildlife crimes are motivated by money, and most involve transactions with indelible records in financial systems. Financial investigation can be used to provide intelligence and evidence of criminality and support confiscation of assets.

New research identifies 10,443 critically endangered species worldwide, with effective protection strategies available if funding and political will follow. More than 1,500 species, or 15% of the critically endangered species, are estimated to have fewer than 50 mature individuals remaining in the wild. Just 16 countries hold more than half of all critically endangered species, with concentrations across the Caribbean islands, Atlantic coastal regions of South America, the Mediterranean, Cameroon, Lake Victoria, Madagascar and Southeast Asia.

A new Netflix documentary about pangolins, the world's most heavily trafficked mammal, is a powerful example of what can happen when media companies highlight the plight of lesser-known species. Most conservation dollars are directed at animals that already get attention and funding, like lions or elephants, while species like pangolins - which also have important ecological roles - receive comparatively little, so the narrative needs to change, a new op-ed argues.

Rustenburg, South Africa (25 July 2025) – A life has been spared from continued suffering thanks to the compassion and quick action of an individual who chose to take action rather than turn away. In the heart of Seraleng, a kind community member spotted a young pangolin wandering in distress and immediately called the SPCA Rustenburg for help on Wednesday.

Ten years have passed since the massive increase in rhino and elephant poaching drastically changed wildlife conservation and law enforcement in Namibia. The number of registered cases of wildlife crime and the associated arrests decreased again in most categories in 2024 compared to the previous year. "This could indicate a decrease in crime or be due to a lower clearance rate," according to the "Wildlife Protection and Law Enforcement" report by the Ministry of Environment and the Namibian Police for 2024. The total number of registered cases fell by 14%, the number of arrests…

Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera has granted a presidential pardon to Lin Yunhua, a Chinese national sentenced to 14 years in prison for wildlife trafficking. Lin was among 37 inmates who received a presidential pardon as part of Malawi's 61st independence anniversary celebrations on July 6. Conservationists have since expressed their disappointment, warning that Lin's pardon might demotivate frontline officers working to protect Malawi's wildlife.

President Lazarus Chakwera is facing a torrent of criticism after controversially pardoning two convicted Chinese wildlife traffickers, in what civil society leaders and environmentalists have branded a shameful betrayal of Malawi's fight against corruption, wildlife crime, and executive accountability.

A middle aged woman will serve a 12 years jail term after a Kabarnet court found her guilty of trading in wildlife trophies. Esther Chebii, appeared before Senior Resident Magistrate (SRM) Edwin Mulochi for the offence which occurred on May 27, 2023 at around 6pm at Kabarnet town in Baringo central sub-county, where she was nabbed with five pieces of elephant tusks weighing 15.7 kilograms and 105 pieces of pangolin scales weighing two kilograms with a street value of Sh 2.37 million.

Leopards are the second-most traded wildcat in the world, despite their international commercial trade being prohibited under CITES, the international wildlife trade agreement. Trophies and body parts - primarily skins, claws, bones and teeth - are the most traded, according to CITES data. However, other data indicate that illegal trade in skins and body parts is widespread in Asia and Africa. Southern African countries, particularly South Africa, Namibia and Zimbabwe, are major exporters of leopard parts, while the U.S. is the largest importer, according to data from CITES.

Six people have been jailed for their involvement in the illegal trade of more than 2.8 tonnes of pangolin scales, one of the country's largest such seizures ever recorded. The People's Court of Nghệ An handed a seven-year prison term to Hồ Văn Mạnh and a three-year sentence to Trần Thị Ngọc for trading prohibited goods and violating regulations on the protection of endangered wildlife. Four other defendants - Phạm Thị Lập, Hồ Mai Yên, Cao Xuân Quý, and Nguyễn Thị Long - received sentences ranging from 15 months to three years. Quý and Long were given suspended sentences.

A recent report from the Wildlife Justice Commission analyzed trends in ivory and pangolin scales trafficking from Africa over the past decade using seizure data and found that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly disrupted the illegal trade, with fewer significant seizures reported post-pandemic. The report attributes this dip to pandemic-induced lockdowns, increased law enforcement and intelligence gathering, successful prosecutions, and declines in the prices of ivory and pangolin scales.

