Timber smuggling from Mozambique's ancient forests to China, valued at $23 million annually, finances a brutal Islamist insurgency and supports a vast criminal network in northern Mozambique. This illicit rosewood trade, particularly from the threatened species pau preto, is linked to the Islamic State-affiliated militants in Cabo Delgado province. Despite international treaties restricting rosewood trade, a four-year investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) exposed rampant illegal logging, corruption, and poor management of forest concessions. The insurgents exploit the trade to raise an estimated $1.9 million monthly, even collecting a 10% protection fee from firms for illegal logging. The rosewood, prized in China for luxury furniture, is often transported illegally and in raw log form, violating Mozambique's 2017 law against unprocessed timber export. The EIA's findings reveal extensive smuggling networks and inadequate enforcement, contributing to ongoing violence and significant deforestation in Mozambique, exacerbating the region's instability and environmental degradation.