In March 2018, Spanish authorities in collaboration with EUROPOL dismantled a major transnational reptile trafficking network, seizing over 600 endangered or protected reptiles originating from the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. The investigation began when Dutch officials arrested three Spanish nationals smuggling 250 Mexican reptiles worth approximately US$186,000. The criminal network used "mules" to transport animals internationally and employed document falsification to "launder" protected species, even freezing dead specimens to reuse their legal documentation for similar trafficked species. This case demonstrates the sophisticated methods used by wildlife traffickers and the challenges authorities face in combating the global reptile trade, which represents 28% of all animals seized worldwide. It also exemplifies Spain’s role as a key transit and destination country for the illegal wildlife trade globally, and the importance of enforcement efforts in this area.

After eight years of coordinated efforts, the San Diego Zoo received eight critically endangered Fijian iguanas in April 2025 that had been seized from illegal wildlife traffickers in Spain in 2017. These iguanas were part of a larger confiscation of over 600 reptiles. The zoo's geneticists are now working to determine each iguana's origins to potentially incorporate them into conservation breeding programs or eventual repatriation. This case highlights both the persistent threat of reptile trafficking in the illegal pet trade and the complex international collaboration required between Spain's environmental authorities, Fijian government agencies, and conservation organisations to protect endangered species.

In April 2025, Spanish authorities rescued 19 exotic felines from a home in Majorca, arresting a Russian couple connected to an international wildlife smuggling ring. The raid uncovered a caracal, two servals, 16 hybrid cats, and travel documents for over 40 additional animals from Russia, Belarus, and China. This case exemplifies how social media has fuelled demand for exotic big cats as status symbols among wealthy individuals. According to authorities, “the detainees sold various animal species internationally through internet portals, including white tigers, black leopards, hyenas, and pumas”.

South Africa's lion bone trade exemplifies how legal wildlife markets can be exploited by criminal networks to facilitate broader trafficking operations. From 2016 to 2019, export records reveal that nearly half of all lion bones shipped from South Africa (which has the world’s only commercial lion-farming industry) were ostensibly destined for Laos but were actually rerouted to Vietnam, with shell companies linked to the notorious Xaysavang wildlife trafficking network serving as primary buyers. These trafficking operations employed sophisticated financial crime techniques: shipments were systematically undervalued (listing $50-100 per skeleton when actual values ranged from $1,250-2,150), permits were fraudulently reused past expiration dates, and consignments were routinely packed with more skeletons than declared. The five shell companies that purchased most lion bones were registered to fake addresses in Paksan, Laos (home base of the Xaysavang Network), yet Laotian customs recorded zero imports while Vietnamese records showed hundreds of skeletons arriving – demonstrating how traffickers manipulate international trade documentation to conceal illicit supply chains.

In 2018, a BBC investigation uncovered a deep web of corruption within South Africa’s judicial system that allegedly enables the illegal rhino horn trade. A whistle-blower known as “Fresh” testified to acting as a middleman between rhino horn traffickers and a court syndicate, facilitating bribes to lawyers, magistrates, and prosecutors to protect high-profile poachers like Dumisani Gwala. Despite Gwala’s arrest over three years ago with rhino horn in his possession, his trial has been repeatedly delayed, allegedly due to bribes paid to court officials. A confidential report submitted to the Magistrates' Commission suggests a broader pattern of racketeering involving senior judicial figures. Activists and investigators, such as Jamie Joseph and former police officer Jean-Pierre Roux, have also faced threats and job dismissals for exposing these networks. The inaction against those implicated threatens not only South Africa’s already dwindling rhino population but also the integrity of its entire justice system.

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.