High-level officials in the government of Laos have been abetting the illegal trade in wildlife smuggling, according to an undercover investigation published in The Guardian. The office of the country’s prime minister is alleged to have violated international and national law for 2014 by making deals with three major traffickers. In over a decade, such deals related to £35m worth of animal parts with elephants, rhinos and tigers among the animals trafficked. Trading in all three species is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and by the country’s own laws.
High-level officials in the government of Laos have been abetting the illegal trade in wildlife smuggling, according to an undercover investigation published in The Guardian. The office of the country’s prime minister is alleged to have violated international and national law for over a decade by making deals with three major traffickers. In 2014, such deals related to £35m worth of animal parts with elephants, rhinos and tigers among the animals trafficked. Trading in all three species is prohibited by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species and by the country’s own laws.