(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Terrorist organisations are increasingly involved in wildlife and drug trafficking to make money and increase the threat of criminal activities, said a senior US official yesterday.
Ambassador Luis Arreaga (pictured), Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement, told a press conference that wildlife trafficking is becoming an emerging crime and needs immediate prevention.
"Terrorist organisations are using drugs but trafficking wildlife to make money, particularly in the African region," said Arreaga who is leading a US delegation to the 13th UN Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice.
"Wildlife trafficking is an emerging crime and if we are not going to anything about it, we are going to be losing," he added.
US goals at the Congress include working with counterparts from around the world to advance international cooperation in fighting transnational crime - including promoting implementation of UN conventions against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) and Corruption (UNCAC) - and supporting steps to integrate criminal justice into the wider UN agenda, particularly in the areas of sustainable development and improved governance.
The US team is discussing the nexus between crime prevention, the rule of law, and sustainable development with participants from all sectors to find long-term solutions
"Human trafficking or wildlife trafficking all has their own set of challenges.
"In the case of crime we have to be optimistic about what we can achieve, there are much difficulties but there are ways we can work together," said Arreaga.
"What we require is the engagement from countries, it's (criminal activities) not going to get resolved overnight, it's going to take generations, we have to deal with it.
"You have to have commitment and work with it for years to come with governments, civil society and international community at large," he said.
He praised Qatar for efforts in bringing in the Doha Declaration with "all the views together and developing a language that everybody can live with."
Recommendations from the Congress will be discussed for implementation by governments and NGOs working together at a crime commission meeting in Vienna next month.
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