In Colombia, hunting poachers, not drug traffickers
Al Jazeera
Four-year-old police unit rescues exotic wildlife sold on the international black market.
Cali, Colombia – 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 20 minutes on average, or 28,025 in total.
