Endangered at the Border
Animal trafficking closely tied to drug, human trafficking
By Matthew Sussis on August 10, 2018
Matt Sussis is the assistant director of communications at the Center for Immigration Studies.
Closely tied to the criminal networks involved in illegal immigration and drug smuggling across the U.S. border is illegal wildlife trafficking, a $10 billion industry that harms vulnerable animal populations and brings various endangered species closer to extinction.
When Americans picture illegal animal smuggling, they may imagine black markets in distant, underdeveloped nations, but the reality hits closer to home. The United States is one of the top destinations for illegally trafficked animal goods, and every year thousands of illicit animal products are smuggled across both the northern and southern border and into various American ports.
In recent years, smugglers have increasingly imported not just animal parts such as rhinoceros horns, elephant ivory, and various leather products — but also live endangered animals, used sometimes as pets and sometimes for commercial purposes.
https://cis.org/Report/Endangered-Border
