Gangs in Latin America using bribes, secret routes to smuggle jaguar parts to China: report
- Jaguars, classified as near-threatened, are targeted by traffickers looking to sell their bones, genitals and teeth to clients in Asia, a probe shows
- Top traders of jaguar parts in Bolivia supply to sellers in China or have links with China-based wholesalers, according to findings by Earth League International
A total of 75 intelligence sources across Latin America, including traffickers, confirmed in a report commissioned by the International Union for Conservation of Nature in the Netherlands (IUCN NL) that criminals operate established routes and sometimes bribe high-ranking police officers to look the other way.
Jaguars, Latin America’s biggest cat, are classified on the IUCN’s red list as near-threatened. The felines are targeted by traffickers looking to sell their bones, genitals and teeth to clients in Asia, most of whom are Chinese.
“The jaguar is a very important species to protect,” said Angela Nunez, an independent consultant in Bolivia and one of the authors of the report. “It’s key within the ecosystems it lives in, it’s a species that regulates the other species that live alongside it.”
Criminal groups in Bolivia take advantage of inadequate law enforcement, corruption and porous land borders and airports, the report found.
Investigations for the report were conducted by Earth League International (ELI), a group which uses intelligence-gathering techniques like those employed by government spy agencies to track wildlife crime.