In April 2022, South African officials at Cape Town International Airport intercepted a sophisticated wildlife trafficking operation when they became suspicious of cardboard boxes labelled as "toys" being exported to China. Upon inspection, authorities discovered not children's toys but 23,000 endangered succulents carefully wrapped in toilet paper. This wasn't an isolated incident – less than a year later, another shipment labelled as "mushrooms" yielded approximately 12,000 succulents packed in onion bags. These cases highlight the adaptability of wildlife traffickers, with one police investigator noting, "It never stops. You find out their one method, and they come up with another smuggling idea." The trafficking of these endangered succulents threatens biodiversity in regions like the Succulent Karoo, which spans South Africa and Namibia and is home to over 6,000 succulent species, 40% of which exist nowhere else in the world. According to TRAFFIC, an international wildlife crime investigation organization, more than one million illegally harvested succulents representing 650 different species have been seized in transit through southern Africa since 2019, with roughly 3,000 trafficked specimens intercepted weekly within South Africa alone.

One South African abalone exporter has described sophisticated methods of corrupting customs officials in order to facilitate illegal exports. Rather than simply offering direct bribes, the exporter had assistants track an official's personal habits, discovering the official frequented a particular casino weekly. The exporter began providing credit vouchers for the casino, allowing the official to "have some fun." After establishing this pattern of gifts, the exporter requested "a favour in return" – allowing abalone shipments safe passage through the airport without inspection. This calculated approach to corruption highlights how wildlife trafficking networks identify and exploit the personal weaknesses of government officials.

The illegal cycad trade in South Africa uniquely targets a primarily domestic market, unlike abalone and rhino horn which flow to Asian consumers. Poaching operations typically involve a lead poacher or intermediary who often recruits workers under false pretences—not informing them about the protected status of cycads or the illegal nature of the activity. These groups uproot the endangered plants from wild populations and sell them through a chain of intermediaries before reaching retailers who market them to wealthy South African consumers in urban economic hubs. This deceptive recruitment practice demonstrates how criminal networks exploit uninformed labour to extract protected species.

In an interview with TRAFFIC, a South African intermediary described how his involvement in the illegal abalone trade "snowballed" from a small beginning. Initially hired as a "front vehicle" driver to scout for law enforcement while others transported abalone, he quickly graduated to transporting the product himself as a "back driver" for higher pay. Eventually, he saved enough money to become a partner in the operation, investing in purchasing abalone directly from divers. He ultimately became "a boss" responsible for recruiting drivers, securing processing facilities, and ensuring safe delivery to Chinese buyers who controlled exports. This progression illustrates how participants can move up the illicit supply chain, with roles becoming increasingly profitable at each level.

The illegal cheetah trade from East Africa to the Arabian Peninsula represents a sophisticated smuggling operation moving an estimated 300 cubs annually across the Gulf of Aden. Traffickers transport the cubs hidden in hampers, crates, or cardboard boxes on dhows traveling from Berbera in Somaliland to Aden in Yemen – a journey of just over seven hours. From Yemen, the animals are moved by road or boat to Saudi Arabian animal markets or delivered directly to traders who market them throughout Gulf states via social media platforms and private chat groups. A single investigation identified over 2,000 cheetahs advertised online between 2010-2019. This network persists despite all Gulf states having laws prohibiting commercial trade in wild cheetahs, with enforcement remaining minimal – as evidenced by the United Arab Emirates's single seizure of four cheetahs since enacting a 2016 ban on private ownership of exotic pets.

In 2021, a WWF analysis of timber trade data revealed a puzzling pattern: the Dominican Republic imports substantial quantities of Peruvian timber that far exceed its potential domestic consumption needs, with no recorded re-exports. This suggests the country may function as a transit point for illegal timber laundering operations originating in the Amazon. Additionally, researchers identified consistent export over-invoicing from Peru, particularly in sawn wood shipments, where discrepancies reached $2.6 million in 2015. These patterns represent clear red flags for illicit financial flows, highlighting how certain countries can serve as strategic pass-through markets that facilitate the global illegal timber trade through deliberately misleading customs documentation and corrupt practices.

