News: Protecting Wildlife

Making The World Safer For Wildlife


This National Geographic Article and interview with Freeland founder Steve Galster highlights the urgency of the search for Bach "Boonchai" Mai, who was recently sentenced to five years in prison by the Thai Supreme Court. Boonchai has long played a role in trafficking ivory, rhino horns, pangolin scales, tigers, and more.

Freeland launched the investigation into this Thai poaching kingpin years ago. Now, the manhunt begins. Please contact us with any tip-offs on his whereabouts, and if you'd like to help support this work, donate here:
National Geographic Feature
Read Full Article Here
Operation Togo

operation togo

Freeland, EAGLE, and Liberia Chimpanzee Rescue and Protection (LCRP) collaborated with one another, and with government agencies from 5 countries. Now that the traffickers have been caught and the animals repatriated, these groups reveal the challenges and opportunities for mitigating major international wildlife trafficking operations.

Read More: theprint.in/world/brazil-police-repatriate-exotic-native-animals-trafficked-to-togo/1981077/
YouTube Video: https://youtu.be/OOjbTfu-NbY?si=AsXTn-0HbXxlDPGy
Operation Cobra

Operation Cobra

Freeland designed and supported the world’s largest and most active wildlife enforcement operation that was run by 25 governments, resulting in unprecedented numbers of arrests and seizures.
Watch more:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWfsr0CE810
Tiger Mafia Queen-Pin

Tiger Mafia Queen-Pin and Assets Identified and Frozen

Freeland helped the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) of Thailand identify Jay Daoreung Chaiyamat as a major tiger and rosewood trafficker, and $37 million worth of her ill-gotten assets, which AMLO has frozen. However, she remains free.
National Geographic (with VN subtitles): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OwprYViGm6Q
Bangkok Post article:
Cat and Mouse: Accused Tiger Trafficker Slips Authorities' Net
Laos Kingpin

Freeland exposes Laos Kingpin, link to Sex Trafficking and rhino horn trade

Freeland has been instrumental in building a case against Mr. Vixay, and was the source of the vast majority of the documents reviewed for this article, including business contracts and Laotian customs documents that attest to the scale of his operation
New York Times article:
Notorious figure in animal smuggling beyond reach in Laos
Vietnamese Crime Syndicate

Freeland Exposes Vietnamese Crime Syndicate involved in global trade

Freeland pushed deeper, working with a Thai government surveillance team, persuading some of the traffickers to talk to them and stepping around the corrupt public officials who guard the network to gather intelligence from reliable police sources in Africa and Asia.
The Guardian article:
Bach brothers - Asia's animal trafficking network
Boonchai Bach

Freeland Helps Police Catch Wildlife Trafficking KingpiN

Freeland helped Thai Police identify Boonchai Bach as a Kingpin in the international syndicate, "Hydra", which is thought to be one of the world's most destructive wildlife trafficking rings.
The Guardian article:
Thai police arrest notorious wildlife trafficking suspect
New York Times article:
Thailand wildlife trafficking Boonchai Bach
African-Asian Organized Crime

West African-Asian Organized Crime Nexus Exposed and Rattled

Freeland delivered their signature CTOC (Counter-Transnational Organized Crime) training course to African and Asian enforcement officers, including the use of i2. Utilizing new data and new link analysis skills, the officers tracked down and arrested 5 men (3 Nigerians, 1 Congolese, and 1 Chinese) who are part of a major cross-continental syndicate that has been sponsoring the killing of thousands of elephants and pangolins for years.
Asia Times article:
African gang linked to big hauls of wildlife seized in Asia