In 2023, Colombian authorities shut down 40-50 warehouses near Bogota Airport, arresting 15 people and confiscating illegal wildlife worth about $12 million USD. According to a Guardian article on the case, the warehouses were used by a Chinese-run operation which was sending cryptocurrency to Colombia in exchange for animals from the Amazon rainforest.
The Environmental Crimes Financial Toolkit is developed by WWF and Themis, supported by the Climate Solutions Partnership, a collaboration between HSBC, World Resources Institute and WWF.
