Financial Transparency Coalition

Dawie Groenewald of South Africa and 11 conspirators were arrested in September of 2010 on 1,872 counts of racketeering, including illegal trade of rhino horns. Among those arrested are two veterinarians, Karel Toet and Manie Du Plessis, as well as several professional hunters. This case is one of the biggest wildlife cases seen in South Africa and has been postponed several times since 2010. It is currently scheduled for early May 2013.

A new UN report finds that illegal logging is on the rise in part due to increased levels of organized criminal activity around logging. Brad Plumber of Wonkblog writes...

In this video, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime follows individual Euro bills as they are used illicitly, ultimately showing the annual $870 billion proceeds from criminal networks. The filmed transactions highlight profits by counterfeiting, illicit drug trafficking, human trafficking, and trading illegal arms.  The UNODC also captures the impact of this underground

Senator John Kerry and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations conducted a hearing yesterday regarding the challenges of illegal ivory trafficking from Africa. While the topic may seem less urgent in times when widespread unemployment, poverty and global economic crisis receive the bulk of officials' attention, Senator Kerry believes that “we never have the right to turn our backs on the values that define us.” Poaching for the purpose of selling illicit ivory is a travesty, and responsible for the deaths of countless elephants every year: