Environmental crime is now the fourth more profitable operation for organised crime, being only behind from drug trafficking, counterfeiting and human trafficking.
France24, reported that international experts on environmental crime gathered in the French city of Nimes for three days of discussions on the issue and delegates stressed that environmental crime is a serious and growing international problem which generates profits between $70 billion and $213 billion per year, for various criminal gangs.
The French news website, spoke with Cees Van Duijn, Interpol’s Environmental Crime Programme project leader, who expressed his regret that environmental crime issue is largely missing from the agenda of the UN Climate Change Conference which will take place in Paris in December.
"I regret that this issue is being overlooked at the international climate conference. We need stronger political support in order to address these types of crimes, but to get that political support we need people who have firsthand knowledge of the problem to be invited to speak at major meetings.
The consequences of drug trafficking are immediately visible, but this is not the case with environmental crime, which can seem an abstract phenomenon – so it is hard to it make it a priority. Yet we are all victims of crimes committed against the environment, even if they occur on the other side of the planet,” Van Duijn stressed.
Environmental crime includes a number of illegal activities such as wildlife crime, which is the illegal exploitation of the world’s wild flora and fauna; and pollution crime which is the trade and disposal of waste and hazardous substances in contravention of national and international laws. In addition to these clear and present crimes, new types of environmental crime are emerging, such as carbon trade and water management crime.
A significant proportion of both wildlife and pollution crime is carried out by organized criminal networks. Interpol, underlines that the same routes used to smuggle wildlife across countries and continents are often used to smuggle weapons, drugs and people. Usually, environmental crime often occurs hand in hand with other offences such as passport fraud, corruption, money laundering and murder, Interpol underlines.
Van Duijn told France24, that even though the mafia is involved in organised crime there are other groups too which "are most active in the field of environmental crime” but they "are much more flexible organisations, which makes them all the more elusive.”
http://neurope.eu/article/interpol-environmental-crime-fourth-most-profitable-operation-for-organised-crime/
