Police in 18
countries carried out a month-long coordinated mission against
smuggled plant and animal parts used in various traditional forms of
medicine, Interpol and national officers said Friday.
During the sweep, illegal products with a retail value of 10 million
euros (13.6 million dollars) were seized, the international law
enforcement agency said.
"National wildlife enforcement authorities, police, customs and
specialised units from 18 countries across all five continents worked
together as part of Operation Tram which ran from 1 to 28 February,"
Interpol said.
British police targeted a business selling medicine from the Chinese
tradition, but an Interpol spokeswoman told AFP the global operation
was against all use of endangered species in cures from various
cultures.
For centuries, traditional Chinese healers have used tiger bone to
treat arthritis, rhinoceros horn for fevers and convulsions and bear
bile to treat various infections, thus encouraging poachers to hunt
rare animals.
In Rome, Italian forest rangers said they had seized 30,000 products
containing wildlife worth about one million euros after checking more
than 3,000 individuals, planes, baggage, and container ships.
Arrest warrants were issued against 40 individuals or companies.
"We noticed there is great deal of illegal traffic in Italy," the
director of Interpol operations in Italy Colonel Giuseppe Verrocchi
told AFP, adding that parts of tiger, bear and pangolin -- an
ant-eating mammal -- and rare plants were seized.
"The products were imported directly from India, China, Taiwan, Hong
Kong and Vietnam through the ports of Mestre, Trieste and Naples and
Milan airport," an Italian statement said.
In London, the Metropolitan Police said officers had raided a Chinese
traditional medicine business and found what seem to be plant species
protected by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered
Species (CITES).
"Most traditional Chinese medicines are perfectly legal. However, a
small number of people continue to trade in illegal products
containing endangered species," said Sergeant Ian Knox from the
force's wildlife crime unit.
"This trade threatens some of the world's most iconic species, and it
will continue as long as the demand exists," he added.
A director of the company that owns the raided properties will be
questioned once the plants have been analysed, Scotland Yard said.
The British police have been working against the use of illegal animal
and plant products in traditional Chinese medicine since 1995 under
its Operation Charm, and joined Interpol's Operation Tram last month.
Police in Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, France,
Georgia, India, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Portugal, Serbia,
Slovakia, South Africa, Turkey and Zimbabwe also took part in the Tram
operation.
"The important cultural, historical and religious values of
traditional medicines is recognised by the law enforcement community,"
said senior British officer Chief Constable Richard Crompton,
according to the statement.
"However, the increased use of endangered species in medicines can no
longer be tolerated as it places extreme pressure on their very
survival," he warned.
According to Interpol, Operation Tram "revealed a large amount of
medicines either containing or marketing the use of illegal
ingredients such as tiger, bear and rhinoceros."
