Ivory poaching is a problem wherever we find elephants, and that is no different in India. The ivory taken from the Asian elephants has long been prized in both traditional Chinese medicine and also ivory artefacts.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, India has low score for Criminal Actors (4.8), but scores highly for Criminal Markets (6.7), where it sits 16th globally. Ivory poaching falls into the category of Fauna Crimes, here India scores 7.0 out of 10, that places the country 25th globally.

But India also has the highest levels of Resilience (5.42) to organized crime in South Asia.

In this episode we discuss an AI-driven technology developed specifically to help combat ivory poaching in India.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers: Sharada Balasubramanian, independent environmental journalist.

Links:

(Article) ‘Hawk-eyed: India is fighting its ivory poachers with a powerful tech weapon’

ECOSOLVE project

Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) - Kerala Forest & Wildlife Department takes official charge of ‘HAWK’ to Combat Wildlife Crime

OC Index Country profile(s):

India Country Profile

Additional Links:

The Global Organized Crime Index

The Observatory of Illicit Economies in Central and South Asia (CSA-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Ukraine (9/10) and Russia (8.5/10), alongside the former Soviet states of Moldova and Belarus, have some of the highest scores for arms trafficking in the Global Organized Crime Index.

This is due to the significant levels of weapons and ammunition left over at the end of the Soviet period.

In addition to the high levels of arms trafficking across this part of Europe, Central and Eastern Europe has the highest scores for state-embedded actors on the European continent (Russia, 8.5/10; Ukraine, 8/10).

Since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western nations have sent weapons to Ukraine to aid in its struggle, but there are concerns that these weapons could leak out into the illicit markets of Europe and end up in the hands of organized crime.

Currently there is no evidence of this, the Ukrainian government has put in strict measures to prevent this from happening.

In this episode, we look at the war in Ukraine, and arms trafficking.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers: Daniel Brombacher, Director of the Europe Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Links:

(Paper) Smoke on the Horizon: Trends in arms trafficking from the conflict in Ukraine

OC Index Country profiles:

Ukraine Country Profile

Russia Country Profile

Moldova Country Profile

Belarus Country Profile

The Global Organized Crime Index

GITOC - The Observatory of Illicit Markets and the Conflict in Ukraine (UKR-Obs)

GITOC - The Observatory of Organized Crime in Europe (EUR-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

The Netherlands is an important global trading hub, with Rotterdam being one of the worlds largest container ports in the world. The country's high quality infrastructure and the well known liberal approach to drugs makes the Netherlands attractive to organized criminal groups. And those originating in the Western Balkans have long been active in the Netherlands.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, the Netherlands has high levels of foreign criminal actors with 6 out of 10 - an increase of 1.50 in just two years – only Bangladesh and Afghanistan have seen larger increases.

Alongside that, the levels of cocaine and synthetic drugs are extremely high - for cocaine the Netherlands sits 21st globally with 7.5 out of 10, and for synthetic drugs it’s even higher at 8 out of 10 – which is 15th globally.

In today’s episode we’ll look at the impact of organized criminal groups from the Western Balkans on the Netherlands, and their involvement in the illicit drugs trade.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers:

Ingrid Gercama, Investigative Journalist writing about the environment, politics, and conflict, mostly from the Balkans and Africa.

Links:

Article - Western Balkan criminal groups are important players in the Netherlands.

SEE-Obs - Risk Bulletin #18

Paper - Transnational Tentacles: Global Hotspots of Balkan Organized Crime

Paper - The cocaine pipeline to Europe

OC Index Country profiles:

Netherlands country profile

Albania country profile

Montenegro country profile

Serbia country profile

Bosnia & Herzegovina country profile

North Macedonia country profile

The Global Organized Crime Index

GITOC - South-Eastern Europe Observatory (SEE-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime