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The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence conducted six operations across India over ten days against illegal wildlife trafficking, arresting thirteen persons.
Seizures: two leopard pelts, 180 live Indian Star Tortoises, 12 live Tokay Geckos, around 24 kg of pangolin scales and 500 grams of tiger bones.
Operations spanned Koraput (Odisha), Bengaluru (Karnataka), Ri-Bhoi (Meghalaya), Sidhi (Madhya Pradesh) and Keokhali and Karbi Anglong (Assam).
Every species involved is listed in Schedule I of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972; pangolins are additionally in CITES Appendix I and the Tokay Gecko in Appendix II.
Seized wildlife and accused persons were handed to State Forest Departments; the Wildlife Crime Control Bureau identified the tortoise species.
Apex anti-smuggling agency of Indian Customs. Enforces the Customs Act, 1962 and over fifty allied Acts including the Wild Life (Protection) Act, the NDPS Act, the Arms Act, COFEPOSA and the Antiquities Act. Came into existence on 4 December 1957, tracing back to the Central Revenue Intelligence Board formed in 1953.
Statutory multi-disciplinary body that gathers wildlife crime intelligence and coordinates enforcement across agencies; here it identified the seized tortoises as Geochelone elegans. Created by Section 38Z of the Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972, inserted by the 2006 amendment, and operational from 6 June 2007. It ran Operation Save Kurma (December 2016 - January 2017), which seized 15,912 live turtles and tortoises and led to 55 arrests, earning a CITES Secretary-General's Certificate of Commendation.
Prosecution of wildlife offences rests with the States. In each operation DRI handed the seized articles, vehicles and accused to the Forest Department or Range Forest Officer concerned - Koraput, Nongpoh (Meghalaya), Sidhi, Biswanath Wildlife Division and Bokolia (Assam) - for action under the Act.
The core statute. Trade, sale, purchase, possession or transport of Schedule I animals or their parts is prohibited. The 2022 amendment rationalised the Act's original six schedules into four: Schedule I - species with the highest protection; Schedule II - a lesser degree of protection; Schedule III - protected plants; Schedule IV - specimens listed in the CITES appendices, whose international trade is regulated.
Signed at Washington on 3 March 1973, in force from 1 July 1975; Secretariat at Geneva, administered by UNEP; 185 Parties. India became a Party in 1976. Appendix I bars commercial international trade in species threatened with extinction; Appendix II regulates trade in species that could become threatened without controls; Appendix III covers species a Party protects domestically and seeks other Parties' cooperation on. The 2022 amendment's Schedule IV is how these obligations enter Indian law.
The Act from which DRI draws its interception, search and seizure powers; cross-border wildlife trafficking is pursued as smuggling alongside the wildlife offence itself.
| Species | IUCN Red List | CITES | Wild Life (Protection) Act, 1972 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Indian leopard (Panthera pardus fusca) | Vulnerable | Appendix I | Schedule I |
| Indian pangolin (Manis crassicaudata) | Endangered | Appendix I | Schedule I |
| Indian Star Tortoise (Geochelone elegans) | Vulnerable (since 2016) | Appendix I - uplifted at CoP18, 2019 | Schedule I |
| Tokay Gecko (Gekko gecko) | Least Concern | Appendix II - listed at CoP18, 2019 | Schedule I |
Different markets pull different species. Pangolin scales and Tokay Geckos, usually dried, feed traditional medicine markets in parts of Asia. The Indian Star Tortoise's star-patterned shell drives the exotic pet and collector trade. Leopard pelts and tiger bones supply the skin and derivative trade. Pangolins are among the most heavily trafficked mammals in the world.
Simple Analogy: Four different shop counters, one supply chain feeding all of them.
Four of the six operations were in Meghalaya and Assam - the overland route towards Southeast Asian markets, which is why pangolin scales and geckos surface there rather than at port cities.
DRI intercepts and seizes; State Forest Departments prosecute under the Act. Forests and the protection of wild animals and birds sit in the Concurrent List, which is why both a central agency and a State department appear in every one of these cases.
The same conference that uplifted the Indian Star Tortoise to Appendix I listed the Tokay Gecko in Appendix II, on a proposal supported by India, the European Union and the Philippines.
The amendment's central purpose was CITES alignment - adding Schedule IV for CITES-listed specimens and cutting six schedules to four.
GS Paper 3 > Environment > Conservation, Biodiversity and Wildlife Protection
General Awareness > Environment and Organisations
General Awareness > Environment
With reference to the Government of India, consider the following information: I. Directorate of Enforcement : Enforcement of the Fugitive Economic Offenders Act, 2018 : Internal Security Division-I, Ministry of Home Affairs II. Directorate of Revenue Intelligence : Enforces the Provisions of the Customs Act, 1962 : Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance III. Directorate General of Systems and Data Management : Carrying out big data analytics... : Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance In how many of the above rows is the information correctly matched?
Answer: Only two
The list of species given the highest degree of protection; trade, possession and transport of the animal or its parts is prohibited.
Appendix I bars commercial international trade in species threatened with extinction; Appendix II permits regulated, permit-based trade in species that could become threatened without controls.
The skin of an animal with the fur still attached - the form in which leopard and tiger parts most commonly enter the illegal trade.
A WCCB operation of December 2016 - January 2017 against turtle and tortoise trafficking; 'kurma' is Sanskrit for turtle.