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Worldwide investigation finds significant wildlife crime, including in Canada

'Snapshot' probe finds significant wildlife crime

A Canadian at the head of an international body fighting wildlife smuggling says a three-week investigation resulted in more than 1,300 seizures worldwide including some in Canada.

Sheldon Jordan is head of Environment Canada's wildlife enforcement and chairman of the wildlife crimes working group for Interpol, the international agency that co-ordinates law enforcement.

Jordan says Canada is a source of illegal wildlife exports and a market for them.

The investigation found illegal polar bear and other hides in Canada, as well as imports of elephant ivory and several hundred kilograms of shark.

The United Nations says illegal trade in wildlife and forestry products is worth well over $100 billion a year — the fourth-largest category of organized crime on the globe.

 

The Canadian Press