UNEVEN ENFORCEMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL RULES FACILITATES CONTINUED GROWTH IN ENVIRONMENTAL CRIMES

• Document Type: FOIA
• Collection: FOIA Collection
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 0005284780
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: U
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: June 24, 2015
• Document Release Date: May 27, 2011
• Case Number: F-2008-00831
• Publication Date: January 14, 1998

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Intelligence Report
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14 January 1998
Uneven Enforcement of Environmental Rules Facilitates Continued
Growth in Environmental CrimesF ~
significant progress in curbing environmental crimes.
Trausboundary environmental crimes and noncompliance with international
environmental treaties are assuming increased global attention, especially among
industrialized countries. In recognition of the rising number of environmental crimes
such as hazardous waste dumping, trafficking in endangered species, and the
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) black market, officials in the UK, Germany, and Italy,
and organizations such as INTERPOL are committing more law enforcement and
intelligence resources to combat these so-called eco-crimes; Italy's Ecological Police
hosted an international conference on environmental crimes last April. International
enforcement of environmental rules, however, remains uneven. Lack of financial
resources, personnel, and expertise to track eco-crimes, as well as poor coordination
among environmental agencies and law enforcement bodies, will continue to impede
CFC black market flourishing. Ozone-depleting CFCs, banned under the Montreal
Protocol from production in the US and other industrialized countries, are second
only to cocaine as an illegal import into Florida
As much as 20,000 tons per year are smuggled into the US from Russia, China, and
India, mostly by traders using front companies in the EU, mislabeling CFC containers
as propane, and using false customs documents; Mexico also has emerged as a major
supplier of CFCs smuggled into the US. Despite a crackdown in the US that has
resulted in some 50 convictions and the seizure of over I million pounds of CFCs in
recent years, the illicit CFC trade continues to undermine the market share for
US companies that have invested millions of dollars to develop ozone-safe chemicals
and the technologies that use them.
? The EU's Anti-Fraud Unit (UCLAF) seized 1,000 metric tons (Mt)
of illegal CFCs at Rotterdam last summer. This was the first major
CFC crackdown in the EU and the first successful joint operation
among Belgian, Dutch, and German customs officials.
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 ? At the September Montreal Protocol Conference of Parties, .
participants agreed to introduce a licensing system--modeled on the
US government's anti-CFC program--aimed at curbing illicit CFC
exports..
Nonetheless, European chemical industry experts point to the fact that
sales of CFC alternatives remain inexplicably low, and the smugglers
face little risk of detection or punishment, as evidence that the CFC
black market in the EU continues to flourish. They also say that, until
the more than 2,000 large commercial chillers in the EU that still run
on CFCs are phased out, the demand for cheap CFCs will continue to
undercut demand for alternatives.
? According to press, the UK's Environmental Industries Commission--
an umbrella organization for "green" technologies--claims that lax
enforcement of environmental regulations by local and regional
authorities costs the environmental technology sector millions of
dollars in lost business; in November the group called on the
government to implement a policy of "zero tolerance" for
environmental crimes.
Despite these efforts, the demand for cheap industrial solvents and coolants is
likely to grow in rapidly developing countries such as China, India, and Mexico
that are still permitted to produce these materials. Moreover, Russian chemical
plants continue to produce and export CFCs--in violation of the Montreal
Protocol--thereby increasing the volume of CFCs that could end up on the black
market.
Illegal hazardous waste shipments persist. The growth in hazardous waste
production and soaring disposal costs--more than $1000 per ton in some OECD
countries--has led to an increase in criminal involvement in the tracking and
dumping of these materials.
unscrupulous waste traders and criminal groups are taking advantage of the
multibillion-dollar legal trade in recyclable materials such as scrap metals to co-
mingle and illegally ship toxic wastes. Most of these wastes are shipped to LDC
countries in central and eastern Europe, Asia, and Africa, where disposal costs are
lower and the enforcement of environmental controls are weaker. Monitoring the
movement of illegal wastes across national boundaries and tracking the origin of
abandoned hazardous materials is extremely difficult because customs officials
often are not trained to recognize toxic or illegal substances and because there
are usually no license or identifying serial numbers on abandoned waste
containers.
