Interpol has launched its first ever appeal for public help
in catching nine fugitives suspected of environmental crimes costing
hundreds of millions of dollars and catapulting the issue to the
forefront of international law enforcement.
The nine suspects are wanted for a list of crimes ranging
from mass illegal logging in Indonesia to rhinoceros poaching in
Swaziland and the trafficking of two tonnes of ivory in Kenya.
Stefano Carvelli, the head of Interpol’s fugitive
investigative support unit, said that the offences were only the tip of
the iceberg of an environmental crime wave, which agency reports have
estimated to be worth $70bn-$213bn annually.
“If we talk about illegal logging, we have many pending
cases,” he said. “We also have many serious biodiversity cases. The
problem is very big, I can feel it. These are crimes with many, many
different parameters.”
One fugitive, Ahmed Kamran, 29, is charged with smuggling
over 100 live animals – including giraffes and impalas – from Tanzania’s
Kilimanjaro airport to Qatar on a military airplane. Sergey Darminov,
50, is thought to have led an illegal crab-fishing operation in Russia
that netted $450m.
Another, Adriano Giacobone, 57, is wanted on charges that
include illegal transport and discharge of toxic waste, poisoning water
beds, kidnapping, illegal detention, carrying of firearms, aggravated
theft and violence against a police officer.
A joint
Interpol-UNEP report
earlier this year linked the revenues from environmental crime to
extremist militias such as the Lords Resistance Army in Uganda, the
Janjaweed in Sudan and al-Shabaab in Somalia.
While sources say there are indications connecting some of
the fugitives under investigation to terrorist groups, Interpol will
officially neither confirm nor deny them.
The law enforcement agency stresses that members of the
public should report any sightings of the fugitives to Interpol or their
national police force, and not approach them directly.
“We consider all of these people to be dangerous, especially
because the nature of these crimes required the involvement of
organised criminal networks,” Carvelli said.
The public appeal follows an inquiry by 23 officers into the
whereabouts of 139 suspects wanted by 36 countries. The investigation
has been code-named Operation Infra-Terra.
Since its launch last month, Operation Infra-Terra has raised the profile of Interpol’s
environmental crimes unit, which focuses on illegal exploitation of the world’s flora and fauna, and hazardous waste dumping.
Past Interpol public appeals have focused on themes like
fugitives in the Americas, and led to over 600 arrests. Officers working on Operation Infra-Terra now hope for similar results.
“Until recently, environmental offences were not even
considered a crime by many countries but as the years have passed, they
have realised that environmental crime is a serious internal threat to
our societies,” said Andreas Andreou, a criminal intelligence officer
with Interpol’s environmental security unit. “It involves organised
criminal networks which smuggle drugs, weapons and people. If a poacher
need guns, for instance, here we have a crossover with arms
trafficking.’
Routes for trafficking ivory may also be used for
trafficking weapons and the more profitable line may then be used to
finance other ventures, Interpol say.
In the future, the agency intends to focus its activities
geographically, with illegal logging and timber trade inquiries centred
on the Americas, efforts to protect wildlife species – particularly
tigers – undertaken in Asia, pollution investigations that pinpoint
Europe, and a crackdown on the poaching of elephants and rhinos in
Africa.
Rhinos have already disappeared from several Asian and
African countries and 94% of rhino poaching takes place in just two
countries – Zimbabwe and South Africa – where it has increased from an
estimated 50 animals in 2007, to over 1,000 in 2013, due to the
involvement of crime syndicates.
Between 20,000-25,000 elephants are killed every year in
Africa, and forest elephant populations are thought to have declined by
62% between 2002-2011.
A letter co-signed by 81 MEPs was sent to the European commission last week calling for urgent action to address the problem.
“The unprecedented scale of illegal poaching is fuelling
instability and driving many species to the brink of extinction,” the
Liberal MEP Catherine Bearder said. “Unless we take action now, our
grandchildren will only be able to see wild animals such as elephants,
lions and rhinos in their history books.”
Persuading officials in some countries to address the
problem remains an uphill battle, and stricter law enforcement efforts
and penalties may be needed internationally, Interpol sources say.
The man accused of re-enacting Noah’s Ark in reverse
Ahmed Kamran is wanted for an environmental crime that
resembles a macabre inversion of Noah’s Ark, re-enacted at Tanzania’s
Kilimanjaro airport. Shortly before he jumped bail, witnesses told a
Tanzanian court how Kamran, 29, paid for and oversaw the loading of more
than 100 live animals and birds – including giraffes, impalas and
wildebeest – onto a military plane bound for Qatar.
The animal cargo, worth $113,715, reportedly included: two
lappet-faced vultures, two serval cats, two impalas, two black
verreaux’s eagles, three elands, four giraffes, four ground hornbill,
five spring hares, six oryx, seven kori bustard, 10 dik-dik, 20 Grant’s
gazelle, 68 Thomson’s gazelle, and a secretary bird.
The smuggling operation in November 2010 was fraught and
dramatic. Three giraffes died in a cage before being taken to the
airport, according to one self-declared member of Kamran’s gang. “We
went back to the game park and captured three giraffes and other animals
and transported them into the cage of animals to compensate for the
dead ones,” Maulid Hamis reportedly testified.
At the airport, Kamran and the plane’s pilot allegedly
directed proceedings, which began when four men decamped from a minivan
on the runway to unload the animal cargo. One witness said that he was
threatened with the loss of his job when he asked why no national
security agents were present at the airport that night. Although the
passengers of the Qatar defence force airplane carrying the animals had
no diplomatic passports, they were given clearance for take-off.
Three Tanzanian nationals and Kamran were charged over the
incident, but Kamran skipped bail, and may now be in Kenya, Pakistan or
Qatar. Interpol officers hope that a blotchy and pixelated photo of him
may help to trigger a memory somewhere.
“Even the smallest detail, which you might think is
insignificant, has the potential to break a case wide open when combined
with other evidence the police already have,” said Ioannis Kokkinis,
criminal intelligence officer with Interpol’s fugitive investigative
support unit. “Sometimes all it takes is a fresh pair of eyes to bring
new momentum to an investigation and provide the missing clue.”