Nigeria accounts for the largest volume of detected pangolin scales illegally traded from Africa. Between 2010 and 2021, 190,000kg of scales - representing nearly 800,000 African pangolins - were seized in shipments linked to Nigeria, despite a ban on international trade. Pangolins are scaly mammals found across Asia and Africa. They are considered the world’s most trafficked wild mammals and they are exploited in different ways on different continents. In Asia, mainly China, their scales are used in large-scale therapeutic medicines, despite not having known medicinal properties…

The report, produced under a Service Contract with the European Commission, provides an in-depth analysis of illegal wildlife trade trends based on seizures reported by EU Member States to Europe Trade in Wildlife Information eXchange (EU-TWIX) system. The illegal trade in wild species is a critical threat to biodiversity; valued at a staggering $23bn each year, it devastates ecosystems and fuels crime.

Zhanjiang Customs of China announced on 17 May that the individual - named only as Huang inthe official statement - had been arrested and repatriated from Mozambique . EIA commends China Customs for its commitment to criminal justice and we congratulate it on thislatest success. The Shuidong ivory smuggling network was first exposed by EIA in 2017 , following our three-yearinvestigation tracing the syndicate's operations in Tanzania and Mozambique. The syndicate came from Shuidong, in Guangdong province, China.

On Nov. 11, 2024, Alfi Simatupang, a police officer in Asahan district on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, was arrested along with two soldiers and a civilian for allegedly attempting to traffic nearly 1.2 metric tons of pangolin scales. Since that bust, the civilian, Amir Simatupang, has gone on trial; the soldiers, Muhammad Yusuf Harahap and Rahmadani Syahputra, are undergoing a court-martial; while Alfi, the alleged mastermind of the trafficking plot, has not only avoided prosecution, but even been promoted.

The tides may finally be turning for Pangolins, often referred to as one of the most exploited creatures on Earth. In a move that's sending waves through conservation communities, China has announced that it will remove Guilingji, a traditional medicine containing pangolin ingredients, from its official 2025 Pharmacopoeia. The decision, confirmed in the revised edition released on the 25th of March, signals a significant step forward in wildlife protection and aligns with a growing global push to end the use of endangered animals in medicine.

Wildlife trafficking in Việt Nam has grown increasingly sophisticated and harder to detect in recent years as traders shift their operations to digital platforms. According to a Wildlife Trade Monitoring Network's (TRAFFIC) report, Việt Nam recorded approximately 22,500 online advertisements for wildlife and wildlife products from June 2021 to July 2023. Facebook dominates as the primary platform, accounting for 51.3 per cent of the activity, followed by Zalo at 35.5 per cent.

Demand for pangolins in Asia, where populations of these scaly mammals have dwindled, hasdriven traffickers to Africa, the only other continent where the increasingly endangered animals canbe found. Nigeria has become a hub for pangolin trafficking and other illegal trading of wildlife. Butauthorities have been cracking down, recently arresting a Chinese national suspected of being ahigh-level pangolin trafficker and targeting a supply network in a market in Lagos this month.

Number of smuggling cases involving ivory, pangolin scales and rhino horn has 'dropped significantly' since 2021, government says. Hong Kong has seen no "significant seizures" of smuggled ivory and pangolin scales since 2021, the government has said, attributing it to heavier penalties while animal rights groups pointed to international efforts in tackling the illegal wildlife trade as also helping.

Speaking to journalists, the Customs Area Controller, MMA command, Micheal Awe, said the operation, which was with the support of the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), led to the arrest of five suspects involved in the illegal wildlife trade. According to the Customs boss, the 3,765kg pangolin scale seizures mark the first major global seizure of its kind in 2025. He argued that the seizure highlighted both the persistent threat to pangolin species and the heightened vigilance of the NCS in dismantling these criminal networks.

People have asked us, "why pangolins?" We answer: they are the most trafficked mammals in the world - they matter, and need our help. But what does trafficking mean? It means pangolins are stolen - stolen from their habitats, stolen from the people whose traditions depend on them, stolen from the fabric of nature and culture. Driven by greed, ignorance and depravity, trafficking is a crime without mercy. The International League of Conservation Photographers (iLCP)'s Paul Hilton has published his account of a recent bust of pangolin smugglers in Indonesia.

