Page 199 - Supplemento 2-2016 (ENG)

Tackling Environmental Crime throUgh standardized Methodologies

One emerging issue is E-trade, in particular the exploitation of social
media for the illicit trade of wildlife products. Purchasing online with just one
click through various applications has become quick and common place.
Interpol is already aware of social media tools being increasingly used as plat-
forms for illegal trade of wildlife products, counterfeited goods, medicines,
cigarettes and of course drugs. Our experience shows that the most common
platforms used are WhatsApp, Facebook, Instagram, WeChat, BlackBerry and
Messenger.

In terms of modus operandi, traffickers use social media to identify new
clients, creating closed and secret groups and using different techniques for the
same procedure in order to avoid detection.

Traffickers use code names to avoid keywords tracing, such as for example
the word ‘white plastic’ for ivory. Another common method is the use of voice
messages, so to avoid trackable written communication, as well as switching
platforms: for instance, photos may be uploaded on Facebook or Instagram,
whereas the negotiation takes place through other platforms such as
WhatsApp, where you can also have an oral communication.

In terms of payments, this can be easily done via money transfers or e-
payments. The purchased commodities can then be quickly posted via courier
or delivered in person using a fake sender’s name and address.

So the current smuggling trends via social media platforms are quite dif-
ferent compared to the past, when you had big quantities of illicit goods sent
via big containers: we nowadays have a fragmentation of the supply chain all
based on small quantities: small quantities in gathering info, small quantities for
shipping, small quantities to deposit and small quantities to distribute and deli-
ver - all elements that make it difficult to identify the smuggling cycle, also
because, once the transaction is concluded, the traffickers simply disappear by
closing the social media account before creating a different one.

Sadly, a large number of this new type of smugglers tend to be young
adults, sometimes even university students who, especially in the US, use such
income to finance their studies or pay off their student debt.

Interpol is carrying out several projects in the three environmental critical
areas of biodiversity, environmental quality and natural resources, spanning

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