Illicit Trade Report 2015 Contents
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Illicit Trade Report 2015 Contents P. 2 FOREWORD P. 4 INTRODUCTION P. 10 SECTION 1. DRUGS P. 52 SECTION 2. ENVIRONMENT P. 74 SECTION 3. IPR, HEALTH AND SAFETY P. 96 SECTION 4. REVENUE P. 124 SECTION 5. SECURITY P. 136 SECTION 6. CULTURAL HERITAGE P. 147 BIBLIOGRAPHY P. 148 ABBREVIATIONS Foreword In the pursuit of evidence-based policy making and operational planning, the WCO continues to publish the Illicit Trade Report in order to inform the law enforcement community, policy makers, academia and society on the trends and patterns of illicit trade during the previous years. The 2015 edition of this flagship WCO product contributes Using this opportunity, I would like to express particular to a better understanding of the dynamics of illicit trade in thanks to all WCO Member Customs administrations that different enforcement areas and highlights some of the ef- continue to contribute seizure data to the WCO CEN da- forts made by law enforcement agencies around the globe to tabase. While this process is meticulous and lengthy, the prevent that illicit trade. benefits of sharing this important information with the law enforcement community certainly outweigh the costs. The 2015 edition of this Report is unique. Apart from focu- Consistent, timely and accurate information sharing and sing on five traditional areas of Customs enforcement, na- analysis of trends and patterns constitute one of the major mely, trafficking in illegal drugs; environmental crime and pinnacles of any successful enforcement action. illegal trade in natural resources; infringement of intellectual property rights and trade in substances dangerous to pu- The WCO is committed to continue the efforts in enhancing blic health and safety; smuggling of excisable goods, causing its data-driven approach to law enforcement by collecting revenue leakage; and illegal trade in dangerous and prohi- better-quality Customs seizure information and sharing bited items, a new Section has been added. This Section is operational and strategic analyses through the established dedicated to the evolving risk of illicit trafficking in cultural communication channels. In the meantime, I am delighted to objects. The global character of this type of trafficking, par- introduce the 2015 Illicit Trade Report and I hope you will find ticularly when it relates to trafficking from conflict zones, it both useful and thought-provoking. and linkages with money laundering, organized crime and possibly terrorist financing, have elevated this concern wit- hin the law enforcement community not only because of the impact on the countries of origin that lose their cultural he- ritage, but also because of the possible security implications. In order to draw more attention to this matter, the new Sec- tion on cultural heritage describes the policy framework and highlights the activities of Customs and its partner enforce- ment agencies in this domain. Since seizure data in this area Kunio MIKURIYA is limited, the publication of this Section with some prelimi- Secretary General nary analysis based on information received will hopefully World Customs Organization encourage Members to share more data in this critical area of Customs enforcement. Throughout the Report, the different Sections address the six areas of enforcement by analysing seizure reports sub- mitted by the WCO Members in the WCO Customs Enforce- ment Network (CEN). The Report also provides an overview of international enforcement programmes, projects and ope- rations led or coordinated by the WCO in 2015 alongside its international partners and Member administrations. Introduction A A / © Zhudifeng, iStock photo. GENERAL OVERVIEW OF THE REPORT The aim of this annual Illicit Trade Report is The Report addresses six key areas of risks in to provide a better understanding of current the context of Customs enforcement and is di- smuggling and cross-border criminal activi- vided into the following sections: ties by quantifying and mapping the situation concerning illicit markets in six key areas of - Drug trafficking including cultivation, manu- Customs enforcement: drugs, environment, facturing, distribution and sale of substances health and safety/intellectual property rights subject to drug prohibition laws; (IPR), security, revenue assurance and, for the first time, cultural objects. With this Report, the - Environmental risks relating to trafficking of WCO wishes to raise awareness of these critical endangered species, hazardous and toxic waste, areas of Customs enforcement in an endeavour ozone-depleting substances, and trading of in- to contribute to the information available on digenous or protected timber, etc. Cross-border illicit trade and to enable Customs administra- trafficking in these