In Plane Sight
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The USAID Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) Partnership brings together transport and logistics companies, government agencies, development groups, law enforcement, conservation organizations, academia and donors to disrupt wildlife trafficking activities, and forms a key element of the concerted international response to addressing wildlife poaching and associated criminal activities worldwide. At the heart of ROUTES is a core group of partners collaborating with the U.S. Government and the transport sector that includes the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS), Freeland, the International Air Transport Association (IATA), TRAFFIC and WWF. For resources referenced in this document or for more information visit: www.routespartnership.org [email protected] @routespartners @routespartnership This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of C4ADS and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID, the United States Government, or individual ROUTES partners. The designations of geographical entities in this publication, and the presentation of the material, do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of C4ADS, ROUTES, or ROUTES partners concerning the legal status of any country, territory, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. 2 ABOUT C4ADS ABOUT THE AUTHORS C4ADS (www.c4ads.org) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Mary Utermohlen received degrees in International organization dedicated to data-driven analysis and Relations and Accounting from the College of William evidence-based reporting of conflict and security & Mary, with concentrations in Hispanic Studies and issues worldwide. We seek to alleviate the analytical Economics. Mary has studied in Spain and in the burden carried by public sector institutions by UK, speaks Spanish, and is learning Portuguese. She applying manpower, depth, and rigor to questions of has written for the Diplomatic Courier and for the conflict and security. US Army’s Training Brain Operations Center. Mary Our approach leverages nontraditional investigative manages the C4ADS Environmental Crimes Fusion techniques and emerging analytical technologies. Cell’s timber, IUU fishing, and minerals portfolios, We recognize the value of working on the ground in as well as C4ADS’ antiquities project. the field, capturing local knowledge, and collecting Patrick Baine received his undergraduate degree original data to inform our analysis. At the same in Political Science and Chinese Language from time, we employ cutting-edge technology to manage Appalachian State University. He then lived, and analyze that data. The result is an innovative worked, and studied in China for five years, which analytical approach to conflict prevention and included a one-year Master’s Certificate program at mitigation. the Hopkins-Nanjing Center. Patrick received his Master’s in International Relations and International ABOUT ROUTES AND In Plane Sight Economics from The Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies with a specialization The USAID Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful in Quantitative Methods and Economic Theory. His Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) research at C4ADS concentrates on international Partnership brings together transport and logistics wildlife trafficking with a focus on Asia. companies, government agencies, development groups, law enforcement, conservation organizations, academia and donors to disrupt wildlife trafficking ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS activities, and forms a key element of the concerted The authors would like to thank the many C4ADS international response to addressing wildlife poaching analysts who supported one or more aspects of the and associated criminal activities worldwide. creation of this report: Michael Lohmuller and Under the ROUTES Partnership, C4ADS aims to Cecile Neumeister, for their help not only collecting, identify and track wildlife trafficking trends and structuring, and cleaning seizure data, but also for methods, as well as assess the effects of ROUTES’ their assistance in writing; Devin Thorne, for his efforts. Since 2015, ROUTES has focused on seizure data collecting and structuring efforts, as trafficking through the air transit sector, and thus well as for the beautiful artwork gracing the cover In Plane Sight examines the trends, transit routes, of this report; Bridget Connelly and Ben Spevack, and trafficking methods used by wildlife smugglers for their assistance with data collection and analysis; exploiting the aviation industry. This report adds to David Lynch, for his contributions to the case studies the information published in Flying Under the Radar contained within this report; and Evangeline Hines, released in 2017, and has extended our focus from for her help editing this herculean beast. This report the trafficking of ivory, rhino horn, reptiles, and could not have been written without them. birds by air to include pangolins, marine products The authors would also like to thank the World (e.g. seahorses, abalone, etc.), and mammals from Customs Organization (WCO) and the US Fish & 2009 to 2017. Wildlife Service (FWS) for contributing data from their CEN and LEMIS databases for use in this LEGAL DISCLAIMER report. The mention of any individual, company, organization, or other entity in this report does COVER IMAGE not imply the violation of any law or international The cover image was produced by Devin Thorne. agreement, and should not be construed as such. 3 Table of Contents EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................8 ABBREVIATIONS & DEFINITIONS ...............................................................................................9 ABBREVIATIONS ..........................................................................................................................9 DEFINITIONS ..............................................................................................................................9 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................ 11 AIR TRANSPORT SECTOR ...........................................................................................................12 SECURITY & HEALTH RISKS ......................................................................................................12 WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING & SEIZURE DATA ..................................................................................13 OVERVIEW: RECOMMENDATIONS ........................................................................................... 16 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................................ 17 THE DATA ................................................................................................................................ 17 DATA GAPS & BIASES .............................................................................................................. 19 OVERVIEW ...................................................................................................................................... 21 TRAFFICKING ROUTES ANALYSIS ................................................................................................24 TRAFFICKING METHODS ANALYSIS .............................................................................................28 COUNTRY ENFORCEMENT INDEX ................................................................................................30 IVORY ............................................................................................................................................... 32 COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY ANALYSIS ..............................................................................................34 AIRPORT-BY-AIRPORT ANALYSIS (2017) .......................................................................................38 CIRCLE FLOW ANALYSIS (2017) .................................................................................................39 TRAFFICKING ROUTES ANALYSIS (2017) ..................................................................................... 41 TRAFFICKING METHODS ANALYSIS ............................................................................................. 43 HANdmadE VESTS IN HONG KONG—AN UPdaTE ...................................................................... 45 COMPUTER TOWERS FROM ZIMBABWE ........................................................................................46 RHINO HORN ................................................................................................................................. 47 COUNTRY-BY-COUNTRY ANALYSIS ..............................................................................................48 AIRPORT-BY-AIRPORT ANALYSIS (2017) ....................................................................................... 53 CIRCLE FLOW ANALYSIS (2017) ................................................................................................. 55 4 TRAFFICKING ROUTES ANALYSIS (2017) ..................................................................................... 57 TRAFFICKING METHODS ANALYSIS .............................................................................................59