From the top to the bottom, there are members of the force that are fighting to stop the wildlife trade, which are perpetuating it and indeed financially growing rich on the back of it.
Police, prosecutors, airlines and even diplomats are involved in the smuggling of rhino horn in south east asia. The sanctity of the diplomatic bag is incredibly important, however, when it is being used as a way to smuggle animal parts out of the country things need to change.
One example, is in Tanzania back in 2014 the price of ivory doubled while a Chinese governmental delegation was in the country. Diplomatic immunity must cease to be a cover for behaviour like this. Indeed, one would expect that countries would not want this stain on their reputation and would therefore self-police to halt this problem. Pressure must be brought to bear on the Chinese government, as if it becomes an issue that concerns them and their neighbouring countries prices would crash to unsustainable levels very rapidly.
Perhaps public shaming is the only way to deal with this problem. While it may well cause a diplomatic incident, arrests and searches must take place when diplomats are thought to be involved. A whole range of megafauna is under threat, unless we manage to change things.