In late July 2020, two cheetah cubs were rescued near Borama, a Somaliland city close to the Ethiopian border, after enduring 25 days in the hands of wildlife traffickers. The cubs were discovered severely dehydrated and underweight, requiring immediate intervention from local community members until a proper rescue team arrived. This case highlights the typical trafficking route from Ethiopia across the porous 500-mile border into Somaliland, where cubs are often taken from mothers in the wild by opportunistic herders or dedicated poachers. With an estimated price of US$200-300 in Somaliland, these cubs could have fetched up to US$15,000 in Gulf state markets had they survived the treacherous journey – though mortality rates exceed 60% during transport.

According to a report by the Environmental Investigation Agency, the 2002 seizure of 6.2 tonnes of elephant ivory at Singapore port revealed the sophisticated operations of a transnational wildlife trafficking syndicate that persisted for nearly three decades despite law enforcement interventions. The network, initially formed through a partnership between Malawian businessman MacDonald John Zulu Gwedeza and Taiwanese national Fong Ken Hsieh in the late 1980s, evolved to include Malaysian trafficker Peter Wang who orchestrated at least 19 ivory shipments between 1994 and 2002. Although the Singapore seizure temporarily disrupted operations, the syndicate demonstrated remarkable resilience, with driver Charles "Chancy" Kaunda rising through the ranks to continue operations between 2010-2015, shipping 14 containers of contraband to East Asia. The network further evolved into the Lin-Zhang syndicate from 2014 onwards. This case illustrates critical failures in wildlife crime enforcement: despite significant seizures, key figures evaded meaningful prosecution due to weak international coordination, allowing the syndicate to adapt and continue operating from Malawi as a hub for two decades. Only in 2020-2021 did authorities finally achieve substantial convictions, with Lin Yunhua receiving a 14-year sentence for rhino horn trading and Money Laundering.

A recent prosecution in Singapore highlights the significant scale of illegal bird trafficking across the Malaysia-Singapore border, revealing how sophisticated smuggling networks operate. When authorities arrested pet shop owner Leow Seng Lee and two accomplices, investigators uncovered a smuggling operation responsible for trafficking at least 1,137 birds over just two months, including the endangered white-rumped shama. The case demonstrated several critical aspects of wildlife trafficking: the high mortality rate among smuggled animals (more than half the birds in one seizure died), the use of legitimate businesses as fronts for illegal activity, and the substantial financial incentives driving the trade. While this successful prosecution resulted from vigilant border control and thorough investigation by Singapore's National Parks Board and Immigration and Checkpoints Authority, bird smuggling remains persistent, with at least 2,130 birds confiscated in Singapore and 10,553 in Malaysia near their shared border since 2014, underscoring the need for continued bilateral enforcement efforts.

The critically endangered beluga sturgeon in Romania's Danube Delta represents a complex wildlife trafficking case, where conservation efforts clash with socioeconomic realities. Despite Romania's 2006 ban on wild sturgeon fishing, poaching remains widespread, with the Border Police filing 49 poaching lawsuits and seizing 520 kg of illegally caught sturgeon and 450 kg of caviar between 2015-2019 – numbers that local accounts suggest vastly underrepresent the actual scale of illegal harvesting. This continued poaching is driven by several factors: the extreme value of beluga caviar (selling for up to $1,865 per kilo), the failure to provide alternative livelihoods for fishing communities, weak penalties that typically result in suspended sentences, and alleged corruption across the 11 different state bodies responsible for enforcement. Although sturgeon farming was intended to replace wild caviar harvesting, a reported 70% of Romanian aquaculture caviar destined for export actually comes from poached wild sturgeons, revealing how sophisticated trafficking networks exploit enforcement gaps while local fishermen receive just a fraction of the caviar's final market value without meaningful consultation or economic alternatives.

