Wednesday, January 15, 2014

The Illegal Trade In Ivory Is Funneling Billions To Terror Groups And Criminal Organizations



The White Widow's Role In The £11Billion Trade In Horns From Illegally Massacred Elephants And Rhinos -- Daily Mail

* U.S think tank the Stimson Center has urged governments to intervene
* Elephant tusks and rhino horns can fetch £30k a pound on the black market
* Somali-based Al Shabaab fills its coffers with money from the ivory trade
* Samantha Lewthwaite, aka the White Widow, is a member of Al Shabaab

Poaching and wildlife crimes are worth an estimated £11billion ($19billion) annually - and it’s terrorist groups that are cashing in, according to a new report.

U.S think tank the Stimson Center, which carried out the study, is urging governments around the world to work with each other, local residents and the private sector to put a stop to the horrific crimes.

The most valuable poaching victims are elephants and rhinos that roam Africa in rapidly decreasing numbers and Al Shabaab, which counts Briton Samantha Lewthwaite, aka the White Widow, among its members, is one of the terrorist groups identified as driving the slaughter of the animals.

Read more ....

Update #1: Stimson Center Report Calls for Global Effort to Cut Poaching and Other Wildlife Crimes That Fund Terrorists -- Sacramento Bee
Update #2: Report: Cutting Poaching and Other Wildlife Crimes Will Squeeze Terrorist Funds -- Government Security News

WNU Editor: The Stimson Center's report is here.

1 comment:

Intelligence.Architecture.Infrastructure said...


If we mass produce synthetic tusks from all the bone material from meat processing combined with resin for tensity and texture and flood the markets, then the carvers will have little excuse to use elephants and rhinos for grand sculptures.

It is in the interest of both military and finance to support such innovation and subsidy.

Failure is compliance to terrorism by the west.