EARTH LEAGUE INTERNATIONAL, THE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY FOR EARTH
OUR MISSION
PROTECT OUR PLANET FROM CRIMINAL EXPLOITATION THROUGH FIELD INVESTIGATIONS, INTELLIGENCE GATHERING, RESEARCH, AND KNOWLEDGE SHARING WITH KEY STAKEHOLDERS POSITIONED TO TAKE ACTION.
Earth League International (ELI) is an innovative non-governmental organization that fights environmental/wildlife crime by merging the worlds of conservation, intelligence, investigation, research, and analysis.
As pioneers in the use of professional intelligence applied to environmental crime and crime convergence, for over a decade ELI has been at the forefront of utilizing professional intelligence to combat environmental organized crime. With a proven history of success, ELI identifies and investigates the most important environmental criminals and transnational wildlife trafficking networks globally, including their links to Transnational Organized Crime and to other serious crimes, such as human smuggling, money laundering, drug trafficking, and corruption.
At ELI, we believe in the power of long-term investigative and intelligence-gathering operations to build a deep, detailed understanding of the key criminal actors, their modus operandi, and their connections to other serious crimes. Our approach prioritizes comprehensive, sustained efforts that uncover the complex networks behind environmental and wildlife crimes, rather than relying on short-term investigations focused on quick arrests and seizures.
This strategic, long-term approach enables us to provide more actionable and impactful intelligence that can be utilized by multiple government agencies, policy makers, and partners in various ways, leading to far-reaching results and lasting systemic change.
ELI comprises experienced multinational field investigators, researchers, crime analysts, geospatial, intelligence analysts, and highly skilled retired professionals from various U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies, all with extensive experience in executing projects worldwide, including former Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA), and other government agencies.
It is this expertise and flexibility that allows us to operate in situations and locations where other NGOs or governmental agencies are unable or unwilling to operate.
ELI believes that, akin to combating other global threats like terrorism, drug trafficking, or organized crime, intelligence should be at the center of efforts to fight environmental crime. By providing much needed first-hand intelligence about the mechanisms behind these crimes, we equip law enforcement agencies, government bodies, policymakers, academics, media outlets, and NGOs with the knowledge needed to affect change.
We collaborate with various U.S. law enforcement agencies, including Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, NOAA and other government agencies around the world. We also collaborate with various academic institutions, including the John Jay College of Criminal Justice in New York and the Florida International University in Miami.
ELI is a fact-finding organization. It conducts field investigations and research into trafficking networks, connections to transnational organized crime, and convergence with other serious offenses. Through field investigations, research, and analysis, we target transnational criminal organizations involved in environmental crime, from wildlife trafficking to illegal fishing and logging, along with international traffickers, middlemen, and corrupt government officials.
Our efforts unearth evidence and unveil previously undisclosed information that can be used in different way by various stakeholders to fight environmental and wildlife crime.
During or upon the conclusion of our field operations, ELI prepares Confidential Intelligence Briefs (CIB) to share with relevant governmental and law enforcement agencies at national, regional, and international levels, depending on the nature of intelligence and which agencies are well-positioned to take effective action.
The CIB is arguably the most important piece of output from our intelligence and investigative activities.
It is the CIB that provides government agencies the means by which to take immediate action.
Intelligence is the knowledge – ideally the foreknowledge – that leads to the understanding of the global criminal network systems behind the criminal exploitation of nature.
Everything done at ELI is grounded in facts and field-based information, ensuring that our findings serve as the building blocks for action and accountability. By shedding light on the hidden activities of the world’s most important environmental criminals and their networks, we tackle the key enablers behind the ongoing criminal exploitation of wildlife, natural resources, ecosystems, and biodiversity.
