HONG KONG—Authorities in the Philippines recently seized a consignment
of rhino horn, which they believe was being shipped through Manila to
China.
Environmentalists say the find highlights how adept crime syndicates
are at exploiting new routes to smuggle endangered wildlife from Africa
into Asia, and how resilient they are when it comes to writing off
losses and evading arrest.
According to Oliver Valiente, chief of the Philippines Customs
Intelligence Investigation Service (CIIS), the consignment of horn was
impounded at the Port of Manila in early September.
“This is the first time we have encountered rhinoceros horn," he said. "Six pieces were hidden in sacks of cashew nut."
Speaking by phone from Manila, where he and his team are investigating
links to the illegal cargo, he says the seizure sets a disturbing new
precedent. Concerned that the Philippines is becoming a new route in the
global trade of endangered species, his groups is attempting to
strengthen intelligence networks and gather information from
counterparts in other countries.
"We hear there are Koreans, Chinese and other Asian [nationalities]
buying rhino horn [in Manila's Chinatown]," he said. "There are stores
here that suggest rhino horn is an aphrodisiac ... It is very, very
lucrative.”
The six horns, valued at more than $1 million, are a significant catch —
the majority of horns are typically believed to be smuggled into Asia
one at a time in couriers’ suitcases.
CIIS suggests the consignment represents an exploratory effort by crime
syndicates driving the rhino horn trade to open new smuggling routes
from Africa into China, the world’s second-largest horn consumer after
Vietnam.
According to Tom Milliken, director of the wildlife trade monitoring
network Traffic, Beijing has recently intensified efforts to stop the
smuggling of rhino horn, elephant ivory and parts from other endangered
wildlife.
Although still fighting major contraventions, China has introduced new
legislation to control online sales of rhino horn. Officials have also
sent additional security forces to guard their border with Vietnam in an
effort to control cross-frontier smuggling.
In a little-reported operation in April, 100,000 law enforcement
officials deployed across the country, shutting down thousands of
dealers in illegal wildlife. Meanwhile, Vietnam has not impounded a
single rhino horn since 2008.
“China is targeting cargo from certain places in Africa," said
Milliken. "Being able to move a container into the Philippines, change
the documentation and make it appear as if it is coming from an Asian
country has been a technique organized crime has used to try to
safeguard their illicit cargo from detection.”
The Manila specimens, Milliken says, were likely removed from animals
killed in South Africa, where authorities have worked hard to tackle
rhino poaching despite considerable challenges.
Although South Africa has appointed attorneys who specialize in
prosecuting rhino-related crimes and stiffened court sentences —
convicted poachers and traffickers face up to 40 years in jail — their
efforts are being undermined.
“Some Asian syndicates have shifted their operating bases to
neighboring countries like Mozambique, where there is less chance of
detection," said Milliken. "This is a worrying development … organized
crime is very quick to adapt.”
Legal scholar Julie Ayling of Australia National University agrees.
Last month she published a study on the resilience of organized crime
syndicates behind the rhino horn trade.
In much the same way legitimate businesses factor in regulatory costs,
says Ayling, so the gang behind the Manila shipment would have factored
in the cost of customs agents intercepting the six horns.
“If the costs get too great, the crime group will reassess what they’re
doing and adjust their business model," she said. "This could be a
minor adjustment like changing a trafficking route or a major one
involving a whole new way of doing business, or a whole new commodity.
This is what I mean when I say criminal groups exhibit ‘resilience’.”
Ayling says governments and grassroots communities, public and private
sectors, all need to work together to develop a coordinated response to
fighting rhino crime.
But first and foremost, she believes, law enforcement agencies need to
delve further into the structures of these criminal groups, if the rhino
is to beat extinction.
“We need to understand these networks better," she said, explaining
that they seem to spring into being. "It is amazing we do not have a
good understanding of how they get together and form alliances — how
they meet and form trust, how they actually operate in terms of their
criminal activities.”
In South Africa, up to two rhino are believed to be killed by poachers
each day, snared or shot and the horn hacked from the animal’s head
while it is still alive.
At the current rate, experts believe the world’s last rhino in the wild
could be dead by 2025. In the meantime, Philippine authorities remain
vigilant as the illegal trade continues to escalate.
