Wildlife trafficking in the Internet age

Anita Lavorgna

doi:10.1186/s40163-014-0005-2

Abstract

There is a broad consensus that the Internet has greatly expanded possibilities for traditional transit crimes such as wildlife trafficking. However, the extent to which the Internet is exploited by criminals to carry out these types of activities and the way in which it has changed how these crimes are carried out remains under-investigated. Based on interviews and investigative cases, this paper shows the possibilities offered by a crime script approach for understanding what kind of criminal opportunities the Internet offers for conducting wildlife trafficking and how these opportunities affect the organization of this transit crime, as concerns both the carrying out of the criminal activity and the patterns of relations in and among criminal networks. It highlights how Internet-mediated wildlife trafficking is a hybrid market that combines the traditional social and economic opportunity structure with that provided by the Internet.

Highlights

The commercialization of the Internet, like any other technological change, has modified the environment in which crime operates
The previous sections have shown how the use of the Internet has affected the organization of wildlife trafficking, as regards both the carrying out of the criminal activity and the patterns of relations in and among criminal networks
For wildlife traffickers, the Internet does not seem to be used only as a communication tool but it has affected this criminal market in a much more extensive way by making it a hybrid market that combines the traditional social and economic opportunity structures with the new ones provided by the Internet

Summary

Introduction

The commercialization of the Internet, like any other technological change, has modified the environment in which crime operates. Identifying criminal opportunities offered by the Internet The model proposed by Hancock and Laycock (2010) can be applied to wildlife trafficking to obtain a better understanding of the modus operandi of offenders involved in this under-investigated criminal activity.

Results

Conclusion