Transnational Criminality: An Analysis of the Illegal Wildlife Market in Southern Africa

Transnational crime, the illicit procurement, transportation, and distribution of commodities across international borders, is an area of increasing interest for criminologists. Most of the current research focuses on drug trafficking, human smuggling, and money laundering. However, one serious type of transnational crime, the large-scale exploitation and theft of natural resources, has yet to be studied in detail by criminologists. This article reports the results of a descriptive criminological analysis of a specific kind of transnational criminality involving the theft of natural resources-the transnational illegal wildlife trade. The findings include a description of the organization and operation of the illicit wildlife market and profiles of the participants and their motivations and methods.