Diamond Smuggling Market Value: $280 Million
The ” blood diamond” market, or diamonds smuggled and trafficked for illicit products, is estimated to amount up to 4 percent of the $7 billion global diamond market.
Source: Douglas Farah, Blood From Stones (New York: Broadway Books, 2004), pg. 4.
Gas and Oil Smuggling Market Value: $6.2 Billion
$5 Billion worth of gas and oil is smuggled out of Iraq every year, with an additional $1.2 Billion smuggled out of other areas of the world.
Source: $5 billion losses for Iraq to Gas Smuggling: Sam Dagher, ‘Basra strike against Shiite militias also about oil,” Christian Science Monitor, April 9, 2008.
Additional $1.2 Billion from [...]
Trash Smuggling Market Value: $11 Billion
According to the United States Government, trash smugglers who illegally dump trash and other hazardous materials earn $10 to $12 billion.
Source: United States International Crime Threat Assessment, “Environmental Crimes,” December 15, 2000, available at Federation of American Scientists, (last accessed: January 30, 2006).
Illegal Logging Market Value: $15 Billion
According to a briefing paper by Chatham House, illegal logging activities “may account for over a tenth of the total global timer trade, representing products worth at least $15bn a year.”
Source: Duncan Brack, “Illegal Logging: Briefing Paper”, August 2006, Chatham House: Energy Environment and Development Programme, (accessed: December 15, 2007).
Illegal Fishing Market Value: $16.50 Billion
The total value of Illegal Fishing losses worldwide is between $10 billion and $23 billion annually.
Source: MRAG and the University of British Colombia Fihseries Centre, “The Globa Extent of Illegal Fishing, ” April 2008.
Animal and Wildlife Trafficking and Smuggling: $20 Billion
The WWF (formerly known as the World Wildlife Fund) has estimated that animal and wildlife trafficking to be worth between $15 billion and $25 billion a year.
Source: Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, “Poaching for Bin Laden,” Guardian, May 5, 2007, (accessed: May 7, 2007).
Estimated 19,000 elephants are poached every year
Source: Associated Press, “One-time ivory sale approved,” International Herald Tribune, June 14, 2007.
Only 50 to 150 tigers remain in wild in Vietnam due to poaching
Source: AFP, “Wildlife smuggling in Asia still a roaring trade,” Yahoo News, June 3, 2007.
60 percent of rhino population were killed in two African countries between 2003 and 2005
Source: Arthur Max, AP, “Crime syndicates smuggling wildlife,” Yahoo News, June 7, 2007.
Poacher in Taiwan can sell a bear for $4,500
Source: AFP, “Wildlife smuggling in Asia still a roaring trade,” Yahoo News, June 3, 2007.
keep looking »
