Commentary: Wildlife and weapons trafficking converge in Southeast Asia
CRIMINAL Consolidation
The integration of the two judicial economies is what makes this case special.
Criminal integration is the , overlapping occurrence , of two or more unlawful economy in ways that enable each another. This may take , many forms, such as when one group diversifies illegal sources of income, two groups barter one illegal good for another or several groups share sneaking infrastructure, methods and service providers.  ,
Convergence gives legal actors more power, contributing to the harm done by illegal economies, including the loss of biodiversity and armed violence. In Southeast Asia, hands trafficking appears to merge most frequently with , drug trafficking , and smuggling illicit goods such as exempt cigarettes, energy, alcohol or wheat.
When weapon converge with animals prostitution, it is usually to , help hunting, which is itself devastating. However, there are only a couple instances of illegal firearms and animals being directly traded in the area.
This may be due in part to the fact that different illicit goods, such as drugs and hidden goods like cigarettes, are much more fungible, easier to obtain, and offer lower profit margins.
In a volatile, competitive market environment, firearms are more likely to lean toward drugs and other forms of illegal as a form of coercion and protection. Most people who work in the wild do not likely experience comparable business pressure.
So, Indonesia and the Philippines ‘ combined efforts to reunite two of their key criminal markets, North Maluku, are unusual.
Bird prostitution was again a common practice in national areas, according to the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. Since the 1970s, there have been government crackdowns on the internet, e-commerce sites, mail services, and online payment systems.  ,
Over 1, 000 ads for threatened animal species were found in 600 personal Facebook groups according to a 2022 Global Initiative research.  ,