Crime Spot - Your Podcast on Organized Crime

In today’s special episodes on crimes on our oceans, Esther and Felix discuss modern-day piracy in Western Africa with Dr. Dirk Siebels, maritime security expert.

** Follow us: Twitter: @CrimeSpot1 | Instagram: crime_spot

** Follow Dirk on twitter: @DirkSiebels and check out his work at www.dirksiebels.eu

** Read Dirk’s book: “Maritime Security in East and West Africa: A Tale of Two Regions”

** Case mentioned by Dirk: “The Enrica Lexie Incident” https://pca-cpa.org/en/cases/117/

** Music: The Thunder from Dave Mak and Ian Urbina | SSS Pursuit from Doctor Flake and Ian Urbina

** Check out the Outlaw Ocean Music Project at www.theoutlawoceanmusic.com **

*** In this episode, Esther and Felix explore the use of military approaches to implement conservation measures, so-called Green Militarization. Special guest of this episode, Dr. Anwesha Dutta, talks about her recent article and how Green Militarization overlaps with counter-insurgency efforts.

*** Follow us: Twitter: @CrimeSpot1 | Instagram: crime_spot

*** Follow Anwesha on twitter: @anweshadatta and check out her work at www.cmi.no/staff/anwesha-dutta

*** Read Anwesha's article: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0962629819300460

*** Not directly related, but you may also enjoy reading George Orwell's "Shooting an Elephant" https://www.orwell.ru/library/articles/elephant/english/e_eleph

*** This episode continues the series of episodes dedicated to organized crime on our oceans. Today, Esther and Felix look at cocaine smuggled via maritime routes and how it moves through Europe’s largest port, the port of Rotterdam. For that, they talk to Dr. Lieselot Bisschop, Associate Professor at the Erasmus School of Law (Erasmus University Rotterdam).

*** Follow us: Twitter: @CrimeSpot1 | Instagram: crime_spot

*** Follow Lieselot on twitter: @Lieselot_B and check out her work at www.eur.nl/en/people/lieselot-bisschop

*** Music used in this episode: “The Next Frontier” by Ancient Astronauts & Ian Urbina / “Riders of Lost Arks Pt. 1” by Alec Troniq & Ian Urbina

*** Check out the Outlaw Ocean Music Project at www.theoutlawoceanmusic.com/

*** Sources used in this episode include: “Getting a foot in the door. Spaces of cocaine trafficking in the Port of Rotterdam.” www.researchgate.net/publication/346132754_Getting_a_foot_in_the_door_Spaces_of_cocaine_trafficking_in_the_Port_of_Rotterdam | “Record Cocaine Haul at Belgium Port Uncovers Police Corruption” https://www.insightcrime.org/news/analysis/belgium-cocaine-seizure-corruption/ | “World Drug Report - 2020” https://wdr.unodc.org/wdr2020/index.html ***

*** Time stamps for this episode: Interview with Ian Urbina 05:30 - 52:45

*** This episode kicks off a series of episodes dedicated to organized crime on our oceans. Esther and Felix talk to Ian Urbina, investigative journalist, Pulitzer prize winner and former New York Times writer. Ian is the author of the book The Outlaw Ocean and has launched a reporting project under the same name, including the Outlaw Ocean Music Project.

“Traffickers and smugglers, pirates and mercenaries, wreck thieves and repo men, vigilante conservationists and elusive poachers, seabound abortion providers, clandestine oil-dumpers, shackled slaves and cast-adrift stowaways — drawing on five years of perilous and intrepid reporting, often hundreds of miles from shore, Ian Urbina introduces us to the inhabitants of this hidden world. Through their stories of astonishing courage and brutality, survival and tragedy, he uncovers a globe-spanning network of crime and exploitation that emanates from the fishing, oil and shipping industries, and on which the world’s economies rely.”

*** Check out Ian’s reporting project: https://www.theoutlawocean.com/

*** Support investigative journalism on our oceans: https://www.theoutlawocean.com/donate/

*** Music used in this episode: “Hope and Despair (Instrumental)” by Behind Clouds & Ian Urbina / “Try To Boil The Ocean” by Alec Troniq & Ian Urbina ***

To commemorate Global Tiger Day, Esther and Felix look into the illegal trade in tigers and shed light on issues previously unaddressed by a certain Netflix documentary.

Sources for this episode include:

** BIg Cat Public Safety Act: https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/house-bill/1380

** Global/International Tiger Day: https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/international-tiger-day-2020/

** Tiger King Netflix Series: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt11823076/

** Tiger King Court Case Files: https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/case-law-doc/wildlifecrimetype/usa/2019/united_states_of_america_v._maldonado-passage_no._cr-18-227-slp_w.d._okla._jan._22_2020.html?lng=en&tmpl=sherloc

** National Geographic Sources: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2019/11/tigers-in-the-united-states-outnumber-those-in-the-wild-feature/ - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/captive-tigers-joe-exotic-tiger-king/ - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/02/wildlife-watch-tiger-temple-monks-trafficking-zoo/ - https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/07/wildlife-watch-news-captive-tiger-farms-trafficking-investigation-vietnam-laos/

** World Wildlife Crime Report: https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/data-and-analysis/wildlife.html