Thailand law enforcement support (national level)

Environmental Investigation Agency, UK (EIA)

EIA conducts research and investigations on the trade in tigers and their parts and derivatives, profiling individuals, businesses and networks involved in this trade in China and Laos, and with partners, maps those networks as they extend between Thailand and Vietnam. EIA publishes reports of their research and investigation findings, and provides more sensitive information to relevant national government agencies such as police, customs and CITES authorities, and to relevant IGOs such as INTERPOL and enforcement contacts in the CITES Secretariat. EIA has also shared such information with US Fish and Wildlife Service (US FWS) and US Drug Enforcement Agency (US DEA) agents based in Asia. Where appropriate, EIA also shares such sensitive information with certain NGOs with the relevant expertise based in China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. This also includes mapping the scale and trends in the illicit trade of Asian big cats in the region. EIA’s reports as well as more detailed confidential information help to mobilize action by organizations involved in law enforcement as well as consumer demand reduction. These campaign tools can also can be used to pressure relevant government agencies, including in China, Laos and Vietnam, to ensure there are adequate resources to improve regional and international enforcement co-operation. EIA is also examining wildlife protection laws in China and Laos, with a specific reference to tiger farming, in order to assist in strengthening wildlife protection and the implementation of the relevant CITES Resolution and associated Decisions. This follows on previous work of EIA on the tiger trade including a report and film in 2015 concerning this trade in China and by Chinese nationals and businesses in Laos.

EIA conducts research and investigations on the trafficking of ivory between Africa and Asia, particularly China, Laos and Vietnam, with some linkages to Thailand. These investigations examine the composition of criminal networks and their methods to traffic ivory, and other wildlife contraband, on an inter-regional level between source countries in Africa and destination countries in Asia. EIA publishes reports of this research and investigative findings, and provides more sensitive information to relevant national government agencies such as police, customs and CITES authorities, and to relevant IGOs such as INTERPOL, WCO and enforcement contacts in the CITES Secretariat. EIA has also shared such information with US FWS and US DEA agents based in Africa and Asia. Where appropriate, EIA also shares such sensitive information with certain NGOs with the relevant expertise based in China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. This includes mapping the scale and trends in the illicit trade of ivory. The information can then be provided to assist organizations conducting law enforcement support, and also can be used to pressure relevant governments, including in China, Laos and Vietnam, to take action to investigate the individuals and companies identified by EIA as likely being involved in ivory trafficking, and to improve regional and international enforcement co-operation.

EIA is producing a field guide for law enforcement officers on the Asian big cat trade in partnership with CITES. This guide will assist front line officers in identifying products made or derived from these species and understand the methods of operation of the criminal networks involved in such trade. The guide will be distributed by the CITES Secretariat to all CITES Parties including to the CITES authorities in Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam.

EIA is finalizing a short film and seventeen modules to be used for wildlife law enforcement training. This project has been formally endorsed by the CITES Secretariat, INTERPOL, WCO and several governments. Relevant enforcement agencies in Hong Kong, Thailand and Vietnam have participated in the film. The modules cover different areas such as crime scene management, controlled deliveries, DNA analysis of ivory, financial investigations and best practice for successful prosecutions. The film and the modules will be distributed physically through USB sticks/DVDs and via a password-protected secure website. This will be distributed widely to various national government agencies, including in Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam.

Freeland

Freeland provides national and regional level capacity building to police, customs, financial intelligence units, prosecutors, through its DETECT and LEGAL programs that combine assessments, strategy design, and training to implement strategies. Each of the programs outlined below is tailored to each audience and their threats, and has a mentoring element that Freeland refers to as “OJT” (On-the-Job Training). The OJTs can include digital forensics training and analytical support. The LEGAL program is for prosecutors and judiciary, while the DETECT program is for counter-trafficking and is designed mainly for police, customs, financial intelligence units, and prosecutors, and includes basic and advanced courses. DETECT cross-border courses led to the formation of the ASEAN-WEN “SIG” (Special Investigation Course). Recently, Freeland produced a highly advanced course under DETECT named “CTOC” (Counter-Transnational Organized Crime), which empowers officers to identify and disrupt illicit supply chains involved in wildlife trafficking and other forms of transnational crime.

