The global trans-border crime rate in terms of the smuggling of wildlife species has tripled over the years.

Permanent Secretary for Environment Joshua Wycliffe says all border agencies must work together to stop the black-market trading of endangered species.

Wycliffe adds some of the species and resources which have been taken out of Fiji have been returned by international partners because authorities here had not issued any certification for the items to be exported.

He also says there have been other smuggling cases where the Department of Environment was able to apprehend the culprits.

“The money that people can illegally make through being able to import and export wildlife species has tripled. With that, the crime rate has also tripled.”

Fiji’s Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species Management Authority is tasked with regulating and controlling the trade of wildlife species.