Thousands of illegal wildlife products seized by Border Force

As part of the month-long Operation Thunder, Border Force officers made 145 seizures containing thousands of wildlife products which are banned by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of wild fauna and flora (CITES).

Seizures included clothes and accessories made from snakeskin and turtle shell, ivory products, as well as consumer health products containing cactus and orchid, crocodile blood and caviar.

The team also found 53 live birds across three different seizures, which Border Force says it will look to rehome where possible.

Wildlife crime is estimated to be worth up to £17 billion globally a year, and is the fourth largest international crime according to Interpol, behind only arms, drugs and human trafficking.

Minister for Legal Migration and Delivery Tom Pursglove MP said: “The illegal wildlife trade is driven by criminal gangs and threatens species with extinction, fuels corruption, and deprives the world’s poorest communities of sustainable livelihoods.

“Border Force plays a leading global role in eradicating this damaging illegal trade and our recent successes under Operation Thunder are proof of this.”

Dr Mark Jones, head of policy for Born Free, said: “Wildlife trafficking is serious, organised, transnational, and increasing. It is also closely tied to other forms of serious crime, such as corruption, fraud and money laundering. All too often, criminal gangs view wildlife trafficking as a low-risk high-return activity.

“The work of Border Force in interrupting the trafficking of wildlife products across the UK’s borders is critical to the UK’s efforts to tackle this scourge.

“With so much of the world’s wildlife in crisis, it’s vital that our enforcement agencies are properly resourced to enable this essential and highly specialised work to continue.”

Operation Thunder, which ran during October, is a global effort to target the illegal wildlife trade and is co-led by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation. This year saw more than 133 countries participating alongside the UK, the highest global participation since the campaign launched in 2017.

Internationally, there were 2,114 seizures and some 500 arrests. Among the seizures were more than 300kg of ivory, thousands of turtle eggs, 30 tonnes of plants, dozens of big cat body parts and rhino horns, as well as primates, birds and marine species.

The Government is working to help to deliver on the ambitious new global deal for nature agreed at the UN Nature Summit COP15 in December 2023, which will protect 30 per cent of the earth’s land and ocean by 2030.

Seizures in the UK during Operation Thunder included: 53 live listed birds; 5.5kgs of ivory; 434 live plants; more than 1,000 health supplements containing illegal plant and animal products: one ceremonial headdress made with big cat fur; vulture and falcon eggs and a lesser flamingo feather bracelet; five controlled wood products; and 26 reptile skin products, including crocodile and python.