Freeland runs a project titled “Trafficking Free Enterprises” that includes training programs for airport-based personnel; bank compliance officers; and hospitality staff. These “eyes and ears” awareness trainings are half day and have been held in Cambodia, China, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as two African countries.

Freeland developed WildScan, a mobile phone application to facilitate species identification. See above section on landscape level law enforcement support for additional information.

INTERPOL

INTERPOL assists its 190 Member Countries, which include Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam share criminal intelligence, including for issues of environmental crime, through National Central Bureaus (NCBs) in each country. INTERPOL can, upon the request of member countries, deploy an Investigative Support Team (IST) pertaining to particular investigative pursuits. INTERPOL’s Environmental Security Sub-Directorate provides analysis of information submitted by member countries covering investigations of major cases, including both domestic transnational cases. INTERPOL also hosts Regional Investigative and Analytical Case Meetings (RIACMs) to bring two or more countries together to exchange information and work together on specific investigations. In the first half of 2017, INTERPOL is planning three RIACMs that involve the countries of the region:

· Yangon – March 2017 – China

· Singapore – May 2017 – Cambodia, Vietnam

· Singapore – May 2017 – Thailand

Other RIACMs are planned for later in the year. The dates and venues are yet to be confirmed. Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam, will be invited based on the investigation covered by the meeting.

INTERPOL hosts National Environmental Security Seminars (NESS) to encourage national multi-agency communication and cooperation on environmental crime. Member countries are then encouraged to form a National Environmental Security Taskforce (NEST). A NESS was held in January 2017 in Thailand, and a follow up NESS is planned for the second half of 2017.

INTERPOL provides specialized training to member countries, primarily to their police services, and regularly bringing together representatives from multiple countries simultaneously. The following training has been planned for the first half of 2017 (including subject, member countries invited, and venue):

· Fundamentals of Intelligence Analysis – Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam (Nairobi, April 2017); and Advanced Intelligence Analysis – Cambodia, China, Laos, Vietnam (Lyon, May 2017);

· Online trade investigation training – Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam (Singapore, June 2017);

· Digital forensics: data extraction and analysis – Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam (Singapore, June 2017);

· Crime Scene Investigation Training – Cambodia, China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam (July 2017).

INTERPOL Project Waylay, funded by the U.K. Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), has been focusing on building control delivery capacity and interest in member countries since 2014. So far the work has been on capacity building and developing a common guideline. Currently INTERPOL is working with countries that have expressed an interest in Asia and Africa to identify potential cases in which a controlled delivery can be organized. Discussions are ongoing with China, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam on this issue. Equipment may be provided as needed.

INTERPOL conducts annual operations targeting environmental crime. The most recent, Thunderbird, finalized in February 2017, included 43 countries, among which were China (Hong Kong) and Thailand.

TRAFFIC

TRAFFIC has expertise and credibility in tackling wildlife trafficking and acts through its regional and country-based teams across Asia as well as in Africa, Europe and Americas. Using primary research and contextual understanding to analyze information on wildlife trade dynamics, TRAFFIC’s evidence-based outputs assist government law enforcement agencies to disrupt and dismantle trafficking syndicates and increase deterrents through sentencing and prosecution. The Wildlife Trafficking, Response, Assessment, and Priority Setting (Wildlife TRAPS) Project, financed by USAID and implemented by TRAFFIC, in collaboration with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), is designed to develop and deliver a suite of ground-breaking partnerships and pioneering approaches to tackle wildlife crime between Africa and Asia. The Wildlife TRAPS Project delivers activities through 6 key thematic work streams including: 1) Engaging the Transportation Sector, 2) Enforcement Capacity and Inter-Agency Collaboration, 3) Financial Investigation and Asset Recovery, 4) Wildlife Forensics, 5) Consumer Behaviour Change and Demand Reduction and 6) Community Engagement. The project is building a collective understanding of the true character and scale of the response required through targeted assessments, setting priorities through collaborative action planning, identifying interventions points, and testing non-traditional approaches. This project commenced in 2013 and will run through February 2020. Reducing Opportunities for Unlawful Transport of Endangered Species (ROUTES) is an innovative and transformational partnership, supported by USAID and implemented by TRAFFIC, that brings together international conservation organizations, donors, government, and the transportation and logistics industry for a multi-year collaborative program to disrupt wildlife trafficking by reducing the use of legal transportation supply chains.

