Posted on 10/26/2005 11:59:30 PM PDT by Aussie Dasher
INTERPOL is investigating whether terrorist groups such as Jemaah Islamiah are linked to environmental crimes.
The head of Interpol's Environmental Crimes Committee Andrew Lauterback said there was anecdotal evidence those behind the world's major wildlife smuggling and illegal waste dumping were linked to organised crime. Such links had been established between ivory poaching and terrorist groups in Somalia, he said, and Interpol was investigating the possible involvement of major terrorist networks.
"Obviously, that's something that we're looking into, but that's probably all I can say," Mr Lauterback said in Brisbane today.
Mr Lauterback, who spoke at the Australian Environmental Law Enforcement and Regulators Conference, said environmental crime was estimated to be worth up to $31 billion annually.
He said environmental crimes were becoming more sophisticated and Interpol was "struggling" to keep one step ahead of criminals.
"There's been evidence showing a link between illegal caviar smuggling and the Russian mafia," he said.
"There's been links established between illegal waste trafficking in Italy and the mafia.
"There's been evidence in links between pollution crime and the IRA.
"We want to get to the bottom of that. We want to see how strong this anecdotal evidence is and just bring it to light."
Mr Lauterback said it was hard to investigate crimes unless authorities understood how criminal enterprises were working and evolving.
"We're always struggling to keep one step ahead of the environmental criminals," he said.
"Environmental enforcement and the environmental movement has matured ... but I think environment criminals have also gained a lot of experience and unfortunately they're a lot better financed than we are.
"We need to network and work very closely with out partners in other countries to come up with innovative solutions and strategies for investigation."
However, not all environmental crimes were sophisticated, Mr Lauterback said.
"I've come across a big dump site of hazardous waste with business cards – the person's looking to get caught," he said.
Funding for Islamic Jihad begins in the Mosque. There is a wide divergence of interests between the Russian mafia and Muslim fanatics.
This will leave the radical left confused. Their tacit support of terrorists will be tempered by their fawning over animal rights.
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