Attorney General Jeff Sessions Delivers Remarks at Forum on Combating Wildlife Poaching and Trafficking

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Good morning, I would like to welcome you all to the Department of Justice and to this important forum about combating the scourge of wildlife trafficking.

Before we start, I want to update you on the ongoing investigation into the suspicious packages. FBI, ATF, Secret Service, and our state and local partners are working tirelessly to follow every lead. I can assure you that we are dedicating every available resource to this effort. I am receiving frequent updates from Director Wray and his team. And I can tell you this: we will find the person or persons responsible. We will bring them to justice.

Two weeks ago, I had the privilege of representing the United States at the London Conference on Illegal Wildlife Trade. I was proud to lead a strong federal delegation as the United States joined with 80 other nations to re-affirm our commitment to this fight.

As I stated at the London Conference, the United States views the poaching and trafficking of protected wildlife as a threat to good governance, a threat to the rule of law, and a challenge to our stewardship responsibilities for this good earth. Ending this criminality, with its devastating consequences, is a worldwide conservation imperative.

Shortly after he took office, President Trump issued an executive order that identified wildlife trafficking as an important category of transnational organized crime.  We at DOJ embrace that charge.

Poachers, wildlife smugglers, and black market merchants operate all over the world.  Their criminal networks cross borders, transport their illegal goods worldwide, and sell them to the highest bidder.  The United States government, wherever possible, will take action with our partners worldwide to disrupt and dismantle these criminal networks.

This illegal trade generates as much as $23 billion annually worldwide. Just one kilogram of rhino horn can sell for as much as $70,000 in some markets.

These criminals must and can be stopped.

Future generations must not say that the actions of the nations of the world were too little and too late, while great species disappeared forever.

We simply cannot abide such a commerce, derived from the illegal slaughter of protected wildlife, to enrich criminals and criminality around the world.

Over the course of the last four decades, African elephant populations are believed to have declined from 1.3 million to less than 400,000 today.

African rhino populations have declined even more dramatically.

And over the course of the last century, Asian tiger populations have declined more than 90%.

The United States, under the strong leadership of President Trump, is committed to the fight to stop wildlife trafficking now – before it is too late. 

While much progress has occurred, we acknowledge that many substantial challenges remain.

First, we need to close the markets to these products. The U.S. is leading the world in cutting off trade in ivory and other restricted wildlife items.

We hope that more nations will follow. Profitable and, too often, illegal markets for these products provide an incentive for poaching.

Second, we need to cut off the flow of financing to the traffickers and poachers and their criminal benefactors. Depriving these multi-product criminal organizations of funds – whether from the drug trade, human trafficking, or wildlife crimes – is crucial.

Pat Hovakimian – the Department’s Director of Counter Transnational Organized Crime – joins us here today. He works along with other experts every day to block the flow of illicit funds from wildlife crimes.

Third, we must do more to cut off the traffickers’ transportation routes—on air, land, and sea—and block their use of the darknet to facilitate illegal trafficking of all types.

Fourth, we need to take a closer look at extradition laws and agreements. It should be exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for poachers and smugglers in one country to escape prosecution by fleeing to other nations. It cannot be that criminals can continue their illegal activities and escape punishment by going to a country that won’t extradite them.

Fifth, we need to consider enhancing criminal penalties for those who engage in this illegality. Serious wildlife crimes merit significant sentences.

Regrettably, in many countries, arrests for these crimes are too rarely made and sentences, if imposed at all, are often not carried out. 

Sixth, we need to find new and better ways to tackle wildlife challenges in the nations the U.S. State Department has identified as “countries of concern” and “focus countries.” This includes nations like Laos, where the Justice Department, with funding assistance from the State Department, recently deployed Mark Romley to be our very first Regional Resident Legal Advisor to focus exclusively on counter-wildlife trafficking issues.

Mark is a prosecutor in ENRD who for the last three months has been on the front lines of our enforcement efforts in Laos.

Seventh, we need the resources to get the job done. In London, we announced that the Trump Administration will fund more than $90 million in counter-wildlife trafficking programs in the coming year. This is a substantial commitment, and just part of the long-term U.S. effort to tackle this conservation imperative.

Today, we bring together experienced prosecutors, investigators, and government leaders who tackle wildlife crime or who have experience with other transnational organized crime groups. In addition, we have those from intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations, academia, and the private sector who are at the forefront of efforts to protect treasured animals from poachers and criminal networks. This is a very valuable assembly.

What do we hope to accomplish today?

In our first discussion, we will hear from those who have been on the ground, going toe-to-toe against the criminals profiting from this carnage.

We will hear from leaders across the federal government, including:

    Wayne Hettenbach, an experienced prosecutor who supervises ENRD’s wildlife crimes cases;

    Dave Hubbard, the Special Agent in Charge of International Operations in the Office of Law Enforcement at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service;

    Deputy Assistant Attorney General Bruce Swartz, who serves as the Department’s Counselor for International Affairs;

    And many others.

We’ll ask them, what are you seeing? What is working? What is not?

It is time to take a hard look at where we are and what we have learned from our efforts and ask the tough questions:

    What challenges is law enforcement facing on the ground in these countries where poaching and trafficking has become a crisis?

    How do we close off the transportation routes that smugglers use to move these illicit products?

    How do we cut off the flow of funds to these criminals?

Following our first discussion, we will take a short break to look at the problem from a different angle.

My good friend, film director and producer Ron Maxwell, will speak about the power of film to shed light on wildlife trafficking’s devastating effects. I am grateful to Ron for introducing us to film producer Kate Brooks, and to Kate for agreeing to share with us a brief excerpt from The Last Animals, her award-winning documentary on poaching.

After viewing a segment of the film, Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General Jesse Panuccio will kick off the second round of discussion, which will focus on identifying solutions, strategies, and priorities for enhancing wildlife trafficking enforcement.

At the conclusion of the forum, we will have an opportunity for open comment from our distinguished attendees here today.

So, again, thank you all for joining this important forum.

Now, let me turn now to Acting Assistant Attorney General Wood to begin the dialogue.

Attorney General Sessions Delivers a Statement on Behalf of the United States at the London Illegal Wildlife Trade Conference 2018

Remarks as prepared for delivery

Thank you, Foreign Secretary, Your Royal Highnesses, Excellencies‎, ladies and gentlemen.

On behalf of President Donald Trump, I would like to express our nation’s sincerest appreciation to Her Majesty’s Government for hosting this important conference, and for the leadership of the Royal family.

The United States views the poaching and trafficking of protected wildlife as a threat to good governance, a threat to the rule of law, and a challenge to our stewardship responsibilities for this good earth.

It is the rule of law that forms the foundation for liberty, safety, and prosperity.

Poachers, wildlife smugglers, and black market merchants are operating all over the world. Their criminal acts harm communities, degrade our institutions, destabilize our environment, and funnel billions of dollars to those who perpetrate evil in our world.

These criminals must and can be stopped. Future generations must not say that the nations of the world sat back or responded with action that was too little or too late, while great species disappeared forever.

President Trump fully supports strong prosecution of those involved in the illegal wildlife trade, as do I.

Criminal networks engaged in this illegal trade cross borders, transport their illegal goods worldwide too freely, and sell them to the highest bidder.  The only time criminals care about borders is when they hide behind them. It is our job to stop them.

At the Justice Department, we are fighting transnational organized crime, including wildlife trafficking, the value of which is estimated to exceed $20 billion annually. In some markets, just one kilogram of rhinoceros horn can sell for as much as $70,000.

We are continuing to fight hard to ensure that illicit wildlife products are not sold in America, and we strongly support the actions of other nations to close their marketplaces too.  We cannot allow the illegal extermination of entire populations of species. To the contrary, we must use our God-given resources and legal institutions to advance and defend the survival, not the annihilation, of God’s majestic creatures.

So, we are determined to make sure our country is neither a market nor a safe haven for these criminals.

This includes joining together to make it exceedingly difficult, if not impossible, for poachers and smugglers in one country to be immune from prosecution by fleeing to other nations. It cannot be that a person who commits a serious wildlife crime in one country can simply run to other countries and be safe from law enforcement.

In the United States, we are proud of our longstanding commitment to defend wildlife.  The U.S. government made its first major commitment to the preservation of wildlife almost 120 years ago, with the passage of the Lacey Act, which prohibits the import, export, and sale of protected wildlife in the U.S. if the law of the foreign nation was violated.  Though we have made many advances since then, the Lacey Act remains among our nation’s most powerful weapons in the fight against the illegal wildlife trade.

Over 100 years ago, President Theodore Roosevelt decried the “reckless extermination of all useful and beautiful wild things” and urged us to see “our duty … to restrain an unprincipled present-day minority from wasting the heritage of [] unborn generations.”  To him, “the movement for the conservation of wildlife … [was] essentially democratic in spirit, purpose, and method.”

Our law enforcement team is determined to honor this heritage.  Just two months ago, a New York man pleaded guilty to exporting to Thailand dozens of packages containing skulls, claws, and parts from African lions, tigers, and other protected species.

The value of his shipments exceeded $150,000.  He is now headed to prison.

Also this year, a California resident was sentenced to prison after he was caught selling black rhino horns to an undercover agent posing as a taxidermist.

Early in my own career as a federal prosecutor, I prosecuted poachers.

There is no doubt that President Trump takes this issue seriously.  Within the first month of his presidency, he issued an Executive Order specifically recognizing wildlife trafficking as a dangerous form of transnational organized crime, together with drug and gun trafficking.

He directed the U.S. to use all the tools at our disposal to disrupt and dismantle these despicable organizations.

The U.S. Government is committed to the fight to end wildlife trafficking – an effort that currently involves 17 departments and agencies that make up the President’s Task Force on Combating Wildlife Trafficking.  I am proud to say that all three co-chairs of the President’s task force – the Interior Department, the Justice Department, and the State Department – are represented here at this conference.

