4,000 victims of human trafficking in Britain in 2003
Source: Peter Graff, “To fight prostitution, some say target clients,” Reuters, April 22, 2008.
Only 12 tonnes of illegal cavier seizures in 5 years
The Independent reported that ” EU countries imported 591 tonnes of caviar in 2006, but seizures of illegal caviar between 2000 and 2005 totaled just 12 tonnes.”
Source: Martin Hickman, ” British restaurants using black market caviar,” The Independent, July 26, 2007.
Chinese were paying $41,800 to be smuggled into United Kingdom
Chinese Nationals were paying $41,800 to be smuggled from China into the United Kingdom before being arrested by authorities.
Source: AFP,”Police Smash Turkish people-smuggling ring,,” Google News, January 31, 2008.
1 billion GB Pounds in total market profit
Sellers gain a profit of 2 GB Pounds per pack, leading to a rough estimate of 1 Billion GB Pounds in total market profit.
Source: The Organised Crime Task Force, “Counterfeit Cigarettes 2004″ ,Confronting the Threat: Illicit Cigarettes, (accessed: October 18, 2005).
85 percent of cheap cigarettes sold in UK are counterfeit
Source: The Organised Crime Task Force, “Counterfeit Cigarettes 2004″ ,Confronting the Threat: Illicit Cigarettes, (accessed: October 18, 2005).
1 million counterfeit cigarettes seized in UK each day
Source: The Organised Crime Task Force, “Counterfeit Cigarettes 2004″ ,Confronting the Threat: Illicit Cigarettes, (accessed: October 18, 2005).
United Kingdom loses $5.5 billion in taxes from smuggling
In the United Kingdom, Custom officials estimates that £2.9 billion ($5.5 Billion) are lost in unpaid cigarette taxes due to smuggling.
Source: Michael Settle, ” Cigarette smuggling costs £3bn a year,” The Herald(UK), June 22, 2006.
Type of products seized in the UK during a 12 month period
Over a million plants, live and dead animals, animal parts, and medicines produced from endangered species were seized in the United Kingdom during a 12-month period.
Source: Louise Gray, “War declared on wildlife thieves,” The Scotsman, October 19, 2006.
50 percent of wildlife crime offenders have previous convictions
In the United Kingdom, the Guardian Newspaper has reported that 50 percent of those prosecuted for wildlife crimes have previous convictions for serious offenses such as drugs and guns.
Source: Andrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark, “Poaching for Bin Laden,” Guardian, May 5, 2007, http://www.guardian.co.uk/alqaida/story/0,,2073168,00.html (accessed: May 7, 2007).
In 2006, 163,000 illegal wildlife items were seized by UK customs
Source: BBC News, “Warning over wildlife souvenirs,” BBC News, August 16, 2007, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/6948921.stm (accessed: August 16, 2007).
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