Environmental and Organized Crime in South America | The Index Podcast

Do you ever think about where the chair you are sitting on came from? Or perhaps the electronic device you are using to listen to this podcast, where does the metals come from?The illegal extraction of non-renewable resources, like gold, timber, and rare earth minerals, has become a very lucrative and widespread criminal sector across the world – but it is particularly prevalent in natural-resource rich South America, which scores highest for non-renewable resource crimes.Organized criminal groups with their origins in drug trafficking have become part of this illicit market, and as a result the situation is only getting worse - and it affects all of us.Presenter: Thin Lei WinSpeakers:Flávia do Amaral Vieira, Senior Researcher at Plataforma Cipó in Brazil.Bram Ebus, criminologist, investigative journalist, and consultant at the International Crisis Group. Bram is also a member of the GI Network of Experts.Additional Links:OCIndex.netBrazil Country ProfileVenezuela Country ProfileColombia Country ProfilePeru Country ProfileEcuador Country ProfileArgentina Country ProfileUruguay Country ProfileChile Country ProfileBolivia Country ProfileParaguay Country ProfileGuyana Country ProfileSuriname Country ProfileMeasuring organized crime: A series of 13 discussion papers, one for each illicit market considered during the development of the Index.Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized CrimePlataforma CipóInternational Crisis Group