Romania has emerged as a significant but under-scrutinised hub in the global illegal wildlife trade, serving both as a source country and transit point for high-value endangered species. Despite major incidents – including 1.2 tons of pangolin scales from the Democratic Republic of Congo seized in Turkey while en route to Romania, and 700 kg of critically endangered European glass eels worth over one million euros shipped from Romania to Thailand – Romanian authorities reported just two wildlife product confiscations in 2018 and claim no registered cases between 2018-2020. This stark enforcement gap is particularly notable when compared to neighbouring countries like Poland, which made dozens of seizures along its Ukrainian border during the same period. Conservation experts attribute Romania's minimal detection rates to potential lack of training among officials, difficulties in species identification, and possibly insufficient prioritisation of wildlife crimes, creating an enforcement blind spot that traffickers appear to be exploiting to move wildlife products from Africa and Eastern Europe to lucrative Asian markets.

In March 2018, a lone Philippine pangolin was found wandering a golf course in Cavite, far from its native Palawan habitat – likely due the animal's escape from the country’s booming illegal wildlife trade. Despite being a protected species, pangolins in the Philippines continue to be poached and trafficked for their meat and use in traditional medicine, with penalties for offenders often proving too lenient to act as a deterrent. Between 2018 and 2019, authorities intercepted nearly 6,900 pangolins – more than in the previous 17 years combined – highlighting a sharp escalation in trafficking. In one 2019 raid, over a ton of pangolin scales was seized from a suspected smuggler with ties to China. TRAFFIC, an international wildlife trade monitoring network, warns that these seizures likely represent just a fraction of the total trade. Despite occasional successful rescues and increased law enforcement activity, the Philippine pangolin remains critically endangered, with population declines estimated at up to 95% over four decades.

The COVID-19 pandemic revealed a shift in wildlife trafficking strategies as exemplified by the massive stockpiling of fossilised giant clam shells in the Philippines – with demand increasingly significantly as a result of searches for alternatives to ivory. While media reports indicated seizures of around 150 metric tons since October 2020, actual Philippine National Police-Maritime Group data showed a much larger scale - approximately 621 metric tons confiscated between January and April 2021 alone through nine operations. Interestingly, the highest number of wildlife seizures occurred during the strictest phases of pandemic lockdowns. This pattern emerged because police checkpoints implemented for COVID-19 restrictions freed up maritime personnel to focus on coastal patrols. However, the limited arrests (only 16 individuals despite the massive seizures) highlight the challenge of prosecuting those behind these trafficking operations.

The critically endangered Philippine forest turtle exemplifies the challenges in combating wildlife trafficking. Despite being notoriously difficult to breed in captivity (only successfully bred in 2018), private zoos and breeding facilities frequently advertise them online and falsely label them as captive-bred. TRAFFIC's research has uncovered advertisements for Philippine forest turtles in Chinese and Japanese online marketplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic, showing the persistent international demand. A 2015 seizure recovered 3,921 individuals - a number that exceeded scientific population estimates for the species in the wild, revealing both the severe scale of poaching and gaps in understanding their actual population status.

According to investigations by InSight Crime, corruption is widespread in relation to wildlife trafficking in Peru, from customs officials to those who patrol markets at the Regional Production Directorates. In some cases, the officials responsible for inspections at extraction zones often obtain their jobs because of personal connections, and some profit more from bribes than from regulating the wildlife trade. Broadly speaking, there are few legal repercussions for corrupt officials. A wildlife trafficking expert revealed that officials are fired if they are found to be corrupt, but few are prosecuted. Sometimes, the investigations are dismissed and the officials rehired. The same is true for companies caught exporting illegally-sourced wildlife: the same investigation found that while two cases have been passed to prosecutors in the last two years, accused companies have only had to pay a fine, and no charges have been levied against them.

