Illegal miners, wildlife traffickers targeted in Amazon raids; and donkey penises seized
The two-week, multi-country raids saw more than 1,500 officers mobilised and resulted in nearly 100 arrests
Nearly 100 people were arrested and assets worth more than $64 million were seized in a two-week, multi-country enforcement operation across the Amazon Basin.
More than 1,500 officers from Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru were mobilised between June 23 and July 6, conducting more than 350 raids. The operation targeted a broad range of environmental crimes, including illegal mining, wildlife trafficking, logging, and fuel smuggling.
Codenamed Operation Green Shield, the crackdown was coordinated by the United Arab Emirates through a platform launched in 2023 to bolster environmental policing. It also drew on intelligence from Interpol and the US Fish and Wildlife Service.
In Peru, authorities dismantled illegal mining gangs that have sown chaos across the Andean country in recent months. A wildlife trafficking network operating in the Amazonia region was also broken up.
Details of the raids were kept highly secret. In total 310 tonnes of raw minerals, 39,000 gallons of fuel, and 2,100 live animals were seized.
Read the full story here.
Nigeria: Customs officials intercepted a shipment containing more than 10,000 donkey penises en route to China. The appendages, which are believed to be an aphrodisiac by practitioners of traditional Chinese medicine, were stacked in a 40ft shipping container and intercepted on a major highway. They have been handed to the national environmental agency for "further investigation”. (Intellinews)
Germany: An arachnophobes nightmare: some 1,500 tarantulas were found packed into plastic containers and hidden inside chocolate cake boxes at an airport in Bonn. The package had arrived from Vietnam and suspicions were tipped by a “noticeable smell” according to the Customs office. Many of the spiders sadly failed to survive the trip. (Guardian)
France: A French billionaire was arrested last week on suspicion of illegally hunting protected birds on his private estate. Olivier Bouygues, the son of the founder of the Bouygues group, was taken into custody along with three others. Officers found dead birds including buzzards and egrets during a search of his estate in early June. There were also signs of a potential operation to illegally breed wild boars, according to reports. (Brussels Times)
USA: Five members of an alleged dog fighting ring have been arrested and more than two dozen dogs have been euthanised in Louisiana. Officials claimed to have busted a ring operating across multiple cities, involving money laundering drug distribution and dog fighting. Officers raided an address where they say dogs were being bred and trained to fight while enhanced with steroids. (WAFB9)
Argentina: More than 100 birds were seized in the Chaco forest in northern Argentina. Officers said there were signs that they had been bred illegally and the animals appeared malnutritioned and stressed. Chaco is home to a number of parrots which are popularly kept as pets, meaning trafficking is a real issue in the region. (Noticias Ambientales)
Brazil: Community-led patrols have been linked to an 80 per cent reduction in environmental crimes according to a study which assessed their effectiveness over the decade from 2003. Twelve territories in two protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon were assessed. Researchers found that engaging local people to voluntarily patrol the region was an effective complement to more official surveillance and monitoring. (Mongabay)
Indonesia: An incredible attempt to smuggle more than 1,200 birds native to the island of Java was foiled after officers found the animals stuffed into tiny cages. The bird is common on the island but listed as endangered by the IUCN and is a nationally-protected species. The birds were due to be shipped by ferry. (Straits Times)
Australia: Job cuts could increase the risk of poaching on the Australian coast according to a recently retired fisheries officer. The warning comes a month after two fishermen were caught off the coast of Victoria with more than 800kg of abalones which they allegedly planned to sell. (ABC)
EU: A coalition of NGOs has called on the EU to reform its management of sustainable fisheries, arguing that the status quo lacks transparency. The current rules around agreeing sustainable fisheries lack measures to deal with non-compliance, the NGOs claimed. (Seafood Source)
Cambodia: The crews protecting river dolphins in Cambodia have requested additional equipment to support their work. Illegal fishing has threatened the future of the Irrawaddy dolphin, but conservation efforts appear to be working. Seven new calves have been born this year increasing the population to 111. (Asia News)
Australia: Three platypuses were killed in illegally-set fishing nets in Australia close to Melbourne. Rangers found the animals ensnared last week. The incident shows the potential impact of illegal fishing nets on non-target wildlife. (Upper Yarra Mail)