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Beyond Africa

The persistence of wildlife trafficking networks in West and Central Africa

Several years after the publication of EIA’s Out of Africa report, wildlife trafficking networks across West and Central Africa continue to operate, adapt and profit.

New investigations conducted by EIA reveal that while enforcement has improved and significant interceptions are being made, networks trafficking elephant ivory and pangolin scales are evolving faster than efforts to dismantle them.

Corruption, weak judicial outcomes and increasingly resilient criminal methods continue to enable these crimes.

Overview → Key Findings → Theory of Change → How the Networks Survive → Following the Money → Crime Convergence → The Justice Gap → Corruption: the system behind the system → Reasons for Optimism

The illegal trade hasn't stopped, it’s adapted.

Stronger laws and more seizures have not dismantled the networks behind wildlife trafficking.

Our report presents the findings of six years of undercover investigations, intelligence-gathering and field research into wildlife trafficking networks operating across West and Central Africa.

The evidence reveals a troubling reality – despite stronger laws, increased interceptions of contraband and more arrests, the criminal networks behind the trade remain largely intact.

Rather than being dismantled, traffickers are instead changing export routes, adapting concealment methods and moving profits through often complex financial systems.

Nigeria remains a critical hub for wildlife products sourced across the region, including Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Chad, the Central African Republic and the Republic of the Congo. The trade extends far beyond national borders, connecting source countries in Africa with consumer markets in Asia.

While there are genuine reasons for optimism - including Nigeria’s landmark wildlife crime bill, now awaiting presidential assent, and improvements to enforcement capacity – the report finds too much attention remains focused on seizures of contraband as enforcement outcomes rather than on the people, finances and corruption which sustain trafficking networks.

Wildlife crime incidents across the region

Key Findings

What our investigations uncovered

Enforcement pressure is changing the trade, but it is not stopping it.

Traffickers are relocating operations away from heavily monitored locations, changing packaging and concealment methods and shifting towards new financial systems. Every time enforcement tightens, networks find new ways to operate.

Wildlife products are being intercepted and suspects arrested, but investigations rarely move beyond the immediate incident.

The individuals coordinating shipments, financing operations and facilitating corruption often remain untouched, allowing networks to quickly recover and continue operating.

Wildlife trafficking is transnational, but enforcement efforts are often confined within national borders.

Limited intelligence sharing, delayed cooperation and a lack of joint investigations continue to create opportunities for traffickers operating across multiple countries.

Across West and Central Africa, only 10 per cent of recorded arrests resulted in convictions.

Even successful prosecutions often fail to create meaningful deterrence, with some convicted traffickers returning to business shortly after sentencing.

Corruption is not an occasional obstacle to enforcement—it is one of the primary mechanisms that allows wildlife trafficking to function.

From roadside checkpoints to ports and customs processes, bribery continues to enable the movement of illegal wildlife products through the supply chain.

Investigations identified links between wildlife trafficking, money laundering, underground banking systems and the synthetic drugs trade.

This demonstrates that wildlife trafficking should be viewed not only as a conservation issue, but also as a serious organised crime and financial crime challenge.

Theory of change

What will actually disrupt trafficking networks?

Current approaches often measure success through seizures and arrests.

But every seizure represents several crimes, and interceptions alone do not dismantle criminal networks.

Our report argues that meaningful change occurs when four mutually reinforcing areas work together.

Key Components of an Effective Response

01
National Enforcement
Investigates incidents and targets entire networks.

02
Transnational Cooperation
Connects intelligence and investigations across borders.

03
Effective Prosecutions
Create real consequences that effectively deter offenders.

04
Anti-Corruption Action
Removes the protection systems that allow traffickers to operate.
Outcome
Disrupted Trafficking Networks
Organised wildlife crime becomes riskier, less profitable and more difficult to sustain.

How the networks survive

Adapting to enforcement

Criminals change faster than systems

EIA investigations show traders continually altering their operations to avoid detection.

Pangolin scales and ivory loaded into a container then concealed with timber.

Key adaptations include:

Moving exports from Lagos to lower-risk locations
Changing concealment and packing methods
Shifting payment methods and financial flows
Exploiting weaknesses in inspection procedures
Avoiding scrutiny through corrupt contacts
Key Finding
Trafficking networks continuously adapt their methods to evade enforcement and reduce detection risk.
Illegal wildlife trade network flow diagram

Scroll horizontally to see the full diagram.

Following the money

Wildlife trafficking is driven by profit

Wildlife crime is increasingly linked to complex financial activity.

Ivory seller taking payment from a customer using a POS machine in Lekki Market, Lagos.

Investigations documented:

  • Bank transfers
  • Underground banking systems
  • International value transfer networks
  • Investment in real estate
  • Financial links to wider organised crime
Key Finding
Financial investigations remain one of the most underused tools available to law enforcement.

Crime convergence

More than a wildlife crime issue Wildlife trafficking networks are increasingly intersecting with:
  • Drug trafficking
  • Money laundering
  • Corruption
  • Trade-based financial crime
  • Organised criminal logistics networks

The justice gap

Why current responses are falling short

Our investigations found:

Low arrest-to-conviction rates
Limited financial investigations
Weak asset recovery
Few custodial sentences served
High-level actors rarely prosecuted
Key Finding
Despite more arrests and prosecutions, convictions remain rare and meaningful, sustained deterrence rarer still.

Case study: Back to business

A trader convicted for possessing significant quantities of pangolin scales and ivory was reported to have resumed offering illegal wildlife products shortly after sentencing, eventually advertising tonnes of stock to buyers.

The case illustrates how weak enforcement outcomes and limited financial investigations allow networks to recover rapidly. *POI = Person of Interest

Corruption: the system behind the system

The report identifies corruption as the single greatest enabler of wildlife trafficking across the region. Corruption can occur at every stage of the supply chain, from entry points and transport routes to warehouses, ports and airports. Advanced technology and stronger laws cannot succeed if corrupt actors are able to bypass safeguards through bribery and abuse of authority.

Reasons for optimism

Despite the challenges identified, our report highlights several positive developments.

Authorities across the region are detecting more incidents and making more arrests than in previous years.

The shift towards electronic payments creates new opportunities to identify key actors through financial investigations.

Law enforcement agencies increasingly recognise connections between wildlife crime, financial crime and organised criminal networks.

The Endangered Species Conservation and Protection legislation, awaiting presidential assent, represents the country's most significant wildlife crime reform in almost four decades, providing stronger investigative powers, asset recovery measures and tougher penalties.

What needs to happen now

National law enforcement priorities

Investigate networks, not incidents
Follow financial trails
Fully implement the new law
Target corruption directly

International priorities

Invest in financial investigations
Strengthen cross-border cooperation
Support prosecution capacity
Beyond Africa - Spreads Beyond Africa - Single Pages

Conclusion

The window is narrowing

The central message of our Beyond Africa report is clear.

Wildlife trafficking networks in West and Central Africa are not disappearing. They are adapting.

Seizures alone do not stop the trafficking. Lasting disruption requires coordinated investigations, stronger prosecutions, financial intelligence, anti-corruption action and genuine international cooperation.

The tools increasingly exist. The challenge now is using them together.