On July 6, the Lao PDR’s Environmental Police Department, under the Ministry of Public Security, will participate in an intensive Advanced Analyst Course on Wildlife and Timber Trafficking sponsored by United States and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.
The course strengthens law enforcement capacity to carry out strategic analysis of wildlife smuggling cases, which supports their ability to conduct wildlife investigations. The ten-day course will cover the role of intelligence in supporting all phases of trafficking investigations, law enforcement intelligence methodologies, and the development of tactical intelligence products that contribute to decision-making in investigations.
Over the past thirty years, Lao wildlife species and forests have been heavily depleted, and there is a connection between transitional organized crime groups in forest exploitation and wildlife trafficking. “Wildlife trafficking not only threatens biodiversity and deprives communities of critical revenues from natural resources, it also poses a threat to national security,” said Mr. Noah Geesaman, Political and Economic Officer at the United States Embassy. “Wildlife traffickers, who are often associated with international criminal syndicates, defy national laws to illegally cross international borders. Some of the same rings that traffic in wildlife are known to traffic in narcotics, weapons and persons. Prosecuting wildlife traffickers can help Laos protect its natural and valuable biodiversity, while preventing other serious international crimes from occurring.”
This seminar is part of a series of trainings by the United States and the UN Office of Drugs and Crime in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Security, the Ministry of Forestry and Agriculture, and the Office of the Supreme People’s Prosecutor under the UNODC Global Program on Combatting Wildlife and Forest Crimes.
