I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6477 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary of the Interior 

to carry out a study with respect to wildlife trafficking financing and 

proceeds, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 25, 2022 

Ms. DEAN introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Financial 

Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 

each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Treasury and the Secretary 

of the Interior to carry out a study with respect to 

wildlife trafficking financing and proceeds, and for other 

purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Wildlife 

5 Trafficking Financing and Proceeds Study Act’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds the following: 


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1 (1) The 2017 report by the think tank, Global 

2 Financial Integrity, entitled ‘‘Transnational Crime 

3 and the Developing World’’, determined that the an4 nual global retail value of illegal wildlife trade is be5 tween $5 billion to $23 billion, and when losses to 

6 ecosystem services are considered, the World Bank 

7 estimates the cost of environmental crime is between 

8 $1 trillion and $2 trillion, annually. 

9 (2) Wildlife traffickers do not prefer particular 

10 species or commodities, but instead, according to the 

11 non-governmental organization, United for Wildlife, 

12 wildlife traffickers focus on the demand, availability, 

13 profit potential, and relatively low risk associated 

14 with acquiring, trading, and distributing wildlife 

15 globally. 

16 (3) The trafficking of wildlife affects human 

17 health because of undetected spread of zoonotic dis18 eases, scarcity in food resources, and the environ19 mental results of degraded ecosystems. 

20 (4) Also, the trafficking of illicit wildlife such as 

21 pangolins from Africa, macaws from Peru, turtles 

22 from the United States, and rosewood species smug23 gled globally threatens our national security at home 

24 and American interests abroad because rogue orga25 nizations, including transnational criminal organizaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Jan 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6477.IH H6477

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1 tions, use the proceeds to fund illegal and violent 

2 acts throughout the world, fueling corruption and 

3 benefiting from corrupt government officials, weak4 ening the rule of law, and distorting commercial 

5 markets. 

6 (5) Many of these supply chains are affected by 

7 Chinese activity, from the criminal organizations in8 volved in the initial poaching of targeted commod9 ities to the demand for goods produced from endan10 gered plants and animals. 

11 (6) The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement 

12 Task Forces conducted an investigation known as 

13 ‘‘Operation Apex’’ which identified extensive overlaps 

14 among drug trafficking organizations, professional 

15 money launderers, and wildlife trafficking syn16 dicates. 

17 (7) A study conducted by Federal entities that 

18 examined wildlife trafficking networks determined 

19 that— 

20 (A) more than two-thirds of persons traf21 ficking wildlife also trafficked narcotics; 

22 (B) 10 percent of persons trafficking wild23 life were doing so to finance terrorism; and 


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1 (C) a small percentage of persons traf2 ficking wildlife were doing so to finance the pro3 liferation of nuclear materials. 

4 (8) Because wildlife trafficking is executed as 

5 part of a commodity-agnostic global enterprise, the 

6 United States and allies of the United States should 

7 focus efforts to reduce wildlife trafficking on cur8 tailing the expansive networks that traffic wildlife 

9 and other goods and on bringing enforcement ac10 tions against persons who launder the proceeds of 

11 those persons who traffic wildlife rather than pursue 

12 specific nations, groups, or commodities. 

13 (9) In the past decade, the illicit wildlife trade 

14 has moved online, mainly to social media platforms, 

15 creating jurisdictional and technical challenges for 

16 law enforcement. 

17 SEC. 3. STUDY. 

18 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 

19 and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the U.S. 

20 Fish and Wildlife Service, shall jointly, not later than 2 

21 years after the date of the enactment of this Act, conduct 

22 a study with respect to wildlife trafficking financing and 

23 proceeds and submit a report on such study to— 


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1 (1) the Committees on Financial Services and 

2 Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; 

3 and 

4 (2) the Committees on Banking, Housing, and 

5 Urban Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources of 

6 the Senate. 

7 (b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study re8 quired under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 

9 and the Secretary of the Interior shall consult with such 

10 other Federal officials as the Secretaries determine appro11 priate, including the Secretary of State, the Director of 

12 National Intelligence, the Director of Homeland Security 

13 Investigations, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of 

14 Defense. 

15 (c) INPUT.—In conducting the study required under 

16 subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury and the Sec17 retary of the Interior shall solicit and incorporate, where 

18 possible and as determined appropriate by the Secretaries, 

19 input from— 

20 (1) domestic, foreign, and multilateral law en21 forcement organizations, 

22 (2) the intelligence community; 

23 (3) wildlife advocates; 

24 (4) experts in transnational organized crime, 

25 cyber-crime, and illicit finance; and 


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1 (5) nongovernmental organizations, academia, 

2 foundations, and other public and private entities. 

