20 Feb 2008 - Key
members of a smuggling ring trading tiger
skins and bear parts into China will face
trial in March after a 6 month operation
in which WWF and TRAFFIC provided technical
assistance to customs, police and navy officials
in the Russian far east.
About 900 paws of brown
and black bears, 4 tiger skins, more than
60 kilos of tiger bones and 531 saiga horns,
valued at more than $US 200,000 were seized
in three joint seizures by customs, police
and navy services.
“This shows the immense
damage being done to endangered species
and nature by organized wildlife poaching
and smuggling,” said Sergey Aramilev, biodiversity
conservation officer at WWF-Russia’s Amur
branch.
“This operation is also
important in setting a precedent to fight
the illegal trade from wildlife products.
We cannot resuscitate killed animals, but
we managed to stop a big contraband channel
and enforce control on the Sino-Russian
border.”
The smuggling ring initially
became known to authorities early last year,
after officials became suspicious of a load
of supposed potatoes being transported into
China. Inspection revealed eight bags of
bear paws, three tiger skins, several horns
and fragments of different animals’ carcasses.
Although the driver
provided no information, police were able
to identify first the details of the logistics
on the Russian side of the smuggling operation.
The key actor was then identified as a Chinese
citizen with the Russian given name of Kolya.
Kolya was active in
the Ussuriisk market, a key meeting venue
for smugglers and poachers in one of Primorsky
Province’s principal cities. He also travelled
to outlying districts finding operators
to fulfil orders and dealing directly with
poachers himself.
In March last year authorities
were able to intercepted sledges with a
cargo including 120 bear paws on frozen
Khanka Lake, but members of the gang travelling
with the sledges managed to escape on snowmobiles.
Telephone intercepts
showed the two seizures had put the ring
into difficulties with recipients in China,
with a nervous Kolya being required to assemble
a larger than usual shipment.
Authorities set up an
operation, allowing Kolya’s Russian partner
to believe he had successfully “hired” road
police to ignore the shipment and made similar
arrangements for the border tracking system
covering Khanka Lake to be switched off
for a night in August 2007.
To make the crossing
seem even easier, local military personnel
were deliberately sent on a “training” exercise.
Riot squad police brought
in from elsewhere then swooped on the smugglers
while the load was being prepared for transhipment
across the lake.
Other members of the
gang not at the scene were arrested later.
All face trial on charges of smuggling and
illegal border crossing and face potential
prison terms of 7 to 12 years.
During 2007, WWF regularly
informed authorities of instances of illegal
wildlife products destined for China from
the Russian far east. WWF and TRAFFIC experts
assist in the investigations of criminal
cases and are available to advise on detained
goods.
The August 2007 Khanka Lake seizures are
among the most significant in recent years
