Environmental crime Wildlife crime Pollution crime Other environmental crime types Environmental Crime Committee Conferences and meetings News Manuals, publications and resources Ecomessage Partners and acknowledgements Restricted website Links Environmental crime

The INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme, in collaboration with the INTERPOL Environmental Crime Committee and its associated working groups, has conducted a number of projects over the years in its efforts against international environmental crime.

2009: INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme Strategic Plan

The Strategic Plan outlines the Programme’s future for the coming years, paying particular attention to areas for improvement and consolidation. It provides a framework for the effective implementation of a robust and sustainable Environmental Crime Programme.

2009: Illegal Logging Study from a Law Enforcement Perspective (Report)

At the beginning of 2009, INTERPOL, in consultation with the World Bank, will publish an extensive report on the global issue of illegal logging and timber trafficking as seen from a law enforcement perspective. The report appraises the economic, political, and social implications of illegal logging, rather than simply the environmental and ecological impacts, and provides an outline of the roles and responsibilities of law enforcement agencies in preventing illegal logging, along with areas in which improvements need to be made. The report will encourage and enable better co-ordination and collaboration between the law enforcement and environmental communities by providing a better understanding of the criminal world and the international criminal justice system.

2008: Operation Baba

Conceived at the INTERPOL Wildlife Working Group’s 2007 meeting, Operation Baba is an international law enforcement operation involving five African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Zambia, Congo-Brazzaville, and Ghana) co-ordinated by INTERPOL. In November 2008, more than 300 law enforcement officials from the police, customs, national wildlife, and national intelligence agencies conducted a one-day operation, the largest wildlife crime law enforcement operation ever conducted in Africa, leading to the arrest of nearly 60 people and the seizure of almost a ton of elephant ivory.

Members of the Working Group were heavily involved in the operation and worked alongside the Lusaka Agreement Task Force. INTERPOL’s Project OASIS was also involved, while the NGO community bore the principle costs in funding the operation. The wide scale of the operation and its dramatic successes has lead to a sizable amount of press coverage, both from traditional media outlets and the ‘blogosphere.’

2008: Controlled Deliveries – A Technique for Investigating Wildlife Crime (Manual)

A controlled delivery is a tool used by law enforcement agencies to identify persons connected with criminal activities and to gather evidence against them. This manual is primarily designed as a briefing paper for wildlife enforcement agencies that may not have used this technique before.

Produced in conjunction with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the manual is available in a number of different languages not normally offered by INTERPOL, including Russian and Chinese. Following its launch at the 6th International Conference on Environmental Crime, the manual has been much requested and is now available for download.

2008: INTERPOL donates surveillance plane to Kenyan Wildlife Service

In July 2008, INTERPOL formally donated a surveillance plane to the Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) to help boost the country’s anti-poaching and wildlife law enforcement efforts. The KWS had already been recognized in 2005 with the INTERPOL Ecomessage award, in particular for their efforts in informing other countries about major seizures of rare, endangered or illegally traded plants and animals. This plane will enable the service to further improve its ability to track wildlife as well as conduct surveillance of poachers hunting for elephant ivory, rhino horn, and other animal products.

2007: Investigative Manual for Illegal Oil Discharges from Vessels

This manual is a tool for investigators to compile stronger cases for criminal prosecution, with the aim of making individuals and corporations accountable for their actions. The ultimate goal is to impose adequate deterrents to prevent future violations.

The manual was written by INTERPOL in collaboration with Project Clean Seas which brought together  enforcement officers from Australia, Canada, Finland, and the United States to provide their assistance, expertise, and experience. The success of the manual has meant that INTERPOL, Project Clean Seas, and law enforcement officers from Australia and Canada are now coordinating a training programme based on the effective investigation of suspect vessels, using the manual’s contents as a base.

2005 – 2007: Project Adan

This detailed report outlines major criminal networks engaged in illegal ivory trafficking, including their structure, modus operandi, and personnel. The report has encouraged a great deal of communication between the different law enforcement agencies of member countries dealing with ivory trafficking and the INTERPOL General Secretariat. The report is named in memory of Adan Dullo, a member of the INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group who died in 2002.