3 (d) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required 

4 under subsection (a) shall include— 

5 (1) an overview of the criminal and complicit 

6 actors, including individuals, organizations, corrupt 

7 networks, and nations, that participate in wildlife 

8 trafficking from source to market, both proactively 

9 and permissively. 

10 (2) an overview of the types of wildlife traf11 ficked, for what purposes, and from where; 

12 (3) an overview of the roles of professional 

13 money launderers, corporate and trust formation 

14 agents, kleptocrats, and other supply chain and fi15 nancial facilitators with respect to wildlife traf16 ficking; 

17 (4) a discussion, based on a consideration of 

18 relevant prior studies and investigations, of the con19 vergence of wildlife trafficking with other types of 

20 trafficking, including trafficking in persons, timber 

21 trafficking, and narcotics trafficking, including 

22 shared supply chains and financial facilitators; 

23 (5) an overview of the national security implica24 tions associated with wildlife trafficking and the fiVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Jan 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6477.IH H6477

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1 nancing and proceeds of wildlife trafficking, includ2 ing— 

3 (A) potential threats to security, including 

4 corruption and State instability resulting from 

5 wildlife trafficking; and 

6 (B) potential threats to public health, in7 cluding global pandemic and ecosystem collapse; 

8 (6) an examination of how anti-corruption ac9 tivities might be leveraged with respect to mitigating 

10 the ways in which corrupt officials and politically ex11 posed persons enable and engage in wildlife traf12 ficking financing and proceeds; 

13 (7) an examination of payments methods used 

14 to facilitate the trafficking of wildlife, including its 

15 financing and proceeds; 

16 (8) an examination of how online platforms are 

17 used to facilitate trafficking and trafficking-related 

18 payments that— 

19 (A) describes the extent to which illicit 

20 wildlife trade occurs online, including through 

21 social media platforms, ecommerce sites, and 

22 encrypted messaging and other surface web 

23 platforms; 

24 (B) identifies payments- and proceeds-re25 lated reasons that different online platforms 


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1 may be chosen by persons trafficking in wildlife; 

2 and 

3 (C) identifies online platforms that are 

4 used most for transactions and payments in5 volving trafficking in wildlife; 

6 (9) an examination of private-sector best prac7 tices for combating wildlife trafficking financing and 

8 proceeds (including those found in the financial serv9 ices industry), as well as any practices that have not 

10 had success combating wildlife trafficking financing 

11 and proceeds; 

12 (10) a discussion of ways in which existing 

13 laws, multilateral agreements, and forums could be 

14 expanded or modified to combat wildlife trafficking 

15 financing and disrupt its proceeds; 

16 (11) an identification of tools of international 

17 and national engagement, including partnerships 

18 with private sector and international financial insti19 tutions, that could be coordinated to combat wildlife 

20 trafficking financing and disrupt its proceeds; 

21 (12) recommendations about ways in which 

22 interdisciplinary collaboration across Federal agen23 cies could be incentivized to maximize information 

24 and analysis from investigations into other types of 

25 trafficking and which may benefit from the informaVerDate Sep 11 2014 01:09 Jan 26, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H6477.IH H6477

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1 tion and analysis gleaned from wildlife trafficking 

2 investigations; 

3 (13) an examination of how data collection, col4 laboration, analysis, and technology tools, including 

5 artificial intelligence and machine learning might be 

6 leveraged to combat wildlife trafficking and its pro7 ceeds; 

8 (14) a recommendation of whether Congress 

9 should renew the wildlife trafficking task force au10 thorized in the END Act and sunsetting in Decem11 ber 2021; and 

12 (15) an examination of how anti-corruption ac13 tivities and practices could be included in existing 

14 Federal and international wildlife trafficking preven15 tion and enforcement efforts. 

16 (e) CLASSIFICATION OF REPORT.—The report re17 quired under subsection (a) may be submitted in classified 

18 form but shall have an unclassified annex or executive 

19 summary. 

Æ 


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