SE Asia to build law enforcement network

SE Asia to build law enforcement network

Associated Press, Bangkok

Southeast Asian countries are expected to establish the world's
largest law enforcement network to fight cross-border smuggling
of endangered animals, an official said on Thursday.

Conservation groups estimate illegal wildlife trade is massive
problem -- fueled in part by the global economy and the Internet.
Criminal gangs make as much as US$7 million a year, trading
everything from tiger parts to live orangutans to pythons.

Experts from CITES -- the Convention on International Trade in
Endangered Species -- and law enforcement officers from every
country of Southeast Asia, along with China and the United
States, are meeting this week in Khao Yai National Park in
northeastern Thailand to lay the groundwork for the network.

Conservation officials from the 10-member Association of
Southeast Asian Nations are expected to conclude their talks by
signing a memorandum of understanding. ASEAN environmental
ministers will then convene in Bangkok next month to formerly
launch the network. A date has not been set.

"We've drafted a memorandum of understanding on cooperation
between ASEAN countries," said Schwann Tunhikorn, a deputy
director general in Thailand's Ministry of Natural Resources and
Environment.

"Southeast Asia is one of the hot spots for biodiversity," he
said. "Some of the species have been targeted for illegal trade.
It's only through joint (cooperation) of the Southeast Asian
countries that we can curb it."

When Thailand last year hosted the international CITES
conference, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra proposed setting up
such a "wildlife Interpol" to combat wildlife trafficking in
Southeast Asia.

As major markets for illicit wildlife, the participation of
the United States and China is considered crucial.

A U.S. law enforcement official, who is attending the meeting
and spoke on condition of anonymity, said the network would
compliment their efforts.

He also called on Asian countries to sharpen their
investigative skills and ensure that conservation officials have
appropriate police powers to investigate wildlife crimes.