TRAFFIC conducts routine monitoring of indicator markets in Thailand, including online availability through Facebook and other social media that are found selling illegal wildlife products. Along with IUCN, WWF and Freeland Foundation, TRAFFIC has been recently appointed as member of a government multi-agency task force to combat online wildlife trafficking. Furthermore, TRAFFIC collects intelligence information through its informant networks and other channels such as the “Wildlife Witness App”, produces actionable crime analyses, and provides them to Thai enforcement agencies to support targeted action. Research based on seizure and market data analysis drives onward communication of actionable information and is used to advocate necessary legislative reforms and increase the effectiveness of law enforcement interventions. The following is a selection of TRAFFIC reports involving the wildlife trade in Thailand:

· Krishnasamy, K., Milliken, T. and Savini, C. (2016). In Transition: Bangkok’s Ivory Market – An 18-month survey of Bangkok’s ivory market. TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

· Doak, N. (2014). Polishing off the Ivory Trade: Surveys of Thailand's Ivory Market. TRAFFIC International, Cambridge, UK.

· Stoner, S., Krishnasamy, K., Wittmann, T., Delean, S. and Cassey, P.(2016). Reduced to skin and bones re-examined: Full analysis. An analysis of Tiger seizures from 13 range countries from 2000-2015. TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia.

Working closely with WWF, TRAFFIC has been providing technical guidance on the implementation of the new legislation that regulates the Thai domestic ivory trade, including efforts to reduce demand for ivory products.

TRAFFIC has been partnering with TRACE, the Wildlife Forensic Network, to support increased capacity and expertise exchange among and between wildlife forensic experts in South East Asia, (including Thailand) and Africa.

TRAFFIC, through the Wildlife TRAPS project, is supporting the participation of Asian customs officials, including from Thailand, in the World Customs Organization’s project INAMA trainings to build capacity on enforcement planning with customs officials from sub-Saharan African countries.

United for Wildlife (UfW)

UfW is working with the transportation sector through the UfW Transport Taskforce in an effort to encourage increased action regarding the transport of illegal wildlife products. One of the focus activities is to enable the sharing of NGO information on wildlife trafficking with the transportation industry – see below section on private sector commitment building.

In 2014 and 2015 the global law firm, DLA Piper, undertook reviews of wildlife legislation in a number of countries involved in illegal wildlife trade as either predominantly supply, transit and consumer locations. This work was undertaken pro bono in support of United for Wildlife. These reports provide a snap shot of the wildlife legislation as well as identifying any ancillary legislation that can be used in the prosecution of wildlife crimes. Thailand was included in the first phase of reports under this work and subsequently DLA Piper reviewed the Elephant Ivory Act introduced in Thailand.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)

The UNDP-supported, GEF-financed project titled “Combating Illegal Wildlife Trade, focusing on Ivory, Rhino Horn, Tiger and Pangolins in Thailand” is part of the Global Wildlife Program. It has Thailand’s Department of National Parks as the implementing partner, and also involves Royal Thai Police, Customs Department, Administrative Court, Office of the Attorney General, IUCN and WWF. The project is due to commence implementation in early 2018. The project aims to strengthen the capacity of and enhance collaboration between enforcement agencies, and reduce the demand for illegal wildlife products. The law enforcement assistance focuses on two components: improved cooperation, coordination, and information exchange; and enhanced enforcement and prosecution capacity. The first component includes the establishment of a central joint-agency task force under the Thai-WEN to be provided with tools and support to conduct intelligence-led operations against trafficking networks. This will also include information and intelligence exchanges with regional and international governments and NGOs, and improved cooperation between wildlife forensics laboratories in ASEAN, China and African countries. The second component of the project will focus on the increased coherence and capacity of the enforcement agencies to be able to address and deter illegal trafficking of wildlife (elephants, rhinos, tigers and pangolins) as a result of strengthening of cross-sectoral enforcement/persecution framework. This includes revising the trainers curriculum at prosecutor, police and customs training academies to include wildlife; increase capacity of police, prosecutors, judges and customs to implement relevant legislation; increase capacity and equipment, particularly at key check points (land and sea) across the country, for policing officers (police, customs, border security, market control agencies) to identify, report and arrest suspects involved in illegal trade of rhinos, tigers and pangolins; and increasing the capacity of the wildlife forensics laboratory to deliver robust prosecution evidence.

