RT Article
T1 Nested complex crime: Assessing the convergence of wildlife trafficking, organized crime and loose criminal networks
JF The British journal of criminology
VO 61
IS 5
SP 1334
OP 1353
A1 Moreto, William D.
A2 Uhm, Daan P. van
LA English
YR 2021
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/177604892X
AB Wildlife trafficking is considered to be an example of a transnational organized crime by policymakers and enforcement agencies. Empirically, however, there is mixed support for this. Recently, there has been increased attention on the convergence of different illegal activities in an effort to share resources, personnel and transport routes. The present study attempts to qualitatively examine the intersection of wildlife trafficking and organized crime from a crime mutualism framework in order to explore how these criminal activities and entities converge. Based on fieldwork conducted in Uganda and China, we find that while organized crime appears to have a presence in illegal wildlife markets, such involvement appears to be more relevant during specific stages. Furthermore, it appears that illegal wildlife markets in both case studies reflect both loose, informal criminal networks and more organized crime groups. These findings have implications for the criminological study of and the response to complex wildlife crime.
K1 Environment crime
K1 Mutualism
K1 qualitative methods
K1 Wildlife Crime
K1 China
K1 Uganda
DO 10.1093/bjc/azab005