Historically, the poaching of wildlife was portrayed as a small-scale local activity in which only small numbers of wildlife would be smuggled illegally by collectors or opportunists. Nowadays, this image has changed: criminal networks are believed to be highly involved in wildlife trafficking, which has become a significant area of illicit activity. Even though wildlife trafficking has become accepted as a major area of crime and an important topic and criminologists have examined a variety of illegal wildlife markets, research that specifically focusses on the involvement of different criminal networks and their specific nature is lacking. The concept of a 'criminal network' or 'serious organized crime' is amorphousgetting used interchangeably and describes all crime that is structured rather than solely reflecting crime that fits within normative definitions of 'organized' crime. In reality, criminal networks are diverse. As such, we propose categories of criminal networks that are evidenced in the literature and within our own fieldwork: (1) organized crime groups (2) corporate crime groups and (3) disorganized criminal networks. Whereas there are instances when these groups act alone, this article will (also) discuss the overlap and interaction that occurs between our proposed categories and discuss the complicated nature of the involved criminal networks as well as predictions as to the future of these networks.

The trade in caviar has a rich and colorful history, influenced over thousands of years by many cultures, societies and in the last decades by regulation. The value of caviar is historically discovered in the context of social change, political relationships and environmental change. The role of organized crime is described, as the scarcity of caviar has offered the unique opportunity to fish illegally, smuggle and trade contraband to mainly European countries with millions in profits. This study highlights that these criminal networks manifest themselves at all levels of the trade: from the poaching areas where organized criminal groups cooperate with law enforcers and possess top-notch equipment to major smuggling operations in the hands of sophisticated criminal networks. Although due to overexploitation 'wild caviar' is increasingly difficult to obtain, the demand in the context of exclusivity and scarcity remains intact by the upper class society desire for edible gold.

1. Overfishing, exacerbated by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing, is a serious threat to the conservation of the Caspian sturgeon populations, exposing them to the brink of extinction. This indicates the importance of investigating the causes and eliminating the consequences of the occurrence of IUU fishing.2. This study aimed to determine the barriers to sturgeon conservation, and to evaluate the importance of variables involved in the occurrence of IUU fishing in the southern Caspian Sea using field-and questionnaire-based surveys of 520 Iranian fishers and 40 fishery experts.3. Modelling the data using the Logit regression model indicated that several social, economic, conservation, and fishery-related variables (including fisheries knowledge, fish price, fishing method, fishing time, catch/vessel ownership, conservation importance, and penalty awareness) significantly contributed to the occurrence of illegal fishing. Fishers with poorer fisheries knowledge who owned fishing vessels were more likely to be involved in IUU fishing. In addition, fishers who were less concerned about sturgeon conservation and who used non-standard fishing gear at night had a higher probability of committing IUU fishing. 4. Exploring the opinions of fishery experts through the analytical hierarchy process also showed that economic, social, fishing, and conservation criteria were respectively attributed the highest weights as the contributing criteria to the occurrence of IUU fishing. 5. Overall, close associations were observed between the range of determinants, with the probability of the occurrence of IUU fishing indicating that illegal fishing is a complex event that should be studied in different dimensions because of the involvement of a combination of drivers. The knowledge obtained here can assist the relevant agencies in preventing this widespread problem, and with the practical rebuilding and more efficient conservation planning of sturgeon stocks.

In recent years there is increasing public attention for dog fighting in Europe. This article focuses on this phenomenon in the Netherlands: its organisation, various actors, modus operandi and possible involvement of organized crime. This qualitative research is based on semi-structured interviews, analysis of police files, observations and online methods. As the result of criminalisation, dogfighting in the Netherlands went underground, creating an illegal market and a sub-culture of dogmen and dogwomen involved. Reputation, status and trust are among the most prominent features of this sub-culture, which is manifested in their analysed communications.

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Whilst drug trafficking has been a concern for several decades, wildlife trafficking has only fairly recently garnered international attention. Often media coverage of wildlife trafficking links it to the illegal trade of drugs. This article analyses wildlife and drug trafficking connections of various kinds. The purpose is to reveal the overlaps and synergies of wildlife and drug trafficking, providing concrete examples of where these markets co-exist as well as intertwine based on literature and original fieldwork. It explores the question of ‘Why in some cases, an illicit market remains focused on a single commodity, whilst in others it accommodates a combination of illicit commodities?’ This study identifies different types of wildlife-drugs linkages, including combined contraband, camouflage, multiple trade lines, shared smuggling routes and transportation methods, barter trade, and laundering drug money. The article shows that illicit markets are complex and the examples of activities and transactions that are provided illuminate some of the different dimensions of converging and diverging trades involving wildlife and drugs.