1. Wildlife trafficking in Viet Nam:
WCS responses
Scott Roberton Ph.D
Wildlife Conservation Society
/ @owstons

2. Vietnamese citizens are a major part of the problem
Vietnamese citizens play a significant role in the illegal trade of rhino horn from Africa into Asia:
Hunters-Transporters-Traders-Consumers
This is undeniable, based on seizures, arrests, investigations and surveys
Vietnamese citizens are a major part of the problem

3. Elephants are being poached across Africa – leaving the continent from one of the major ports on the east coast, transiting in SEA en route to major demand markets in China and also Thailand

4. Syndicates exploiting weak land borders as a back-door to China
Over 800kg kg
Less 100kg
Criminal syndicates exploiting weak land borders as a back-door to China
Since 2009 almost 25,000kg Ivory has been seized in NE Vietnam en route to China
This is also the point where large shipments of Pangolins from Sumatra and Kalimantan are being intercepted
Tigers from illegal breeding farms in lao and Thailand are also being shipped through VN to China at this point
The Ch authorities are also finding this is an important entry point for white rhino horns being shipped form Africa, through Laos – and Vietnam en route to Chiense buyers
Thai Binh

5. Monitoring cross-border vehicle traffic
Surveillance at six border crossings:
Bac Luan International Border Gate
Ka Long and Luc Lam Customs Clearance Points
‘Vang Lay’, ‘Co Ngong’, ‘Km1’ Smuggling points
All vehicles by hour and vehicle type counted
Four trips of non-stop 36-hour surveillance sessions
Monitoring cross-border vehicle traffic
33,703 two-way shipments counted
International Border Gate: 760, 2%
Customs clearance points: 7472, 22%
Smuggling points: 25,471, 76%

6. Brokers trading wildlife are involved in other crimes
Article 103
Article 233, 234
Article 190
Article 104
Article 153, 154, 155, 273, 274, 275
Article 251
Article 289
Article 161
Wildlife trader A
Regularly smuggles CITES-listed, Decree 32-listed species via an illegal crossing point from Vietnam to China
Wildlife trader A and people working for him has threatened law enforcement officers working on the border. His gang uses, transports guns, grenades and tear gas
Himself and his employees have beaten up journalists investigating cross-border smuggling at that point that he controls
Facilitates the smuggling of women, drugs, petrol, foreign currency, and e-waste
Does not pay his taxes
Uses money obtained through his smuggling activities to buy property and conduct other business activities
Bribes border police officers at KM1

7. Criminal justice system not effectively addressing the criminal groups in Asia yet
19 rhino horn arrests
1 person jailed
Some small fines
Many cases still open
No additional arrests following interrogation
For example, in Vn, WCS has been working with the authorities to promote exactly that, something we are expanding across our programs in Asia.
where the limited people actually being arrested are rarely facing a fine or jail term
More Vietnamese people are in jail in SA for Rhino horn than in Vietnam
There needs to be transparency and objective reporting of this sort of data to allow IOs and govts to analyse enforcement effectiveness
Moving past reporting seizures and arrests in reports to measures that inform on enf effectiveness and guide strategies and resource allocations

8. Is wildlife trade treated as a serious crime?
Death
Life 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
6mth
3mth
Illegal narcotic trade, storage, transport
Rape and murder
Manufacture/trade of fake medicinal products
Cross-border smuggling (non-wildlife)
Procuring prostitutes
Trafficking in women
Particpating in illegal motorbike/car racing
Disseminating debauched cultural products
Receiving bribe – 500,000 – 10 million
Creating computer virus
Wildlife trade
Tax evasion
Org. gambling
Gambling
Bigamy

9. Geographic focus: (i) Indo-Burma Trafficking Network
Central VN-China Border
(ii) Mondulkuri – HCMC Trafficking Network
(iii) Policy level

10. Strengthen national commitments and enforcement capacity to address wildlife trafficking

11. Strengthen inter-governmental and inter-agency approaches to degrade, disrupt, and dismantle transnational criminal networks
Outcome 2a. National mechanisms for collating, analyzing, and sharing information are in place
Outcome 2b. Identification of key individuals and trafficking routes and methods
Outcome 2c. Agencies legally mandated, sufficiently trained, and empowered to share information and actionable intelligence at multilateral scales
Outcome 2d. Multilateral enforcement operations result in the arrest, successful prosecution, and conviction of targeted wildlife criminals along the supply chain and the application of deterrent penalties that degrade trafficking networks

12. Ensure enabling environment exists at the international policy level to promote and support anti-trafficking objectives
Outcome 3a. CITES resolutions, decisions, and listings help reduce trafficking of target species and the illegal wildlife trade more generally
Outcome 3b. Multilateral and intergovernmental organizations raise the profile of and take actions to combat wildlife trafficking and the illegal wildlife trade more generally
Outcome 3c. Advocacy with key governments results in political attention directed at, funding for, and actions taken to combat wildlife trafficking and the illegal wildlife trace more generally