Poached, caged, shipped in socks: on patrol with the police battling Colombia's illegal wildlife trade

For decades the plundering of protected species went unchallenged, but new efforts are being made to halt traffickers across Latin America and the CaribbeanThe taskforce sets off from a military base on Colombia's main river at 2am. The operation has all the hallmarks of a drug raid - it is led by armed police and naval officers and is the culmination of two years of intelligence-gathering in the capital, Bogotá. To avoid tipoffs, only a few of them know who the suspects are.Today's contraband, however, is not white powder but the spectacled caiman - the smaller, bulbous-eyed relative of the alligator that is endemic to the wetlands and rivers of South America.Hoping to catch the suspects while they are still at home, the police navigate a boat down the Magdalena River in total darkness, except for the green hues of fireflies. Continue reading...