Canada participates in large-scale global enforcement operation aimed at disrupting wildlife and forest crimes

GATINEAU, QC, Dec. 12, 2023 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada is committed to protecting wildlife and plants at risk of overexploitation due to unsustainable or illegal trade. The reach of wildlife and forest crime is global in scope; therefore, strong cooperation between Canadian and international partners is essential to tackling wildlife trafficking and related crimes.

In October 2023, Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers participated in Operation Thunder 2023, a month-long global operation involving 133 countries. Led by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, the operation aimed to identify, disrupt, and dismantle criminal and organized crime networks involved in trafficking wild plant and animal species.

Environment and Climate Change Canada enforcement officers led multiple enforcement operations across Canada, with support from the Canada Border Services Agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, and their provincial and territorial counterparts.

Enforcement officers and partners carried out targeted inspections at mail centres, airports, cargo centres, and ports of entry across Canada. Their efforts resulted in the identification of numerous violations, resulting in the seizure or detainment of numerous species (or their respective parts and derivatives), which are protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Items include:

• Thirty boxes of crocodile-oil cream
• Two boxes and eight freezer bags containing shark fin
• Twenty wood carvings made from African mahogany
• Eight Green Tree Pythons
• Ten boxes of face cream containing Chinese Ground Orchid
• Three packages of tiger-powder balm
• Fifty cactus plants and 15 cactus pieces
• Seven boxes of pills containing Potato Orchid
• Fourteen Sandhill Cranes
• One alligator head
• Two live tortoises
• Two black bear bacula (penis bones)

The results of this operation extend beyond Canada's borders and demonstrate that collaborative enforcement work on a global scale disrupts illegal wildlife activity. For more information about the global impact of this operation: https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2023/2-114-seizures-of-endangered-animals-and-timber-in-major-international-law-enforcement-operation

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Quick facts

• Wildlife crime refers to the trade of wild plant and animal species in contravention of both national and international laws and regulations.
• INTERPOL defines forest crime as criminal activity in the forestry sector, covering the entire supply chain, from harvest and transportation to processing and selling.
• According to INTERPOL, environmental and wildlife crime has become one of the world's largest and most profitable crime sectors and continues to grow as it pushes many species to the brink of extinction.
• Operation Thunder 2023 is the seventh global operation in the yearly "Thunder" series, which started with Operation Thunderbird in 2017.
• The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora is an international agreement that Canada signed in 1975 to regulate, or in some cases prohibit, trade in specific species of wild animals and plants, as well as their respective parts and derivatives. It protects more than 40,000 species of animals and plants worldwide.
• On November 20, 2023, the Government of Canada announced a stricter approach to trade for Canada that will further limit the ability to transport all elephant ivory and rhinoceros horn.

Associated links

• INTERPOL
• World Customs Organization
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)
• Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act
• Canada Implements Stricter Measures for Elephant Ivory and Rhinoceros Horn Trade

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SOURCE Environment and Climate Change Canada

Media Relations, Environment and Climate Change Canada, 819-938-3338 or 1-844-836-7799 (toll-free), [email protected]