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of organized crime. Trans-boundary criminal intelligence units
and specialized anti-poaching units operating with law enforce-
ment agencies both inside and outside parks, as well as well-
established intelligence networks in communities and towns,
are all critical to the successful unraveling of criminal networks.
Once traffickers are identified, surveillance and backtrack-
ing must be carried out. Many primary wildlife traffickers are
known to local NGOs, and these conservation organizations
should form a critical component of the networks assisting
criminal intelligence units. With local intelligence networks
helping to produce reports on trafficking activities, the neces-
sary information can be collected in order to initiate police
investigations, involve INTERPOL, and establish formal co-
operation among the countries involved. Here again, the IC-
CWC can play a key role by supporting the entire enforcement
chain: intelligence units, police and customs officials, and the
judiciary, and to identify and close down foreign markets that
drive the demand.
Prosecution
The existing weaknesses in the prosecution process in Africa
and Southeast Asia compound the lack of law enforcement and
trafficking investigations in those regions, making it difficult
to put an end in the illegal trade of great apes. Transporting
these animals, although a clear violation of national laws and
CITES, and in spite of the fact that such transport usually in-
volves criminal networks operating across national borders, is
generally not considered to be an “organized crime” in many
countries unless it involves the violation of laws that carry a
sentence of at least four years. This is important. If the trans-
boundary trafficking of great apes and other contraband carries
deterrent sentences four years or more, it will be considered
organized crime. This will lead to far more stringent investiga-
tions and subsequently the prosecution and conviction of the
individuals involved.
The ICCWC has worked to develop a tool kit that will assist
both police officers and investigators in identifying which laws
have been violated, as well as how and where evidence can be
located to ensure that proper investigation is carried out and
that those involved in trafficking are prosecuted. Without suit-
able legal deterrents, the trafficking of great apes will continue
and their numbers will continue to drop.