Officers drawn from National Wildlife Crime Coordination Task Force member institutions on 13 February 2023 completed DISRUPT training in Fort Portal, a hands-on course focused on detecting and disrupting wildlife trafficking in transit.
The training covered concealment methods used by traffickers — from false-bottomed cargo to produce consignments of the kind used to hide 15 kilograms of rhino horn in pineapples in 2022 — as well as risk profiling, search techniques, evidence handling and inter-agency case referral under the Task Force's Standard Operating Procedures.
Participants included wildlife rangers, police investigators, customs officers and immigration officials, reflecting the Task Force's model of training the whole enforcement chain together rather than agency by agency.
The training was delivered with the support of the Task Force's technical partners, WCS and UNODC, under funding from the European Union and the Government of Denmark. Further regional trainings are planned as part of the Task Force's capacity-building programme.
