Takeaways on How Corruption Fuels Wildlife Trafficking: Undercover Investigations into Chinese Criminal Networks in Latin America

Speaker: Nicole Byrd, Strategic Analysis and Publications Manager at Earth Ligue International.

• Corruption is embedded throughout transnational environmental crime supply chains, not limited to isolated bribery incidents. ELI's investigations identified recurring patterns, including the purchase of influence within government agencies, illegal campaign financing, the use of intermediaries to deliver bribes, and corruption occurring across entire trafficking routes and supply chains.
• Chinese transnational criminal organisations (TCOs) rely on extensive networks of complicit enablers. Investigations revealed cooperation between traffickers, customs officials, law enforcement personnel, politicians, and private-sector actors, enabling the movement of wildlife products and facilitating access to permits, transport routes, and protection from enforcement actions.
• Criminal networks actively target Indigenous leaders and communities to gain access to natural resources. Cases from Bolivia, Panama and Suriname demonstrated how traffickers and illegal resource operators used bribery, financial incentives, or intermediaries to secure access to timber, wildlife and mining areas located in Indigenous territories.
• Corrupt relationships can rapidly amplify criminal operations across borders. ELI documented instances where intelligence leaked by complicit officials was shared among hundreds of traffickers, while criminal groups exchanged contacts within customs, immigration and law enforcement agencies, creating resilient transnational protection networks.
• Environmental crime networks exploit legitimate institutions and positions of authority. Examples presented included the misuse of government offices, political connections, business and cultural associations, diplomatic channels, and state-owned enterprises to facilitate trafficking, conceal illicit activities, and move illegal wildlife products internationally.
• Following corruption and financial relationships may offer more effective intervention points than focusing solely on wildlife trafficking offences. The session highlighted the importance of identifying key facilitators, corrupt enablers, financial flows, and influence networks in order to disrupt criminal operations and strengthen accountability across the environmental crime ecosystem.

Useful resources:

• Money Talks: Ten Years of Firsthand Corruption Reporting from ELI Investigations
• Criminals Showed ELI How Much They Rely on Corruption

The full recording of the June 3 presentation is available here: