(16 Jun 2014) The U.S. government is cracking down on the illegal trafficking of wild animal products across the nation's borders, saying some of the imports may be linked to terrorists, federal officials said Monday (June 16).
U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman told a news conference at John F. Kennedy International Airport that such trade is a threat to global security because it's driven by criminal elements. He said some terrorist groups have used profits from items such as rhino horns and elephant tusks to finance their activities.
"Right now poaching in Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, is on the rise. 30,000 elephants killed last year," said Froman. "Over a thousand rhinos killed and that poaching is funding corruption, it's funding terrorist groups, and a lot of it is making its way around the world into Asia and into the United States.
On display was a collection of wildlife products seized at Kennedy _ from ivory disguised in a wooden statue and the stuffed head of a lion to handicrafts and musical instruments hiding wildlife valuables.
The single priciest item was a rhino horn. They can fetch $30,000 per pound _ or about 30 percent more than the price of gold.
Some rhino horns have entered the United States, only to be resold abroad for double the money, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
Kennedy handles the largest amount of cargo of any U.S. airport.
Froman says the Obama administration wants to include language protecting wildlife targeted by poachers into the Trans Pacific Partnership, a multi-country trade agreement.
"One of the innovative thing about the Trans Pacific Partnership is that we're working to negotiate disciplines precisely on wildlife trafficking so that all of our TPP partners will work together, cooperatively, to ensure that we're taking action to prevent the trafficking of illegal wildlife and trying to stop this kind of practice which is both endangering endangered species but also funding a lot of very dangerous practices in some parts of the world," said Froman.
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