The Wildlife Justice Commission report (May 2021) restates that “Over the past two decades, wildlife crime has become a form of transnational organised crime, generating billions of dollars annually and affecting almost every country.”
The report includes case studies, such as the “The Rathkeale Rovers” (page 28 – 29) prosecuted in the United Kingdom – this gang was behind “a spate of organised robberies at museums, zoos, and auction houses across Europe targeting the theft of rhino horns and mounted rhino heads worth millions of Euros between 2010 to 2013. During this period, 58 theft incidents involving 95 rhino horns occurred in Germany, France, Portugal, United Kingdom, Italy, the Netherlands, and Ireland.”
“Convergence of wildlife crime with other forms of organised crime,” Wildlife Justice Commission, May 2021
