An Interpol seizure of ivory. (Interpol via Courthouse News)
WASHINGTON (CN) In March, a man from Texas was sentenced to 20 months in prison for smuggling more than $8.4 million in protected wildlife from Mexico to the United States.
Every transaction occurred on Facebook.
Illegal wildlife trafficking is no longer underground. Rhino horns, elephant ivory tusks, tiger bones, pangolin scales and live animals are being overwhelmingly sold in a lucrative and shockingly open criminal economy on social media platforms. Over 70% of the illegal cheetah trade occurs on Instagram.
“The world’s largest markets for wildlife crime are right inside your smartphones,” Gretchen Peters, executive director of the Center on Illicit Networks and Transnational Organized Crime, told members of the House Water, Oceans and Wildlife Subcommittee in a hearing Tuesday afternoon.
Natural Resources Committee gears up for full week of hearings
FILE PHOTO
State representatives welcome public to watch
LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KYMA, KECY) - The Natural Resources Committee is holding four livestreamed hearings next week to discuss public lands accessibility, wildlife trafficking and wildfire preparedness during climate change.
Tuesday, April 27, 12 p.m. EST
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations, led by Chair Katie Porter (D-Calif.), will host an oversight hearing titled
Accessibility for People with Disabilities on National Parks and Public Lands.
People with disabilities can get a free, lifetime Access Pass for any parks or public lands that require an entry fee. But many of America s parks and public lands are still not fully accessible.
MASON The abuse inflicted on 6-year-old Levy Robinson wasn t just a couple swats, a child abuse expert and doctor said.
It was enough that the bruises on Levy s buttocks melded together, indistinguishable from each other, Dr. Stephen Guertin testified during a preliminary hearing that resulted in a judge ordering Levy s mother s boyfriend to stand trial for murder and child abuse.
The Holt boy s brain was so swollen that surgeons had to take out part of his skull to relieve pressure. Both lungs were punctured. His cheekbone was broken. Bruises and loop marks covered his body. It wasn t just welts, it wasn t just bruising, but there s an abrasion quality to it, Guertin testified. It was hard enough to break the most superficial portions of the skin.This is not just a couple of swats and you re done. This is over and over again.