 ? Western Europe continues to be the lar es source sborder
waste shipments German and
other European officials admit that lax border controls and poor
management of data collected at checkpoints facilitate the movement
of wastes through EU member states, according to press reports.
Waste brokers in many developed countries often find it significantly
cheaper to ship waste over long distances than to obtain the proper
legal disposal permits. US officials recently halted a Mexico-bound
waste shipment from Belgium that was illegally transiting the US, and
in January, Chinese officials seized and sent back to Sydney three
containers of toxic waste exported by an Australian firm. Australian
federal police reportedly are investigating officials of the suspected
company, who, if found guilty of exporting-without permits, face
maximum prison sentences of five years and fines up to $700 million
under the country's Hazardous Waste Act.
? Government officials and entrepreneurs in cash-strapped LDCs,
particularly Africa, often accept hazardous waste imports from brokers
in return for hard currency--the so-called trash-for-cash schemes--and
then dump the wastes on beaches, in rivers, or in rural areas.
The lack of adequate safe disposal options for radioactive waste also is attracting
increased involvement of organized criminal groups throughout Europe, according to
open sources. In many cases, these groups appear to be using illicit trading schemes
already in place for arms, drugs, and other contraband.
? Austrian and Italian authorities, for example, are investigating illegal
dumping of radioactive wastes into the Mediterranean and Adriatic
Seas by companies purportedly hired by the Camorra and Ndrangheta
crime groups.
Endangered species trade increasingly lucrative. INTERPOL claims that by 1995
the trade in endangered species protected under the Convention on International Trade
in Endangered Species (CITES) agreement was more lucrative than arms trafficking
and that it was becoming a growing problem for law enforcement officials already
 over burdened tracking other contraband. The World Wildlife Foundation
estimates that the global trade in illegal animals is more than $5 billion per
year. Although the more than 130 countries that have signed and ratified the 1975
CITES agreement have laws in place to control illegal hunting and poaching, there are
too few resources to enforce them. Enforcement is particularly weak in biodiversity-
rich African, Asian, and Latin American countries, while the demand for live exotic
animals and animal products such as ivory and turtleshell remains high in developed
countries, including Japan.
? There is a special CITES unit at Heathrow Airport in the UK that helps
customs officials recognize smuggling methods and catch animal
traders from Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
? Nigeria is widely recognized as a major transit point for exports of
many protected species from West African countries. One wildlife
trade investigator was told by Nigerian customs officials that for $500
they could "arrange all the necessary documents" needed to export
primates, parrots, and other animals, according to open sources.
? In September a Czech citizen was detained in Amsterdam while trying
to smuggle 26 monkeys, 15 caymans, and 62 turtles from Peru in his
luggage. In South Africa a man was arrested in October for possessing
21 protected birds with a black-market value of roughly $13,000.
? Peru's Ecological Police are coordinating an investigation with
INTERPOL to uncover the flourishing animal smuggling ring there;
poachers in Peru earn badly needed cash for rare birds, reptiles,
and jaguars. One tree sloth, for example, can fetch up to $400, more
than three times the monthly minimum wage, according to open
sources
Hurdles to improved enforcement. Several EU governments, Russia, and other
countries are looking for ways to stem the flow of illicit wastes and curb other
activities considered to be cross-border environmental crimes, but the few concrete
measures instituted thus far--such as tighter EU licensing controls for CFCs--have
not yet significantly halted these activities. Lack of financial resources and expertise,
as well as loose coordination between government environmental officials and law
enforcement agencies will remain the greatest impediments to effective enforce-
ment of domestic and international environmental regulations. Moreover, with
the globalization of world trade, the tightening of waste management controls in
developed countries, and the lure of quick cash, incentives to find cheap, easy ways
to dispose of wastes will remain strong.