The frequent seizure of Pangolin scales from smugglers by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) further reinforces Nigeria’s notoriety as a place where illicit wildlife trade thrives with minimal checks. Available reports indicate that the collaboration between the NCS and the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC) has led to the seizure of about 25,000 tonnes of pangolin scales in the last four years. Last Friday, the NSC Comptroller General, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, announced the arrest of a notorious trafficker in possession of 9,493 kg of pangolin scales believed to be about 7.2 tonnes…

In a significant victory against transnational wildlife crime, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced the arrest of a suspected high-level Chinese wildlife trafficker in Lagos. Acting on intelligence provided by the Wildlife Justice Commission (WJC), NCS carried out the arrest on 19 February 2025. This operation represents a critical disruption to organised wildlife crime networks operating between Nigeria and Asia. The arrest was linked to a warehouse raid in Ogun, Nigeria that led to a major pangolin scale seizure in August 2024, following intelligence provided by the…

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.

The Executive Director of the Pangolin Conservation Foundation, Kelsey Prediger, says that the illegal hunting and trade of pangolins has escalated into a crisis requiring global attention. Prediger made this remark during the celebration of World Pangolin Day, which takes place on February 15. This year's celebration was postponed due to a national mourning period following the passing of Namibia's Founding President, Sam Nujoma. Pangolins are hunted and sold illegally; their scales are used in traditional medicine, and their meat is considered a delicacy in some cultures.

Spanning three countries, the vast W-Arly-Pendjari Complex is being used to facilitate organised crime, terrorism and local conflicts. The W-Arly-Pendjari (WAP) Complex is a vast wildlife sanctuary spanning the intersecting borders of Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger. With one of the most diverse ecosystems in West Africa's savanna belt, it is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization World Heritage Site and shelters threatened species such as cheetah, giraffe, wild dog, elephant, lion and leopard.

Just a few days after World Pangolin Day, the Pangolin Conservation & Research Foundation (PCRF) has once again drawn attention to the devastating situation of pangolins in Namibia in an urgent appeal. On Pangolin Day itself, February 15, a Namibian pangolin fell victim to an electric fence - "just one of countless silent deaths that go unnoticed. This pangolin survived the illegal wildlife trade, only to be killed by another human-made threat," said PCRF Director Kelsey Prediger. Since 2018, 570 pangolins have been killed by poaching in Namibia alone (AZ reported).

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism says 570 pangolins have been poached in Namibia since 2018. In a media statement to celebrate World Pangolin Day on Saturday, ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said the ministry has reaffirmed its dedication to protecting the nation's pangolins, highlighting their ecological importance and the urgent need to combat threats such as habitat loss and illegal trafficking.

A Total of 570 pangolins have been poached in Namibia since 2018. This was revealed by Ministry spokesperson Romeo Muyunda, who said that the Ministry of Environment, Forestry and Tourism remains dedicated to protecting the nation's pangolins. According to Muyunda, there is an urgent need to combat threats such as habitat loss and illegal trafficking.

The Ministry of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism is developing a National Species Management Plan to bolster pangolin conservation efforts and combat illegal trafficking. The plan, being created in collaboration with the Namibian Pangolin Working Group, is expected to be released in 2025. The Ministry announced the initiative over the weekend, underscoring its commitment to protecting the species from poaching and habitat loss. Since 2018, at least 570 pangolins have been poached in documented cases, ministerial spokesperson Romeo Muyunda said in a statement.

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.

Cape Town - The Department of Forestry, Fisheries and Environment (DFFE) said it would focus on disrupting local and international poaching this year. This comes after Cape Town metro police arrested a suspect for allegedly poaching 250 kilogrammes of abalone in Hout Bay last week. The bust has put a spotlight on poaching in the country. DFFE Minister Dion George commended the City of Cape Town's metro police for retrieving the poached abalone last Thursday. George said he would be making an extra effort to target poachers this year.

The police in the Ohangwena region have arrested two men aged 26 and 51 found in possession of pangolin skin worth N$50 000 at Okongo on Tuesday. Ohangwena police crime investigations coordinator, deputy commissioner Melanie Mbuuru, said the suspects were arrested around 11h15 at a shopping complex in the Okongo district. According to Mbuuru, the suspects face charges of the possession of protected game products without a permit. The suspects are expected to appear before the Eenhana Magistrate’s Court this week. Police investigations into the matter continue.

