Illicit Trade

Blog Posts

Smuggled Mexican box turtles were wrapped in duct tape, stuffed into socks and hidden in four coffee cans. Credit: USFWS

Order from Chaos

Something fishy: Wildlife trafficking from Mexico to China

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Tuesday, March 8, 2022

FIshing boat near the beach in Celestun. On Thursday, February 03, 2022, in Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE

Order from Chaos

Organized crime is taking over Mexican fisheries

Vanda Felbab-Brown

February 21, 2022

A motorist passes by a wall with a graffiti of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) in El Aguaje after the visit of Vatican's ambassador to Mexico Franco Coppola to the area and to the municipality of Aguililla, an area where the Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG) and local drug gangs are fighting to control the territory, in Michoacan state, Mexico April 23, 2021. REUTERS/Alan Ortega

Order from Chaos

Nonstate armed actors in 2022: Alive and powerful in the new geopolitics

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

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Events

China’s role in poaching and wildlife trafficking in Mexico

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT

China’s role in the smuggling of synthetic drugs and precursors

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EDT

Biodiversity conservation, zoonotic diseases, and human security in Africa two years into COVID-19

10:00 AM - 11:30 AM EST

Online Only

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Related Books

The Extinction Market: Wildlife Trafficking and How to Counter It

By Vanda Felbab-Brown

2017

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Experts

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Director - Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors

Co-Director - Africa Security Initiative

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology

VFelbabBrown

David Dollar

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Global Economy and Development, John L. Thornton China Center

davidrdollar

Madiha Afzal

Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology

MadihaAfzal

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Multimedia

Chinese representatives watch a big screen while Jia Qinglin, member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and Chairman of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) National Committee, speaks during the First Session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing 3 March 2008.The annual meeting of the Consultancy Congress ( Upper House) started on March 3 and will end on March 14, 2008. It always preceeds the annual meeting of the National Peoples Congress, the parliament of China.No Use China. No Use France.

China

China’s illicit economies

Vanda Felbab-Brown, Madiha Afzal, and Jacob Schulz

The Lawfare Podcast

Monday, February 28, 2022

The Royal Zoological Society of Scotland (RZSS) has welcomed the arrival of a critically endangered male Sumatran tiger at Edinburgh Zoo. Staff at the wildlife conservation charity say they hope the zoo’s current female tiger Dharma and the new arrival Lucu will breed in the future. Darren McGarry, head of living collections at RZSS, said, “We are very excited to welcome Lucu into our care and for visitors to meet him soon. “It will take a couple of days for him to settle in and explore his new home, and we will slowly begin introductions with Dharma in the months to come.” Four-year-old Lucu was born at Paignton Zoo, Devon, in 2016. Darren added, “Sumatran tigers are critically endangered in the wild and any cubs Lucu and Dharma raise would be a potentially important contribution to the future of the species, which is at risk of extinction due to extensive habitat loss and poaching.” Lucky visitors may be able to spot Lucu in his indoor area over the weekend at Edinburgh Zoo’s Tiger Tracks.Where: Edinburgh, Scotland, United KingdomWhen: 06 Nov 2020Credit: RZSS/Cover Images**Editorial use only**

Podcast Episode

Illegal trade in drugs and wildlife

Vanda Felbab-Brown and David Dollar

Tuesday, February 22, 2022

View of the seeds presented at the Fuligong Biodiversity Experience Park in Kunming city, southwest China's Yunnan province, 13 October 2021.No Use China. No Use France.

Podcast Episode

The threat of catastrophic biodiversity loss

Vanda Felbab-Brown and David Dollar

Monday, October 25, 2021

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More on Illicit Trade

A Spanish policeman watches a vessel arrive in the port of Santa Cruzde Tenerife in the Canary Islands August 30, 2001 during aninternational police operation involving Spain, the U.S. and Canada.Fourteen people were arrested and two boats seized off the coast ofFrench Guiana carrying about five tonnes of cocaine. Spain is a majorEuropean entry point for drugs and contraband coming from North Africaand Latin America. REUTERS/Alex RosaDB

The foreign policies of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG – Part III: Africa

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Sunday, August 21, 2022

A customs officer stands beside a total of 649 kg (1,430 pounds) of cocaine during a news conference held by the Customs and Excise Department in Hong Kong July 6, 2012. Customs officers seized a record amount of cocaine with a street value of HK$760 million ($98 million), a government radio reported on Friday. The drugs were found in a container coming from Ecuador at the Kwai Chung Container Terminals and three men have been arrested so far. REUTERS/Bobby Yip (CHINA - Tags: CRIME LAW DRUGS SOCIETY)

The foreign policies of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG – Part II: The Asia-Pacific

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Friday, August 5, 2022

Soldiers patrol at a poppy plantation used to make heroin during an operation of destruction at Sierra de Culiacan in state of Sinaloa, December 8, 2011. High above Mexico's drug-producing heartland, Mexican soldiers are combing the fertile fields of the northwestern state of Sinaloa in search of the billion-dollar poppy and marijuana farms that litter the region. In the operative the Mexican troops destroyed packed marijuana as well as bundles of the plant for processing, accounting for over 100 tonnes, according Army Commander General, Moises Melo. Picture taken December 8, 2011. REUTERS/Bernardo Montoya (MEXICO - Tags: DRUGS SOCIETY MILITARY)

The foreign policies of the Sinaloa Cartel and CJNG – Part I: In the Americas

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Friday, July 22, 2022

A customs officer displays Captagon pills, part of the 789 kilograms (1739 pounds) of confiscated drugs, before its incineration in Sofia, 12, 2007. The drugs are worth around 68 million Levs (48 million dollars). REUTERS/Nikolay Doychinov (BULGARIA)

The battle against captagon

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Friday, May 27, 2022

A policeman stands guard at a police station where seven Sinaloa drug cartel members are being presented to the media after they were arrested with a an arsenal of heavy weapons in Mexico City February 13, 2008. REUTERS/Stringer (MEXICO)

How the Sinaloa Cartel rules

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Monday, April 4, 2022

Local women peel and clean freshly caught fish by family members at their home in Celestun.On Tuesday, February 22, 2022, in Celestun, Yucatan, Mexico. (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto)NO USE FRANCE

The women guardians of Conchalito – Organized crime is taking over Mexican fisheries, part III

Vanda Felbab-Brown

Monday, March 21, 2022

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Reports

China’s role in poaching and wildlife trafficking in Mexico

China’s role in the smuggling of synthetic drugs and precursors

Biodiversity conservation, zoonotic diseases, and human security in Africa two years into COVID-19

Director - Initiative on Nonstate Armed Actors

Co-Director - Africa Security Initiative

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology

Senior Fellow - Foreign Policy, Global Economy and Development, John L. Thornton China Center

Fellow - Foreign Policy, Center for Middle East Policy, Strobe Talbott Center for Security, Strategy, and Technology