It took sending police officers to airports and national border crossings to inspect cars, trucks, boats and cargo transports, as well as visits to scrap yards, taxidermy shops, garages, pet fairs, warehouses and even health clinics, but an international coalition of forces has announced the arrests of nearly 900 people and the confiscation of tons of illegal goods, says a report in Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.
It's the latest news in the war against trafficking in illegal wildlife and natural resources.
"Wildlife trafficking has surged in recent years, generating billions in illicit profits. Simply put, criminals are helping themselves to the environment’s precious resources without a care for the cost to our planet," said INTERPOL Secretary General Jürgen Stock.
The recent weeks-long operation resulted in some 1,300 seizures, some of multiple products, worth an estimated $5.1 million.
The operation, called "Thunderbird," involved officials from dozens of countries and territories, resulting in the discovery of nearly 4,800 birds, more than 1,200 reptiles, 2.5 tons of raw and processed ivory, 25 tons of various animal parts, including meat, horns and feathers, and more than 37,000 "derivatives" such as ornaments and carvings.
"Among the more than 14.3 tons of marine wildlife seized were 180 dead seahorses which had been concealed in snack boxes discovered by U.S. authorities, with additional seahorse seizures also made in Mozambique," the coalition said.
In Hong Kong, officers seized 1.3 tons of red sandalwood hidden in a container shipped from Malaysia.
The report on the coordinated attack on illegal activity explained information was shared with law enforcement agencies to identify targets, and X-ray scanners, sniffer dogs and other resources were lined up.
The result, so far, has been 370 investigations in which nearly 100 people already have been jailed "with terms ranging from several days to seven years."
For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin.