A new report from Shared Hope International has found that in a single month more than 400 children were working as prostitutes in Las Vegas.

Source:  Associated Press, “Report labels Las Vegas a hub of child sexual trafficking,” Seattle Times, March 25, 2008.

The AP reports that the adoption industry in Guatemala is worth $100 Million.

Source:  Associated Press, “Adoptions of Guatemalan babies in limbo,” MSNBC, March 10, 2008.

The price to purchase a juvenile orangutan was reported to be $45,000 on the global black market.

Source:  Diana Wright, “Domestic black market for endangered wildlife thrives in Indonesia,” Mongabay.com, September 18, 2005.

The illegal trade in caviar is estimated to be worth $495 Million (250 Million pounds) per year.

Source:  “Crackdown on the caviar smugglers,” Independent, March 23, 2008.

The Bolivian Government losses an estimated $55 Million a year to gas smuggling.

Source:  Andres Schipani, “Smuggling drains Bolivia of oil riches,” BBC News, March 21, 2008.

The price of to purchase a Komodo Dragon on the black market is reported to be $30,000.

Source:  Jerry Bowen, “Contraband Creatures,” CBS News, January 24, 2002.

In 2008 at least one-third of fuel from Iraq’s largest refinery is being diverted to the black market.  The proceeds from the sale were being used to support in insurgency against American troops.

Source:  Richard A. Oppel, Jr., “Iraq’s Insurgency Runs on Stolen Oil Profits,” New York Times, March 16, 2008.

According to the United Nations, the total potential production of the opium market in Burma / Myanmar is valued at $120 million.

Source: United Nations, “Fact Sheet-South East Asia Opium Surveys 2007,” October 10, 2007,

Germany loses up to $45 Billion from tax evasion activities.

Source:  Stephanie Castle, “EU begins crackdown against ‘tax paradises’,” New York Times, March 4, 2008.

Over a span of three years (2005 to 2008), United States authorities seized over $76 Million in counterfeit Cisco computer equipment parts in China.

Source:  AFP, “US, Canada seize counterfeit Cisco hardware made in China,” Google News, February 28, 2008.