activities threatens ecologi- tions around the globe to enhance accordingly cal balance and sustainable development; their response to these threats. - IPR, health and safety risks relating to trade submit 2015 data was in March 2016, thus any in counterfeit or fake goods, particularly pro- data submitted after this date was not consi- ILLICIT TRADE REPORT 2015 ducts which pose a serious threat to health dered for this year’s Report. and safety such as pharmaceuticals (including INTRODUCTION veterinary medicines), foodstuffs, toys and Submitting data to the CEN is a voluntary pro- sub-standard items (such as electrical compo- cess and certain limitations should consequently nents and spare parts); be taken into account when proceeding with the analysis. Exceptionally large seizures may consi- 5 - Revenue risks including leakage, through the derably impact trends and patterns, and some smuggling of highly taxed goods such as tobac- countries may provide partial data or not report co, alcohol and motor spirits, commercial fraud seizures of specific commodities. As the level of activities such as under-valuation, misuse of analysis is critically dependent on the quantity origin and preferential duties, misclassification and quality of the data submitted, the figures and drawback fraud; in this Report may not fully reflect seizures at a global level. Furthermore, analysing the data - Security risks including terrorism, proliferation reported by the Customs community only repre- of weapons of mass destruction, trafficking of sents part of the global efforts engaged in the small arms and explosives, and diversion of fight against illegal trade as enforcement powers dual-use goods; can involve several government agencies. As a result, data contained in this Report should not - Illicit trafficking of stolen or looted cultural be used as a definite base to estimate the overall objects that include both archaeological objects level of crime, but rather serve to assess flows and works of art. and patterns of illegal trade. Through this Report, the WCO aims to raise DATABASE AND awareness of the level and scope of Customs METHODOLOGY activities in the area of enforcement and to en- courage Customs authorities to share data more The analysis contained in this Report is based regularly in order to contribute to a better un- on the collection of data from the WCO Cus- derstanding of the phenomenon of illegal trade. toms Enforcement Network (CEN) - a database of worldwide Customs seizures and offences. WCO Members and the Regional Intelligence Liaison Offices (RILOs) enter and validate the data input into the CEN and used for this Re- port. Seizures include those reported by Cus- toms, joint Customs and Police units and other law enforcement agencies with power over Customs duties. The data contained in the CEN is continuously updated and reviewed, making it a ‘living’ da- tabase. Figures contained in this Report may therefore differ from those used in previous editions. The 2015 Illicit Trade Report includes analysis of CEN data for the period from Janua- ry to the end of December 2015. The deadline to WORLD CUSTOMS ORGANIZATION CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT changes to the data download feature of the ILLICIT TRADE REPORT NETWORK (CEN) SUITE application for more efficient exploitation of the 2015 data by all CEN users. The CEN suite includes three standalone ap- INTRODUCTION plications (CEN, nCEN and CENcomm) created As mentioned, the CEN applications are com- especially for the Customs community, compa- patible and complementary in nature, and this tible and complementary in nature, providing the is most evident between the CEN and nCEN. 6 latest technology and the analytical capabilities The National Customs Enforcement Network to successfully meet the challenges associated (nCEN) application, developed with the aim of with the fight against illicit trade. supporting risk management at the national 1 / Joint Publication 2-0 (2013), Joint Intelligence, CHART 1. p.I-2, available at fas.org/ Relationship of data, information, and intelligence1 irp/doddir/dod/jp2_0.pdf OPERATIONAL DATA INFORMATION INTELLIGENCE ENVIRONMENT COLLECTION PROCESSING AND ANALYSIS AND EXPLOITATION PRODUCTION Performing a valuable role from the first steps level, gives Customs administrations the ability of the intelligence cycle, the legacy CEN appli- to collect, store, analyse, and disseminate law cation allows all WCO Members to access a enforcement data effectively in order to esta- critical mass of information for analysis of illi- blish robust national intelligence capabilities, cit trafficking in the various areas of Customs’ enhance strategic, tactical, and operational pro- competence. This is crucial in terms of deve- filing, and boost information sharing both regio- loping a fuller