Wild animals are "laundered" and resold, how to crack down on the whole chain supervision?

　　China News Agency, Beijing, March 3 (Reporter Guo Chaokai) March 3, 2023 is the 10th "World Wildlife Day".

In recent years, with China's comprehensive prohibition of illegal wildlife trade and the abolition of the bad habit of eating wild animals indiscriminately, the population of wild animals has expanded year by year, and the ecological environment has continued to improve. Secret chain.

How do criminals "launder" the trade in wild animals?

How should relevant regulatory loopholes be plugged?

Tibetan red deer are eating outdoors at the Wildlife Rescue and Breeding Station of Qilian Mountain National Park in Qinghai Province.

Photo by China News Agency reporter Ma Mingyan

"Whitewashing" transactions are more secretive

　　A few days ago, the Public Security Bureau of Ya'an City, Sichuan Province successfully detected the "1.18" extremely dangerous and endangered wild animal case, seized 46 wild macaques under national second-class protection on the spot, found out 230 macaques involved in the case, and successfully destroyed a span multi City, state, and long-term criminal chains engaged in illegal hunting, acquisition, transportation, and sale of macaques.

　　According to relevant Chinese laws and regulations, the sale of wild animals must be approved by the forestry and grassland department. Among them, the national first-level protected animals need to be approved by the State Forestry and Grassland Administration, and the second-level protected animals need to be approved by the provincial forestry and grassland department.

To become a laboratory animal, it is necessary to apply for a laboratory animal production license and a laboratory animal use license from the science and technology management department.

　　In the face of strict wildlife trade management system, how did this criminal gang "launder" the illegal trade of more than 200 macaques?

After investigation, since January 2020, the criminal suspect Chen Moumou and others have illegally purchased macaques from hunters on the plateau in western Sichuan 11 times, and then sold them to companies with legal qualifications for "laundering" and selling them to make illegal profits.

　　In fact, this phenomenon is not an isolated case.

Some private zoos and wildlife breeding companies act as "middlemen" to facilitate the "laundering" of rare wildlife transactions.

Precious and endangered wild animals that should be illegally traded are labeled as "legal". Some wild animals are resold layer by layer, and the price can increase dozens of times.

　　The reporter sorted out and found that in the "12.3" case supervised by the Ministry of Public Security, the wild Sichuan golden monkeys purchased from poachers at about 10,000 yuan (RMB, the same below) each sold for about 10,000 yuan (RMB, the same below). It soared to 450,000 to 500,000 yuan each.

In the "May 28" case supervised by the Ministry of Public Security in 2021, red pandas purchased from poachers at 5,000 yuan each were "laundered" and sold for as much as 115,000 yuan.

Cut off the criminal chain of "whitewashing" transactions

　　"Illegal wildlife trade often involves multiple links, and 'whitewashing' is usually in the acquisition and sale links. 'Whitewashing' behavior not only encourages illegal wildlife trade, but also breeds huge illegal profit space." Beijing Normal University Yuan Bin, a professor at the University's Institute of Criminal Law Science, said in an interview with a reporter from China News Agency.

　　Huge huge profits make many criminals take risks.

For a long time, these criminals have formed a relatively stable channel for the export of illegal benefits of wild animals, which has intensified the destruction of wild animal resources at the source.

　　How to cut off the criminal chain of "whitewashing" transactions and plug regulatory loopholes has become the key to wildlife protection.

In this regard, Yuan Bin pointed out that the key is to strengthen the supervision and sanction of "whitewashing" units or individuals such as private zoos. On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the administrative supervision of "whitewashing" behaviors and strictly review the issuance of legal breeding procedures; On the one hand, it is necessary to strengthen the crackdown on "whitewashing" behaviors and punish illegal acquisitions and sales in the process of "whitewashing"; at the same time, it is necessary to improve the wild animal traceability system.

　　Faced with the new situation of illegal crimes, Zhang Chungang, deputy mayor of Ya'an City, Sichuan Province and director of the Municipal Public Security Bureau, said that the public security organs must continue to maintain a high-pressure situation against wildlife crimes, strengthen the analysis and judgment of wildlife crimes, and analyze the crime situation. Find out the laws of crime; at the same time, we must closely cooperate with forestry and grassland and other industry authorities to strengthen the supervision of key enterprises and the rectification of key areas, and form a joint force to combat and prevent wildlife-related crimes.

Full chain attack, weaving dense protection net

　　In fact, illegal hunting, acquisition, "laundering" and reselling wild animals is a black and gray interest chain composed of many evil links.

To eradicate it completely, the responsibilities of all parties must be consolidated, and every link is indispensable.

　　To this end, in 2016, the State Council approved the establishment of the "Inter-Ministerial Joint Conference System for Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade". A long-term mechanism for inter-linkage, and multi-links to strengthen law enforcement and supervision of wildlife protection.

　　In recent years, relevant departments have strengthened joint defense and joint efforts to protect wild animals.

At the legislative level, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress voted to pass the revised Wildlife Protection Law, which will come into force on May 1, 2023.

At the judicial level, in April 2022, the Supreme Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate jointly issued the "Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in Handling Criminal Cases of Destruction of Wildlife Resources", emphasizing the whole chain of punishment for crimes of destruction of wildlife resources.

　　In addition, the public security organs and forestry and grassland departments have been keeping a close eye on national parks and other natural reserves, and have carried out joint law enforcement and rectification. The giant panda, Northeast Tiger and Leopard National Park and other natural reserves have achieved "zero occurrence" of illegal hunting and killing cases.

From 2020 to 2022, the Ministry of Public Security deployed a three-year special campaign to combat wildlife-related crimes. During the three years, more than 90,000 criminal suspects were arrested and 1.37 million wild animals were confiscated. The results are remarkable.

　　Yuan Bin emphasized that wildlife protection must not only continuously improve the institutional system to make laws and regulations more operable, normative and binding; it must also strengthen law enforcement and supervision, establish a long-term mechanism for wildlife protection, and implement strict supervision throughout the entire chain. , Weaving a dense protection net for wild animals.

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