In Trafficking
of Wildlife, Out of Reach of the Law
HONG TONG,
Laos — On an obscure and bumpy dirt road not far from the banks of the Mekong
River, the compound of Vixay Keosavang stands out for its iron gates and
cinder-block walls topped with barbed wire, a contrast to the rickety wooden
stilt houses nearby in the shade of rubber trees.
Articles and
multimedia in this series examine how the surge in poaching in Africa both
feeds off and fuels instability on the continent, and plays out in other places
like Asia .
A security
guard who opened the gate recently said tigers, bears, lizards and many
endangered anteaters called pangolins were inside. He called his boss and
handed the cellphone to a reporter seeking permission to enter the compound.
Mr. Vixay
(pronounced wee-sai), who spoke politely in a mixture of Thai and Laotian,
denied that there were any animals inside or that he was in the wildlife
business.
“There’s
nothing there,” Mr. Vixay said of the compound, which is a five-mile drive to
the nearest paved road. “Who told you about it?”
Mr. Vixay is
notorious among investigators and government officials in several countries
fighting to cut off syndicates operating a thriving trade in endangered animals
that spans continents and has led to the slaughter of elephants in Africa, the
illegal killings of rhinoceroses and the decimation of other species living in Asia ’s jungles.
Mr. Vixay,
says one investigator, is the “Pablo Escobar of wildlife trafficking.”
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