Operation Thunder: nearly 20,000 live animals rescued from international trafficking

Thunder 2024 has become the largest joint operation against wildlife and forest resource trafficking carried out to date. Coordinated by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, it has mobilized police forces, customs and environmental agents from 138 countries and regions, with a common goal: to hit networks that trade in wildlife as if it were any merchandise.

The results are overwhelming: nearly 20,000 live animals, all of threatened or protected species, have been seized in just a few weeks. Among them are more than 12,000 birds, nearly 6,000 turtles, more than 1,700 additional reptiles, 33 primates, 18 big cats and a dozen pangolins, as well as eggs, young and a long list of derived products such as skins, meat and scales.

The seizures reveal to what extent these networks use routes, methods and structures similar to drug or arms trafficking. During the operation, songbirds crammed into vehicles, turtles hidden in passenger suitcases, big cat cubs transported as luxury contraband and shipments of wood extracted from tropical forests without any authorization were located.

Parallel to the recovery of animals, Thunder 2024 has allowed the identification of at least a dozen structured criminal groups at regional and transcontinental scale. Authorities emphasize that wildlife trafficking is not an isolated problem, but a source of funding for organizations that are also linked to other serious crimes, from corruption to money laundering.

For citizens, the message is clear: every time an exotic animal is purchased without guarantees, a souvenir made with parts of wild fauna is bought, or content that trivializes illegal contact with protected species is shared on networks, this market is fed. At AtlasFauna we will continue analyzing the real impact of operations like Thunder and offering keys to differentiate legal and responsible trade from the criminal exploitation of biodiversity.