Since our nations gathered in London in 2014, the United States has dedicated more than $370 million specifically to combating wildlife trafficking.

In 2016, the U.S. Congress passed the END Wildlife Trafficking Act to further strengthen coordination among federal agencies.

Today, U.S. agencies have devoted resources to address every dimension of this problem, from strengthening enforcement by training rangers, investigators, and prosecutors; to improving practices and capabilities at ports; to efforts to reduce demand for wildlife products; and to supporting other conservation efforts. 

The U.S. led the world in imposing a near-total nationwide ivory ban, and we have been pleased to see other nations imposing their own bans.  We hope that more will follow.

Many countries have declared wildlife trafficking a “serious crime” and have instituted stronger penalties.  We encourage more countries to do so.

But we still have a very long way to go.

The United States will fund more than $90 million in counter-wildlife trafficking programs and projects in the coming year.

We will continue our efforts to disrupt these criminal networks, and we look forward to partnering with others.

We will redouble our efforts to root out the corruption that protects wildlife trafficking.

We will work to cut off the flow of the illicit proceeds of wildlife trafficking, including through the work of multilateral organizations such as the Financial Action Task Force Global Network.

For their part, U.S. intelligence agencies are enhancing capabilities to gather, share, and leverage intelligence about wildlife traffickers.

The Department of the Interior, led by Secretary Ryan Zinke, will continue strategically placing Senior Fish and Wildlife Service Special Agent Law Enforcement Attachés at American Embassies, increasing the current number from 7 to as many as 12. 

These highly trained and experienced criminal investigators will be on the front line, working with our foreign partners to fight wildlife trafficking in source, transit, and destination regions of the world.

We are tackling this problem head-on in our trade agreements.  Just last week, the United States, Mexico and Canada announced a new trade agreement to replace NAFTA—the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement.  That agreement includes the strongest provisions to combat wildlife trafficking of any trade agreement in history. 

In addition, with funding from the State Department, the Department of Justice’s overseas training and capacity building offices will continue to make wildlife trafficking a priority.

For example, we recently placed an expert Justice Department prosecutor as a Resident Legal Advisor in Laos to enhance the capacity of Southeast Asian countries to combat illegal wildlife trafficking. 

Later this month, I am personally convening at the Department of Justice an expert forum to focus on countering the illegal wildlife trade. 

We will continue to engage the private sector, especially the technology sector, to reduce online/cyber sales of illicit wildlife.

And with the transportation sector to stop the illegal shipment of illicit wildlife.

We will seek to change consumer behavior at home and abroad about illegal wildlife products, to seize proceeds of illegal wildlife trafficking. And to use our diplomatic outreach to foster greater international cooperation in this arena.

Again, on behalf of the United States, I extend appreciation to Her Majesty’s Government and the Prime Minister, Theresa May, and the Royal Family. This international gathering is a fabulous opportunity to learn what the nations of the world are doing to solve this vexing problem, to learn from each other, and to re-affirm our commitment to battle the illegal wildlife trade vigorously. Our nation sees ending the poaching and trafficking of protected wildlife as a worldwide conservation imperative.

The United States, under the strong leadership of President Trump, is proud to join in this noble and worthy cause.

Thank you.

Long Island Companies and Owners Charged With Falsely Labeling Squid as Octopus

A federal grand jury indicted two Long Island corporations and their owners for their scheme to falsely label seafood that was later sold across the country. The indictment accuses Roy Tuccillo Sr., 58, and his son, Roy Tuccillo Jr., 31, both of Jericho, and two of their Westbury food processing and distribution companies, Anchor Frozen Foods Inc., and Advanced Frozen Foods Inc., of importing giant squid from Peru and marketing and selling it to grocery stores as octopus. The four defendants are charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and violate the Lacey Act, as well as four substantive Lacey Act violations.

Acting Assistant Attorney General Jeffrey H. Wood for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division and Director James Landon of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) Office of Law Enforcement (OLE) announced the indictment today.

“NOAA’s Office of Law Enforcement is dedicated to enforcing federal marine resource laws, including the Lacey Act and its provisions on mislabeling,” said James Landon, OLE’s Director. “This investigation is a great example of how we collaboratively work with other federal partners, such as the Food and Drug Administration, to combat seafood fraud.”

Octopus and squid are distinct species of fish with great variance in their taxonomy, habitat, and physical characteristics. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits that food companies selling squid market it by its name or as calamari, while octopus is the only acceptable name when selling octopus. In general, octopus has a greater retail price than squid. The indictment alleges that for over three years the defendants fraudulently imported, processed, marketed, sold, and distributed over 113,000 pounds of octopus that was actually squid.

The Lacey Act prohibits submitting false descriptions of fish that were transported and sold in interstate commerce. The defendants are charged with four counts of defrauding grocery stores in New Jersey and Massachusetts.

This case was investigated by the Department of Commerce’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Office of Law Enforcement with assistance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Ryan Connors and Senior Trial Attorney David Kehoe of the Justice Department’s Environmental Crimes Section.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.