![The world's remaining rhinos are mostly in Africa [File: Daniel Irungu/EPA]](https://focusingonwildlife.com/news/wp-content/uploads/10494899-1695265748.jpg "Malaysian nicknamed the ‘Godfather’ jailed in US for rhino horn trafficking - Video Investigation")
Teo Boon Ching, a Malaysian wildlife trafficker known by a range of aliases including the Godfather, has been jailed for 18 months in the United States for smuggling hundreds of kilos of horns from endangered rhinoceros. Ching, 58, was arrested in Thailand on a US extradition request in June 2022, after a covert operation exposed […]
Tag: trafficking
Wildlife charity snare ‘mafia-type’ poachers trafficking ‘huge’ $100K ivory shipment
A wildlife crime charity has smashed a “mafia-type” smuggling ring taking more than £95,000-worth of ivory out of Africa. A six-day operation by Conservation Justice, part of the EAGLE Network, and local agency partners in Gabon was described as a “significant turning point in the relentless fight against the illegal ivory trade”. Operatives for the […]
Good news: Big Cat Public Safety Act rules are now a reality
For over a decade, we have been fighting hard to prevent the suffering and abuse of captive big cats, confronting a dangerous industry and the individuals who take advantage of these animals. And we celebrated in December of last year when President Biden signed the Big Cat Public Safety Act into law. The fundamental goals […]
A Southeast Asian marine biodiversity hotspot is also a wildlife trafficking hotbed
A new report has highlighted the maritime border zone between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines as a hotbed for the illegal wildlife trade, and called for urgent intergovernmental action to protect this biodiversity hotspot at the apex of the Coral Triangle. Wildlife trade monitoring nonprofit TRAFFIC documented and analyzed the seizure of more than 25,000 […]
Thai Poaching Kingpin Sentenced to Prison
After years of investigations and appeals, Bach “Boonchai” Mai, the alleged leader of a major international wildlife trafficking ring, has been sentenced to five years in prison by the Thai Supreme Court. Mai was convicted of attempting to smuggle 14 rhino horns into Thailand, but his network, Hydra, has been involved in trafficking ivory, rhino […]
‘Finch-smuggling kingpin’ sentenced to prison for bird trafficking into US
A man who repeatedly admitted scheming to smuggle finches from Guyana into New York for birdsong competitions was sentenced on Thursday to a year and a day in prison. It was Insaf Ali’s second time being sentenced in a Brooklyn federal court for a crime related to bird trafficking, and he vowed it would be […]
Mexico dismantles illegal fishing cartels killing off rare vaquita porpoise
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO — Some of the country’s most ambitious and successful wildlife traffickers are now in jail, officials announced. Mexico’s navy confirmed in a press conference that members of cartels dedicated to the trafficking of totoaba have been arrested and put in prison, effectively dismantling some of the main organized crime groups contributing to […]
Major wins for sharks and other wild animals in key legislative package
There have been some massive wins for animals recently in the U.S., as the Congress acts to pass some protections we’ve been championing for years. Right on the heels of the Big Cat Public Safety Act’s resounding passage, two additional animal protection measures were wrapped into the National Defense Authorization Act, which authorizes funding levels […]