New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), in collaboration with INTERPOL, is co-hosting a two-day Regional Investigative and Analytical Case Meeting (RIACM) at its headquarters in New Delhi on 3 and 4 October 2024. The meeting focuses on addressing the critical issue of tiger trafficking networks, a transnational threat that endangers the safety of tigers and other big cats across the region.
The event brings together domain experts from INTERPOL’s Environmental Security Programme, senior law enforcement officials from Nepal, and representatives from India's specialized agencies dealing with wildlife crimes, including the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB), the National Tiger Conservation Authority (NTCA), and the Economic Offences-II branch of CBI, which is specialized in environmental and wildlife crimes.
The primary focus of this RIACM is to further strengthen cross-border law enforcement cooperation between Indian and Nepalese law enforcement authorities and to facilitate the sharing of criminal intelligence on tiger trafficking routes, trends, and criminal networks.
A significant concern remains the trafficking route from India, via Nepal, to China, which continues to be frequently used for the illegal trade of tigers, leopards, and other big cats. Middlemen and traders involved in these networks coordinate the collection, storage, and sale of contraband, facilitating its transportation to the Far Eastern markets.
The meeting provides a platform for Indian and Nepalese authorities to exchange details on ongoing investigations related to tiger trafficking, with an aim to bolster intelligence-led enforcement actions. Participants will remap existing criminal networks involved in wildlife trafficking, with a focus on identifying new targets and reexamining outstanding criminal entities for further coordinated action. Indian and Nepalese authorities will work closely to initiate operations against identified criminal targets, utilising INTERPOL channels to collaborate with law enforcement agencies in other countries affected by the trafficking routes. INTERPOL’s global reach and resources will be leveraged to facilitate the exchange of information, identify international links in criminal networks, and coordinate transnational efforts to disrupt the illegal wildlife trade.
The two-day meeting underscores the importance of international collaboration in combating tiger trafficking, which has serious implications for biodiversity conservation in the region. It also highlights India’s proactive efforts, to curb the illegal wildlife trade relating to one of the world’s most iconic species.
The outcomes of this RIACM are expected to enhance coordination among law enforcement authorities in both India and Nepal, with an overarching goal to break the chains of tiger trafficking that extend beyond borders.
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