Transnational environmental crime – wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, dumping hazardous waste and more – takes an estimated $91 to $259 billion bite out of the global economy and has strong ties to organized crime finance, says a new study from Michigan State University and published in Nature Sustainability.
“Transnational environmental crime, or TEC, has become the largest financial driver of social conflicts in the world,” said Meredith Gore, MSU associate professor of fisheries and wildlife and co-lead author on the study. “If it’s not addressed in sustainable development frameworks, these serious threats will undermine development in decades to come.”
A high-profile example of TEC involved a recent joint customs and police sting called, “Operation Thunderball.” The successful endeavor covered 109 countries and arrested 582 suspects. It recovered nearly 10,000 turtles and tortoises, 4,300 birds, 440 pieces of elephant tusks, the equivalent of 74 truckloads of timber and more.
Read more at: Michigan State University
Transnational environmental crime - wildlife trafficking, illegal logging, dumping hazardous waste and more - takes an estimated $91 to $259 billion bite out of the global economy and has strong ties to organized crime finance, says a new study from Michigan State University and published in Nature Sustainability. (Photo Credit: Courtesy of MSU)