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Summary

Illegal wildlife trade

Illegal trade in protected and endangered species, which often involves bribery, other forms of corruption, and money laundering.

There is no universally accepted definition of the term, but the UNODCdescribes the illicit/illegal wildlife trade (IWT) as: “the illegal trade, smuggling, poaching, capture, or collection of endangered species, protected wildlife (including animals or plants that are subject to harvest quotas and regulated by permits), derivatives, or products thereof ”.

Related terms such as “wildlife trafficking”, “wildlife and forest crime” and “illegal trade in wildlife, timber and fish” also have a variety of interpretations. Domestic laws often focus on the particular risks and activities located in their own jurisdiction, with appropriate definitional adjustments.

The UNODC estimated the value of the trade in ivory and rhino horns to be $630 million between 2016 and 2018, a scale which could not be achieved without the involvement of organized crime and associated money laundering. FATFmonitors the trade and associated regulations through its Environmental Crime division. Illegal elements of wildlife trading, including poaching and smuggling, are often facilitated by corruption, for example through bribery of law enforcement or border officials.

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Further reading

UNODC 2020. World Wildlife Crime Report 2020: Trafficking in Protected Species. New York: United Nations.

UNODC n.d. “Criminalisation of wildlife trafficking”. https://www.unodc. org/e4j/en/wildl ife-crime/mod ule-3/key-iss ues/crim inal izat ion-of-wildl ife-traffick ing.html.

Illicit enrichment

The process whereby an individual builds and maintains a level of wealth or a lifestyle that is not explicable through their lawful income.

Illicit enrichment has been widely adopted as a criminal offence to tackle corruption, having the advantage that it is not necessary to provide evidence that links an individual to a specific or tangible act of corruption (some-times known as a predicate offence).

The concept of illicit enrichment was present as early as the 1930s in Argentina where a congressman sought to take action against public officials who displayed wealth incommensurate with their official salaries. Legislation relating to the offence of illicit enrichment was introduced in various jurisdictions throughout the twentieth century including Hong Kong, India and Egypt.