2005 – Ongoing: Assistance in development of environment crime enforcement programmes

INTERPOL has been drawing on its many experts in the field of environmental crime, be it pollution or wildlife crime, to assist in the development of regional networks and programmes targeting environmental crime in the manner of the ASEAN-WEN. This has been achieved through the use of the INTERPOL Sub-Regional Bureau (SRB) and National Central Bureau (NCB) network.

2005 – Ongoing: analysis of the trans-border shipment of hazardous waste

The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group is carrying out a continuous analysis of the illegal transport of hazardous materials, in particular electronic waste such as discarded household goods, from Europe and North America to Africa and Asia. This causes problems when the recipient country is unable to correctly process and store the materials leading to the disposal of these goods in a manner which contaminates the environment and threatens human life. The Working Group is currently developing analytical support tools to help member countries address this growing problem.

2005: Assessing the links between organized crime and pollution crimes

In 2006 the INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group conducted an investigation into the links between pollution crime and organized crime. This study has produced an evidence base, available to INTERPOL and its associated law enforcement agencies in our member countries, which can be used to improve law enforcement’s capacity and effectiveness in tackling this growing problem.

2005: Illegal Discharges from Vessels Database

The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group compiled a detailed database of illegal discharges from vessels. This allowed detailed criminal analysis of the data, from which profiles of offenders, both individuals and companies, were produced and trends in illegal vessel discharges identified. This database laid the groundwork for the Investigative Manual produced in 2007.

2005: Pollution Crime Advocacy Memo

The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group is actively engaged in assisting the development of a level playing field for law-abiding businesses by ensuring that penalties for pollution are sufficient to deter future illegal activity. To this end, the Working Group has produced an advocacy memorandum and covering letter for prosecutors to be used during sentencing for environmental offences to support more appropriate sentences. This information could also be used to assist agencies in trying to persuade their national legislative bodies to increase maximum fines.

2005: Analysis of sanctions and offences for similar crimes in member countries

The INTERPOL Pollution Crime Working Group conducted an analysis of penalties for similar environmental crime offences around the world in order to determine appropriate sentences for environmental criminals. If penalties are not substantial enough, criminals will see them simply as part of the cost of doing business. For deterrence to be effective on an international scale, there must be a degree of parity among nations. If one or more nations have low or non-existent criminal penalties they risk becoming victims of environmental crime.

In addition, the project gathers press releases, sentencing memoranda and other related documents which could be of assistance to the project and investigators and prosecutors. The final product of this project was the advocacy memorandum mentioned above.

2000: Training course on combating nuclear smuggling

INTERPOL conducted this training course in association with the WCO, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the Austrian Customs Administration. This course provided training and capacity building to law enforcement and customs agencies in at-risk member countries. The training focused on basic radiation background, safety procedures, detection, investigation, risk assessment, and case studies of common means and routes for nuclear and radioactive waste smuggling.

1999 - Ongoing: train the trainer programmes and course manual

The first ‘Train the Trainer’ programme on environmental crime was conducted in March 1999 at the INTERPOL General Secretariat. There have been four subsequent training programmes held in Zimbabwe, Moldova, Hungary, and Poland.

Each programme was conducted by experienced environmental law enforcement officers and sought to provide basic training on the recognition and investigation of environmental crime. The courses featured modules on water and air pollution, hazardous waste, wildlife crime, and investigative techniques including a basic ecology module. Particular emphasis was also placed on maintaining the safety of the public and the investigating officers while carrying out operations against environmental criminals.

This programme has also lead to the compilation of an extensive manual covering numerous environmental crime issues.

1999: Guide for the Use of CITES Management Authorities in Collaboration with INTERPOL

Following the signing of the MoU between INTERPOL and CITES it became necessary to provide an update to existing documents detailing the activities of the two organisations. The Practical Guide explains the operations of both INTERPOL and CITES and makes specific recommendations regarding the cooperation between CITES Management Authorities and INTERPOL NCBs.

The guide was produced as a collaboration between the INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme, its Wildlife Crime Working Group, and the CITES Secretariat.

1999: Project Primates

Based on an initiative from the INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group, Project Primates was a criminal intelligence project intended to provide an analysis of the trafficking in live primates. The report was published in 1999.