UNDP is developing a GEF-financed regional project across tiger range states titled “South-South Cooperation for Sustainability of the Global Tiger Recovery Programme” that will be implemented with the Global Tiger Forum. The project’s goal is to promote the long-term survival of the tiger in ecologically intact landscapes across its range. The project will develop and test a simplified and harmonized monitoring and reporting protocol in close consultation with the 13 tiger range countries, tiger researchers and other relevant scientists, conservation practitioners and managers of tiger areas. The project will also address the financial sustainability of tiger conservation by making the business case for tiger conservation, developing new streams of domestic finance for tigers and targeting private finance at the regional level. Finally the project will ensure that tiger range countries have sufficient capacity, tools and mechanisms for effective implementation, monitoring and updating of their respective National Tiger Recovery Plans, including collaboration and joint action in thematic areas that transcend national boundaries.

UNDP has initiated a GEF-financed global project under the Global Wildlife Program titled “Reducing Maritime Trafficking between Africa and Asia” to reduce trafficking of illegal wildlife and their parts. The project is due to commence implementation in mid-2017. The project seeks to tackle such maritime trafficking by strengthening capacity at priority seaports in Africa and Asia to detect and investigate wildlife trafficking, and by improving South-South cooperation between relevant agencies - to move beyond the status quo of making seizures as an enforcement measure, and increase opportunities for intelligence-led investigations and prosecutions. The project will support the establishment of a best practice scheme to combat maritime trafficking in sea ports (global sea ports to be determined) in response to commitment #10 of the Buckingham Palace Declaration, and will be implemented in partnership with members of the United for Wildlife Transportation Task Force and International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) partners. This project further will increase South-South and interagency cooperation through joint training and strengthening of communication mechanisms to increase detection of wildlife contraband, as well as to strengthen capacity to conduct controlled deliveries between ports, in collaboration with ICCWC partners. The project will also include awareness-raising activities including a workshop for maritime stakeholders, in partnership with TRAFFIC’s Wildlife-TRAPS and ROUTES, currently planned for late 2017.

United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment)

UN Environment, in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme and others, will convene an Africa-Asia Symposium on Strengthening Legal Frameworks to Combat Wildlife Crime on 4-5 July 2017 in Bangkok – see reference below in commitment building section.

United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

UNODC has supported the establishment of a network of more than 70 Border Liaison Offices (BLOs) through its Border Management Programme throughout the Greater Mekong Sub-region, including in Cambodia, China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. UNODC provides regular training and capacity building support to BLOs to ensure that border law enforcement agencies have standardized knowledge, skills and communication mechanisms to collect and share information and intelligence, and are able to better respond to the growing threat of cross-border crimes in the region.

UNODC and WCO partner in the Global Container Control Programme (CCP), which operates in ASEAN countries including Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The CCP aims to secure the global containerized supply chain and minimize the risk of shipping containers being exploited for illicit trafficking, transnational organized crime, and other forms of black market activity. The CCP works with Governments to establish inter-agency container profiling units, and strengthen the capacity of Customs and law enforcement authorities through the delivery of training, mentoring, equipment, standard operating procedures, and access to tools and databases.

UNODC organizes the Wildlife Inter-Regional Enforcement Meetings (WIRE), which offer specialized platforms for law enforcement officials to develop ties with their direct counterparts in African and Asian countries:

· A WIRE-Police meeting was held in November 2016 in Bangkok for police and wildlife investigators from India, Kenya, South Africa, and ASEAN countries including Thailand, as well as INTERPOL, Lusaka Agreement Task Force, UNODC and WCO, to exchange criminal intelligence for the identification of wildlife trafficking routes, groups and trends.

· A WIRE-Prosecutors meeting was held in March 2017 in Bangkok for prosecutors with experience in wildlife crime cases and for Central Authorities responsible for sending and receiving mutual legal assistance requests, from Botswana, Kenya, Uganda, and six key ASEAN countries including Thailand. This meeting focused on effective use of MLA, and authorization for the use of specialized investigative techniques for wildlife crime cases.

· A WIRE-Customs meeting will also be organized in 3^rd quarter 2017 on identifying CITES-risk indicators to assist the detection of containers and cargoes potentially carrying illegal wildlife products.

