On January 20, 2023, a Colombian task force burst into a home in this city, looking for contraband. Nearly a dozen officers scattered throughout the house, searching every room, peering into cabinets and closets, and poking under beds and couches until they found what they came for in a cardboard box: a massive, yellow-spotted python that was three metres (10 feet) long.
Continuing to search, officers also uncovered two taricaya turtles– a species native to the Amazon’s freshwater tributaries, categorised as “vulnerable” by conservationists – hidden in a concrete patio.
The rescue of the stolen fauna was the result of an undercover sting operation led by a budding investigative unit that targets wildlife trafficking – not drug trafficking –in Colombia.
While Colombian law enforcement continues to devote much of its resources to combating drug traffickers, the government four years ago decided to also crack down on poaching wildlife trafficking, a lucrative business that globally generates $23bn in revenues annually.
One of the most biodiverse countries in the world, Colombia is increasingly vulnerable to illicit wildlife trafficking; in 2023, the wildlife investigative unit rescued three trafficked animals every hour on average, or 28,025 in total.
Continue reading: https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/3/21/in-colombia-hunting-poachers-not-drug-traffickers
