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 jurisdic-
tion 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. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Combating Wildlife 
Trafficking Financing and Proceeds Study Act’’. 
SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds the following: 
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(1) The 2017 report by the think tank, Global 
Financial Integrity, entitled ‘‘Transnational Crime 
and the Developing World’’, determined that the an-
nual global retail value of illegal wildlife trade is be-
tween $5 billion to $23 billion, and when losses to 
ecosystem services are considered, the World Bank 
estimates the cost of environmental crime is between 
$1 trillion and $2 trillion, annually. 
(2) Wildlife traffickers do not prefer particular 
species or commodities, but instead, according to the 
non-governmental organization, United for Wildlife, 
wildlife traffickers focus on the demand, availability, 
profit potential, and relatively low risk associated 
with acquiring, trading, and distributing wildlife 
globally. 
(3) The trafficking of wildlife affects human 
health because of undetected spread of zoonotic dis-
eases, scarcity in food resources, and the environ-
mental results of degraded ecosystems. 
(4) Also, the trafficking of illicit wildlife such as 
pangolins from Africa, macaws from Peru, turtles 
from the United States, and rosewood species smug-
gled globally threatens our national security at home 
and American interests abroad because rogue orga-
nizations, including transnational criminal organiza-
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tions, use the proceeds to fund illegal and violent 
acts throughout the world, fueling corruption and 
benefiting from corrupt government officials, weak-
ening the rule of law, and distorting commercial 
markets. 
(5) Many of these supply chains are affected by 
Chinese activity, from the criminal organizations in-
volved in the initial poaching of targeted commod-
ities to the demand for goods produced from endan-
gered plants and animals. 
(6) The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement 
Task Forces conducted an investigation known as 
‘‘Operation Apex’’ which identified extensive overlaps 
among drug trafficking organizations, professional 
money launderers, and wildlife trafficking syn-
dicates. 
(7) A study conducted by Federal entities that 
examined wildlife trafficking networks determined 
that— 
(A) more than two-thirds of persons traf-
ficking wildlife also trafficked narcotics; 
(B) 10 percent of persons trafficking wild-
life were doing so to finance terrorism; and 
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(C) a small percentage of persons traf-
ficking wildlife were doing so to finance the pro-
liferation of nuclear materials. 
(8) Because wildlife trafficking is executed as 
part of a commodity-agnostic global enterprise, the 
United States and allies of the United States should 
focus efforts to reduce wildlife trafficking on cur-
tailing the expansive networks that traffic wildlife 
and other goods and on bringing enforcement ac-
tions against persons who launder the proceeds of 
those persons who traffic wildlife rather than pursue 
specific nations, groups, or commodities. 
(9) In the past decade, the illicit wildlife trade 
has moved online, mainly to social media platforms, 
creating jurisdictional and technical challenges for 
law enforcement. 
SEC. 3. STUDY. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of the Treasury 
and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the U.S. 
Fish and Wildlife Service, shall jointly, not later than 2 
years after the date of the enactment of this Act, conduct 
a study with respect to wildlife trafficking financing and 
proceeds and submit a report on such study to— 
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(1) the Committees on Financial Services and 
Natural Resources of the House of Representatives; 
and 
(2) the Committees on Banking, Housing, and 
Urban Affairs and Energy and Natural Resources of 
the Senate. 
(b) CONSULTATION.—In conducting the study re-
quired under subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury 
and the Secretary of the Interior shall consult with such 
other Federal officials as the Secretaries determine appro-
priate, including the Secretary of State, the Director of 
National Intelligence, the Director of Homeland Security 
Investigations, the Attorney General, and the Secretary of 
Defense. 
(c) INPUT.—In conducting the study required under 
subsection (a), the Secretary of the Treasury and the Sec-
retary of the Interior shall solicit and incorporate, where 
possible and as determined appropriate by the Secretaries, 
input from— 
(1) domestic, foreign, and multilateral law en-
forcement organizations, 
(2) the intelligence community; 
(3) wildlife advocates; 
(4) experts in transnational organized crime, 
cyber-crime, and illicit finance; and 
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(5) nongovernmental organizations, academia, 
foundations, and other public and private entities. 
(d) CONTENTS OF REPORT.—The report required 
under subsection (a) shall include— 
(1) an overview of the criminal and complicit 
actors, including individuals, organizations, corrupt 
networks, and nations, that participate in wildlife 
trafficking from source to market, both proactively 
and permissively. 
(2) an overview of the types of wildlife traf-
ficked, for what purposes, and from where; 
(3) an overview of the roles of professional 
money launderers, corporate and trust formation 
agents, kleptocrats, and other supply chain and fi-
nancial facilitators with respect to wildlife traf-
ficking; 
(4) a discussion, based on a consideration of 
relevant prior studies and investigations, of the con-
vergence of wildlife trafficking with other types of 
trafficking, including trafficking in persons, timber 
trafficking, and narcotics trafficking, including 
shared supply chains and financial facilitators; 
(5) an overview of the national security implica-
tions associated with wildlife trafficking and the fi-
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nancing and proceeds of wildlife trafficking, includ-
ing— 
(A) potential threats to security, including 
corruption and State instability resulting from 
wildlife trafficking; and 
(B) potential threats to public health, in-
cluding global pandemic and ecosystem collapse; 
(6) an examination of how anti-corruption ac-
tivities might be leveraged with respect to mitigating 
the ways in which corrupt officials and politically ex-
posed persons enable and engage in wildlife traf-
ficking financing and proceeds; 
(7) an examination of payments methods used 
to facilitate the trafficking of wildlife, including its 
financing and proceeds; 
(8) an examination of how online platforms are 
used to facilitate trafficking and trafficking-related 
payments that— 
(A) describes the extent to which illicit 
wildlife trade occurs online, including through 
social media platforms, ecommerce sites, and 
encrypted messaging and other surface web 
platforms; 
(B) identifies payments- and proceeds-re-
lated reasons that different online platforms 
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may be chosen by persons trafficking in wildlife; 
and 
(C) identifies online platforms that are 
used most for transactions and payments in-
volving trafficking in wildlife; 
(9) an examination of private-sector best prac-
tices for combating wildlife trafficking financing and 
proceeds (including those found in the financial serv-
ices industry), as well as any practices that have not 
had success combating wildlife trafficking financing 
and proceeds; 
(10) a discussion of ways in which existing 
laws, multilateral agreements, and forums could be 
expanded or modified to combat wildlife trafficking 
financing and disrupt its proceeds; 
(11) an identification of tools of international 
and national engagement, including partnerships 
with private sector and international financial insti-
tutions, that could be coordinated to combat wildlife 
trafficking financing and disrupt its proceeds; 
(12) recommendations about ways in which 
interdisciplinary collaboration across Federal agen-
cies could be incentivized to maximize information 
and analysis from investigations into other types of 
trafficking and which may benefit from the informa-
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