The Namibian Police Force in the Ohangwena Region has arrested two men, aged 26 and 51, after they were found in possession of pangolin skin in Okongo. Ohangwena Crime Investigation Coordinator, Deputy Commissioner Melanie Mbuuru, said the suspects were arrested around 11:15 at the Pick n Pay complex in the Okongo district on Tuesday. According to Mbuuru, the suspects were found in possession of protected game products without a permit.

The minister said the court enables the swift prosecution for offenses such as wildlife trafficking, illegal logging and pollution, aligning with national and international efforts to safeguard the environment.

Four Chinese nationals were arrested last week in Kampala for their involvement in illegal wildlife trade and tax evasion. The suspects were apprehended by the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) in collaboration with Uganda Police and Uganda Revenue Authority (URA) following the discovery of illegal wildlife products and smuggled goods at their residence in Naguru, Kampala. Among the items recovered were 9.4 kilogrammes of pangolin scales, two skinned pangolin carcasses, 167 cartons of smuggled premium cigarettes, and Shs27 million in cash. 

4 ivory traffickers arrested with 3 tusks in Congo in a crackdown on judicial corruption. One of them is the head clerk of the high court of Dolisie who used his position to traffic seized ivory from the court’s evidence room. He was denounced by the other traffickers and a raid was carried out his home the following morning when he arrested. Two of the tusks bear markings corresponding to our operation from 2021. This is an important step in combatting corruption in the judicial system. 2 traffickers arrested with 3 elephant tusks, 41 ivory statues, and 13 hippo teeth in Togo.…

The country has recorded a decrease in arrests related to the poaching of rhinos, elephants, and pangolins, but authorities say more work is needed to combat the ongoing threat from international poaching syndicates. Speaking at a handover of donated vehicles last week, the Minister of Environment, Forestry, and Tourism, Pohamba Shifeta said combined arrests for rhino and elephant poaching dropped from 143 last year to 91 this year. Pangolin-related crimes also saw a decline, with 30 cases recorded this year compared to 60 last year, Shifeta added.

A total of 46 rhinos, including 35 black and 11 white rhinos, have been killed in the Etosha National Park by poachers so far in 2024, minister of Environment, Forestry and Tourism Pohamba Shifeta has said. He made the announcement in the capital last week during the donation of 22 vehicles and information technology (IT) equipment, valued at N$19.8 million to the ministry by the Integrated Wildlife Protection Project. The donation was co-financed by the German state-owned KfW Development Bank.

A dehydrated pangolin was rescued from the captivity of alleged traffickers in Morningside at the end of September. Sandton SPCA's senior inspector Ronald Ramalata acted swiftly following being tipped-off about the endangered animal on September 29.

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has taken another bold step in the global fight against wildlife trafficking, seizing 9,493 kg of pangolin scales in one of the largest wildlife crime busts in recent years. The Comptroller General of Customs (CGC), Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed these developments at a press briefing held at the Customs Training College in Lagos on Wednesday, 16 October 2024, as part of the service’s ongoing enforcement activities.

Two Botswana nationals, Rhine Morgan Kemsley, 35, and Mothusi Malcom Lefa, 49, suspected of illegally possessing and dealing pangolin, an endangered species, have had their day in court. An all-encompassing law enforcement team, according to Captain Lloyd Ramovha of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation (Hawks), made the arrest.

Wildlife crime remains an international conservation management issue that threatens ecotourism, ecological balance and biodiversity. The industry of illegal hunting and trade in wildlife and wildlife products is estimated to be worth US$50-US$150 billion per annum, according to the United Nations Environment Programme, and continues to pose a threat towards globally-endangered wildlife species. The escalation of wildlife crime also threatens national and local economies, the criminal justice and security systems, and public health.

The Namibia Professional Hunting Association (Napha) has publicly emphasised the need to distinguish between illegal and ethical practices related to leopard hunting but has not clearly condemned the illegal activities that are being exposed by the media as well as being investigated by law enforcement and prosecuted in the courts. Behind the scenes, parts of the trophy sector are lobbying to legalise hunting with dogs and hunting at night.

Oshikoto police regional commander Commissioner Teopolina Kalompo-Nashikaku has issued a stern warning to poachers, saying they risk their lives by engaging with armed anti-poaching units. Without mincing her words, she warned that the authorities are committed to protecting the country's fauna and flora and said poachers risk their own lives if they shoot at security personnel deployed to safeguard wildlife species.