The "Patrones de Ucayali" (Bosses of Ucayali) was a criminal timber trafficking network operating in eastern Peru until 2020. Led by Juan Miguel Llancari Gálvez, a former police officer and loan shark, the network specialised in illegally harvesting valuable hardwoods from the Amazon rainforest and laundering them into legal supply chains. The network specifically targeted tropical hardwoods shihuahuaco and estoraque, which are particularly prized for flooring and decking, especially by Chinese importers. The network employed a specialist who created falsified Timber Transport Permits (GTFs) and other required documentation, such as logging contracts, stamps from forestry authorities, invoices, and bank receipts. The network also maintained three police officers on their payroll who would escort shipments, distribute bribes at checkpoints, and alert drivers to the presence of patrols that weren't friendly. Despite an extensive investigation involving surveillance and wiretaps, the network's leaders were tipped off before arrests could be made, and the subsequent prosecution failed when a judge controversially ruled that no crimes had been proven.

In Peru's Madre de Dios region, the ancient shihuahuaco tree has become the newest victim in a wave of deforestation driven by timber trafficking. These trees, which grow for up to 700 years and reach heights of 50 meters, have replaced mahogany and cedar (protected since 2001 under CITES) as prime targets for illegal logging. Despite scientific evidence showing that shihuahuaco extraction increased 22-fold between 2000 and 2013, attempts to officially classify it as a threatened species have been thwarted by pressure from timber companies. According to Peru's Agency for the Supervision of Forest Resources and Wildlife (Osinfor), shihuahuaco represents 5.5% of all illegally extracted timber in the country, with nearly 4,000 cubic meters harvested illegally in 2018 alone. This case demonstrates how conservation efforts face powerful commercial opposition, creating a regulatory vacuum where one endangered species is simply replaced by another previously unprotected one.

A Trade Discrepancy Analysis conducted in 2021 revealed significant over-invoicing in timber exports from Peru to China, averaging $15.3 million per year and totalling almost $153 million over a decade. This pattern indicates potential fraud, as exporters may artificially inflate values to access Peru's Special Tariff Regime, which provides tax refunds for export-related costs. Meanwhile, Chinese importers consistently reported lower values, suggesting possible import Tax Evasion. The case demonstrates how international trade infrastructure and ambiguous commodity definitions create opportunities for illegal timber trafficking.

Researchers estimate that hundreds or thousands of primates are captured and trafficked annually in Peru, which is a megadiverse nation. While some are traded for food, artefacts and remedies, most are sold alive and locally as pets. According to a 2024 survey, 40% of Peruvians living in cities have admitted to purchasing wild animals such as protected reptiles, birds, and primates as pets, despite this being illegal. However, infectious diseases can be easily transmitted through trafficked animals. Indeed, in a recent study of monkeys that had been illegally trafficked in nine Peruvian cities, researchers found a total of 32 disease pathogens in their blood, saliva and faecal samples. These pathogens included mycobacteria, which causes tuberculosis, and parasites that cause Chagas disease, malaria and various gastrointestinal ailments. While wildlife traffickers and their families – who are most commonly bitten, scratched, and exposed to animals’ faeces – are most at risk of picking up diseases from trafficked monkeys, infected primates can also disseminate diseases more broadly, as they carry parasites that mosquitoes can pick up and spread to the surrounding community.

In December 2024, security forces in Molai community in Nigeria arrested three men suspected of being middlemen for Boko Haram, caught selling poached warthogs. According to Nigeria Forest Security Services officer Saddam Mustapha, terrorists operating from Sambisa Forest have developed a systematic operation where they either hunt wildlife themselves or coerce local hunters to poach animals and sell them through civilian intermediaries. The terrorists have even warned local hunters against hunting warthogs, not for religious reasons despite claiming the meat is "haram" (forbidden), but to monopolise this profitable trade. This case demonstrates how wildlife trafficking directly finances terrorism, with the profits enabling insurgents to purchase weapons, food supplies, and other essentials whilst maintaining control over local populations through intimidation and economic coercion.

