World renowned expert on transnational crime and illicit trade Louise Shelley discusses the relationship of COVID-19 to illicit trade. Shelley is the founder and director of the Schar School of Policy and Government’s Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center (TraCCC) She was an inaugural Andrew Carnegie Fellow that funded her to write her latest book, Dark Commerce: How a New Illicit Economy Is Threatening our Future (Princeton University Press, 2018). It discusses how illicit trade threatens our future through ease of illicit trade through technology and environmental crime which is at the heart of this new pandemic.
What is the relationship between COVID-19, illicit trade, and transnational crime?
Louise Shelley: Illicit trade may have contributed significantly to the start of this epidemic. The virus seems to have started in the wet markets of Wuhan where illicitly traded pangolins are sold. Pangolins, according to Chinese scientists, may have been the vector of the disease between bats and humans. Pangolins are an endangered species whose scales are highly valued in Chinese traditional medicine. They are the most wildly trafficked mammals in the world and millions die annually as they are shipped from Africa to Asia. Therefore, combatting the illicit trade in wildlife is key to stemming future pandemics. Read more.