GENEVA // The UN wildlife trade regulator called for stiffer penalties for poachers on Friday, saying they should be treated in a similar way to drug dealers.
"The price of a rhino horn per kilo is now half a million dollars," Oeystein Stoerkersen, who chairs a committee at the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, said at a press conference.
"This has surpassed the price of cocaine," which explained a recent surge in the illegal poaching of rhinos, he said.
"If you are caught with a kilo of cocaine you will probably be sentenced for a few years," Stoerkersen said. "But if you are caught with a kilo of rhino horn you are likely to get away with it."
Almost half of 175 countries party to the convention do not have or have inadequate legislation to penalise poachers, he said.
"In my opinion we need to step up the penal code and the punishment for poaching needs to be much harsher," Stoerkersen said.
CITES Secretary General John Scanlon said a good example of fair punishment was the recent eight-to-10-year jail sentences handed out to two poachers in South Africa, home to the world's biggest rhino population.
"The South African public was supportive for these penalties," he said.
According to CITES, 239 rhinos have been poached in South Africa alone so far this year.
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UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
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Match info
Costa Rica 0
Serbia 1
Kolarov (56')
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In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
COMPANY%20PROFILE
Dhadak
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