ABA ROLI Hosts Peruvian Delegation of Wildlife Trafficking Authorities to Oregon

During the first week of September, the ABA ROLI’s Peru program, Combating Wildlife Trafficking program, hosted a Peruvian delegation to the state of Oregon, consisting of judges, prosecutors, investigators and police specializing in investigating and prosecuting wildlife crimes in Peru. 

Peru has been identified as a country of origin, transit and destination of illegally trafficked wildlife species. Notwithstanding this problem, the response provided by administrative and judicial authorities, and even by civil society, does not correspond to the complexity and magnitude of this existing criminal phenomenon. Therefore, in 2020, ABA ROLI commenced the Combatting Wildlife Trafficking (CWT) program to assist the government of Peru in its efforts to combat wildlife trafficking—a form of criminal activity that has become an important fixture in the illicit operations of transnational criminal organizations across Latin America. ABA ROLI supports Peruvian partners from government entities at the national and sub-national levels, including specialized units of the prosecution, judiciary, and police tasked with combating environmental crimes. Specifically, ABA ROLI helps build the capacity of these entities and strengthens inter-institutional coordination.

The CWT program seeks to strengthen the skills of justice sector operators to identify and prosecute those responsible for crimes against wildlife and hydrobiological resources. The program also seeks to strengthen capacity of national and regional actors to use cross-border cooperation mechanisms focused on preventing and prosecuting crimes against wildlife and hydrobiological resources. As a result, 17 academic activities have been carried out to strengthen the knowledge, capacities and skills of justice sector operators related to wildlife protection, with the participation of top-level Peruvian and Latin American officials.

In addition, two assessments were undertaken on (i) legal and public policy gaps to address this criminal phenomenon; and (ii) the use of international cooperation mechanisms to combat organized crime in wildlife trafficking. These have been materialized through the publication of a manual and a practical guide, respectively.

The study tour started in Portland, Oregon, where Lewis & Clark Law School hosted the delegates, with law faculty presenting on environmental crimes, class action lawsuits, multi-district litigation, and the assessment of damages in wildlife and environmental crimes.  Delegates also met with faculty of our partner in Peru, the Global Alliance for Animals and the Environment, which is housed in Lewis & Clark Law School.  The delegation later traveled to Ashland, Oregon, where they spent the day at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Forensics Laboratory (USFWS).  At the Forensics Lab, the delegation met with chemists, biologists, morphologists and other scientists who assist with the investigation of wildlife who have been trafficked or killed in the U.S. or have attempted to enter U.S. borders.  Upon return to Portland, the delegates met with the USFWS investigators, U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Department of Justice that handles wildlife and environmental crimes in the Pacific Northwest, a federal magistrate judge of the U.S. District Court, and the Department of the Interior, which assesses pollution and other environmental damage to protected areas in the Pacific Northwest. The delegates walked away impressed with learning more about the systems and processes for investigating, prosecuting and adjudicating wildlife crimes in the U.S.  In addition, the delegates established contacts with their U.S. counterparts, who committed to fielding any questions the delegates may have in their future work in Peru.  

Learn more about ABA ROLI’s work across Latin America and the Caribbean.