China recently collaborated with Kenya in arresting a Chinese man suspected of being an ivory smuggler and head of an ivory trafficking group. The case represented one of the significant successes of a China-led campaign code-named Cobra II against international wildlife crimes.

On Nov. 27, 2013, customs staff in Taoxian Airport in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province in northeast China, seized luggage containing 1,226 ivory beads weighing 8.77 kg.

Further investigation identified a main suspect named Xue, who was hiding in Kenya and controlling couriers who smuggled ivory into China. He is alleged to have built a crime ring engaged in purchase, transport and sales of ivory products.

The Chinese government sent a team to Kenya to work with local police to capture Xue, who was first taken into custody by Kenyan authorities and then extradited, marking the first time China has arrested a wildlife crime suspect overseas.

A global crackdown on wildlife crime has been jointly organized by China, the United States, South Africa, the Lusaka Agreement Task Force, the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network, and the South Asia Wildlife Enforcement Network. A total of 28 countries take part in the operation. The campaign is also supported by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), the World Customs Organization, and Interpol.

The transnational operration can lay claim to a number of notable achievements - more than 350 cases have been investigated and more than 400 criminals prosecuted, accounting for half of the total cases of international wildlife crime in 2013.

China was not only fully committed to the operation's planning and implementation, but also played a leading role in Cobra II, explained Wan Ziming, director of the law enforcement department under the endangered species office.

"Cobra II will serve as a valuable model for the international community in future operations against transnational crimes," Wan said.

The operation showed what can be achieved when law enforcement authorities work together in a coordinated manner, according to John Scanlon, CITES secretary-general.

"It also serves to highlight that intelligence-led operations are essential in the fight against transnational organized wildlife crime," Scanlon added.

This is not the first time that China has taken the initiative in combatting wildlife crime. The country called for an international crackdown on the issue in 2012, and initiated the first Operation Cobra, involving 22 countries, in early 2013.

Read the Chinese version: 眼镜蛇行动，全球打击物种走私; Source: People's Daily; Author:Liu Yi and Du Haitao