UNODC provided and intends to provide the following training to law enforcement agencies in Thailand:

· Training course for prosecutors held July 2016, focusing on best practices for gathering and handling evidence for wildlife crime cases, case management, communication channels to request information and mutual legal assistance, and preparing and presenting wildlife crime cases in court.

· Training course on controlled deliveries, electronic surveillance, and intelligence analysis held in Sept 2016 in Chiang Rai.

· Training for selected police intelligence analysts on the use of Sentinel Visualizer software to analyze data and intelligence – held in August 2016.

· Regional workshop on “Strengthening regional cooperation to mitigate corruption risks in wildlife and forest crimes” in November 2016, which included the participation of anti-corruption authorities from Laos and Thailand, as well as other ASEAN countries. The workshop promoted multi-agency, multi-disciplinary law enforcement cooperation in combating wildlife and forest crime, including an active role for anti-corruption authorities.

· Training course for law enforcement officials on online platforms commonly used for illegal wildlife trade, and undercover operations and investigation techniques to address it – held in March 2017.

· Two cross-border cooperation courses on anti-smuggling and advanced investigative techniques for frontline law enforcement officials will be held in 2017 at BLOs between Thailand-Myanmar and Thailand-Cambodia.

· In 2017 UNODC will work in cooperation with the UN-REDD Programme and Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam to draft a set of SOPs to combat wildlife and timber trafficking, based on the BLO mechanism. The SOPs will aim to enable law enforcement authorities to take an agreed standardized approach to respond to cross-border wildlife and timber trafficking cases and efficiently engage in international cooperation.

USAID Wildlife Asia

USAID Wildlife Asia will strengthen regional law enforcement capacity and coordination by institutionalizing capacity building efforts in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, and Vietnam. This will occur through the establishment of a working group tasked with developing and delivering competency standards for key positions within judicial and law enforcement agencies responsible for addressing wildlife crime and trafficking in the region. In addition, USAID Wildlife Asia will strengthen regional and international cooperation and coordination through training and networking workshops, including convening targeted Asia/Africa Special Investigation Group (SIG) meetings designed to allow sharing of information and building collaborative efforts across agencies and borders of both source, transit and demand countries. The USAID Wildlife Asia Activity is implemented by the International Resources Group (IRG) – which is owned by RTI International – with a consortium of organizations and companies including FHI 360, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Freeland and Integra.

USAID Wildlife Asia will identify priorities in laws, policies and jurisprudence on which to focus in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam. USAID Wildlife Asia will host capacity-building events for parliaments; present and develop conservation fund models; showcase forfeiture best practices in prosecution and sentencing; and develop and propose sentencing guidelines for the judiciary. During year 1, the project will prioritize Cambodia and Laos since these countries have ongoing formal CWT-related legislative reform initiatives both in the legislative and judicial arms of the government. USAID Wildlife Asia further will support the Supreme Court of Thailand in enhancing awareness and developing innovative judicial policies to support CWT enforcement and prosecutions. Support includes facilitation of judicial twinning activities (e.g. with Supreme Court of the Philippines), and research and field missions.

USAID Wildlife Asia will support USAID RDMAs activities to enhance coordination amongst US Government (USG) agencies. This will include logistic, technical and financial support for coordination activities; compilation, synthesis and provision of information to USG agencies on CWT efforts of different actors in the region; and emergence of a community of practice and learning agenda for enhanced CWT efforts. USAID Wildlife Asia also will link with relevant bodies such as UNEP and International Conservation Caucus Foundation (ICCF) to capitalize on increased attention to CWT as a priority development agenda for ASEAN and the UN.

World Customs Organization (WCO)

The WCO project INAMA focuses on wildlife trafficking in sub-Sahara Africa mainly, though some initiatives have also included Asian countries. For example, under INAMA, WCO conducted a training in Bangkok in January 2015 concerning controlled delivery of illegally traded wildlife goods. This training was attended, amongst others, by China and Thailand (customs, wildlife agency, and police). Moreover, WCO project INAMA hosted a significant training to build capacity on enforcement planning in Namibia from 8-12 May 2017 for customs officials from sub-Saharan African countries, and customs officials also joined from Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam due to funding from the TRAFFIC TRAPS project.