1998 to present: Memoranda of Understanding and Associations with Other Organisations

INTERPOL has entered into another agreements relating to the exchange of information and other forms of collaboration with a number of international organisations:

1998: MoU between INTERPOL and the World Customs Organisation (WCO). The MoU codifies practices of mutual consultation, the exchange of information, reciprocal representation, and technical cooperation between the two organizations

1998: MoU between INTERPOL and the CITES Secretariat. The MoU codifies the exchange of information and intelligence, collaboration on publications, promotions, and training materials, and communication with relevant law enforcement agencies.  

1999: MoU between INTERPOL and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention, an international treaty designed to reduce the transport of hazardous wastes between countries, especially from developed countries to less developed countries. The MoU codifies the exchange of information and close cooperation between INTERPOL and the Secretariat of the Basel Convention.

2008: MoU between INTERPOL and the Lusaka Agreement Task Force (LATF), an inter-governmental organisation dedicated to facilitating cooperative activities between its member states for investigations into the illegal trade in wild fauna and flora. The MoU establishes a framework for cooperation between LATF and INTERPOL with regard to their own areas of expertise and regulations.

1996: Project NOAH

This analytical study conducted by INTERPOL, working on an initiative by the INTERPOL Wildlife Crime Working Group, provided an overview of wildlife crime involving reptiles between 1990 and 1994, with additional information and research being gained and undertaken in 1995. It provides both a comparative case analysis and also several crime pattern analyses. This analysis identified a number of key individuals and syndicates involved in reptile trafficking, many of whom were subsequently prosecuted with one individual receiving a jail term of 71 months in a U.S. Federal prison.

1994 to present: The Ecomessage Reporting System for Environmental Crime.

The INTERPOL General Secretariat mandated the creation of the Ecomessage to counter problems associated with gathering and recording criminal intelligence data from many different law enforcement agencies which rarely have uniform reporting methods.

With the Ecomessage system, data is rapidly and methodically entered into the INTERPOL database where it can be cross referenced with other entries in the database. This data can then be studied by INTERPOL criminal analysts in order to discern such information as the structure, extent, and dynamics of international criminals and organizations involved. In addition, the system allows the reporting country to ask questions or make requests and, in doing so, encourages international cooperation between law enforcement agencies.

1993 to present: Working Group Meetings and International Environmental Crime Conferences

The INTERPOL Environmental Crime Committee, then referred to as ‘the Working Group,’ held its first meeting in September 1993 at the INTERPOL General Secretariat with subsequent meetings in 1994 and 1995. It was at the last of these meetings that it was decided to hold the 1st International Conference on Environmental Crime to raise awareness of the issue and involve more countries.

Consequently, the 1st INTERPOL Environmental Crime Conference was held at the INTERPOL General Secretariat in Lyon, France on 26 and 27 September 1996. It has been followed by 5 subsequent conferences, the most recent of which was the 6th International Conference on Environmental Crime between 13 and 17 October 2008, attended by over 150 delegates from over 60 countries. Each conference is focused around the activities and attendance of the Environmental Crime Committee (as detailed above) and its associated working groups. Each conference has seen the adoption of new projects, the adaptation and updating of those already in existence, and extensive networking and collaboration between the delegates of each member country.

In addition the two working groups have held meetings every year since their inception. They have traditionally held each meeting in a different host country every year. However, every second year their meetings coincide with that of the Environmental Crime Committee and are consequently held at INTERPOL General Secretariat.

1992 to present: INTERPOL Environmental Crime Committee and Working Groups.

The INTERPOL Environmental Crime Committee and its associated working groups, the Wildlife Crime Working Group and the Pollution Crime Working Group, were created by unanimous resolution at the 61st INTERPOL General Assembly. Composed of investigators and/or decision-makers from member countries and working under INTERPOL’s auspices, the Committee strives to identify the various problems that arise in connection with environmental crime investigations and find possible solutions.

Since its inception, the committee has steadily grown in size and contributed a great deal to global efforts against environmental crime proving an invaluable resource for bringing together environmental law enforcement officers to meet and exchange information both face to face and in conference calls and other communications. Many of the successes outlined above have been achieved thanks to the work of the committee and its members.