In early 2017, Nigeria's CITES Management Authority reportedly issued around 4,000 export permits after the fact to authorise Customs clearance for over 10,000 containers of Kosso (Pterocarpus erinaceus) timber (rosewood) that had been detained at the Chinese border. At the time of their detention, Kosso was listed under Appendix III of CITES, and the shipments did not have the required valid CITES certificates of origin. It was alleged that industry actors bribed senior officials to facilitate the retrospective “legalisation” of the rosewood exports. CITES Resolution 12.3, which addresses Permits and Certificates, advises that Management Authorities should not issue permits retroactively and that importing countries should refuse such documents, as doing so creates a loophole that can enable illegal trade.

Since 2021, the Wildlife justice Commission has been working in close partnership with the Nigeria Customs Services, providing intelligence analysis, investigative support, and evidentiary assistance. As of April 2025, the partnership has facilitated 18 joint operations, leading to 42 arrests, the seizure of more than 25 tonnes of pangolin scales (95% of all pangolin scale seizures in Nigeria over this period) and over one tonne of ivory, and 12 successful convictions. In April 2025, for example, authorities targeted a high-volume supply chain network based in Lagos – specifically the Jakande Market, where a suspected key broker was apprehended along with over one tonne of pangolin scales.  Follow-up intelligence led officers to a warehouse in Efiran, where the alleged network leader, a second suspected broker, and two employees were arrested, and a further 2.762 tonnes of scales were recovered. These successes demonstrate the importance of public-private partnerships, and provide a potential model of best practice for other jurisdictions to replicate.

In Borno State, Nigeria, the depletion of elephant populations due to the Boko Haram insurgency has triggered an adaptive shift in wildlife trafficking. As elephants migrated across the border into Cameroon's Waza National Park, poachers and traffickers turned to warthogs as an alternative source of ivory. Local hunters now sell warthogs for meat (fetching up to _200,000/$125 per animal) at markets like Molai, while their tusks – valued at approximately _30,000/$19 each locally – enter a shadowy supply chain that stretches from Maiduguri to Lagos and eventually to international markets. By the time they reach international markets, these same tusks – especially when carved or scrimshawed – can fetch up to $1,800, representing a nearly 95-fold increase in value. This dramatic markup incentivises continued poaching despite conservation efforts. Online retailers in the United States openly sell warthog tusks for prices ranging from $15.99 to $80 per pound, while South African markets offer them for as little as $10 each. This transition illustrates how quickly trafficking networks adapt when one species becomes scarce, revealing the flexibility and persistence of wildlife crime even in conflict zones.

An analysis by TRAFFIC of CITES-related seizures in 2022 revealed the prevalence of permit fraud in wildlife trafficking in the Netherlands, which had the second highest number of seizures in the European Union. For example, authorities seized two salt-water crocodile leather belts originating from Australia, as the shipment was not accompanied by the required CITES import permit. Additionally, the CITES export permit was only issued for one belt, exemplifying the piecemeal approaches to documentation used by traffickers. There were also extensive plant seizures, with 4,000 live orchids originating from Taiwan, and 7,000 live Trumpet pitchers originating from China.

Myanmar's military has played a significant and often destructive role in Kachin State's wildlife trafficking ecosystem, both historically and particularly following the 2021 coup. Even before the coup, military authorities frequently undermined conservation efforts by facilitating environmentally destructive activities in supposedly protected areas. In 2006, the military granted permission to Yuzana Company to conduct agribusiness over 800 sq km within the Hukawng Valley Wildlife Sanctuary, and in 2008 it provided exploration rights to a Russian energy company and permitted commercial logging in the same protected area. Following the 2021 coup, the military's influence on wildlife trafficking has intensified as the junta enlists support from local militias to fight against resistance forces. According to local sources, "After the coup, the Rawang militia was present in every town and the military provided guns for them. The hunters used those guns provided by the military." These military-provided weapons have reportedly enhanced hunters' capabilities to target remaining wildlife. Furthermore, local conservation workers suspect that "military-aligned militias and Border Guard Forces are involved in facilitating the trafficking of high-value wildlife products into China." The coup has also undermined what little regulatory oversight existed, as Forest Department workers have either joined the civil disobedience movement or become too afraid to conduct field inspections, creating a regulatory vacuum where wildlife products are now sold openly in markets.