Special Investigation Group (SIG) that involved forty law enforcement officers from 22 agencies in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines convened to share information on criminal networks targeting their wildlife and agreed to network among themselves to stop them and to protect their region’s environment held May 2-5, 2023, in Phuket Thailand.

The said networking event was organized by the “TRIPOD” Project (Targeting Regional Investigations and Policing Opportunities for Development) sponsored by the US Department of State-Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), moderated and facilitated by Freeland, IFAW, and WWF. The SIG was designed by Freeland to convert training into collaborative action.

Southeast Asian Police network (ASEANAPOL) provided technical support during the event, while IFAW and WWF will provide the officers with tools to care for confiscated wild animals during the webinars within the month of May 2023, while the Tanggol Kalikasan was invited as an observer for this activity. Prior to the activity, the officers who attended had undergone the same specialized Freeland training in countering transnational organized wildlife trafficking.

The officers urge the public to contact their hotlines and share information on the poaching, trafficking, and sale of sea turtles and eggs, sharks and rays, pangolins, giant clams, elephant tusks, baby lobsters, rhino horns, wild birds, primates, and all endangered and protected wildlife species, including theft of forest produce in the Southeast Asian region:


Malaysia Hotline:
Sabah Wildlife Department - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Sabah Forestry Department - +6013 707 2100
Royal Malaysian Police - TikTok: pdrmwildlifecrimebureau.my

Indonesia Hotline:
Ministry of Marine Affairs & Fisheries - +62 858 8888 4171, 021-3519070 ext 2833
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Philippines Hotline:
+63 91290 92310, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
DENR-BMB: +63 2 8925 8952 or +63 2 8925 8953
Other concerns: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Source : Free