Tracking the Global Wildlife Smuggling Trade with Ed Newcomer

A Special Agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for over 20 years, Ed worked in Los Angeles and a variety of international posts before retiring in 2022. During his career, he conducted many high-profile international wildlife trafficking investigations involving every continent, including Antarctica, and is known for bringing down some of our planet's most notorious wildlife criminals. He is a recipient of the Humane Law Enforcement Award from the Humane Society of the United States and a record six Law Enforcement Awards from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles.

Listeners can learn more about Ed Newcomer on his podcast - Nature’s Secret Service, and on LinkedIn @EdNewcomer 

In this episode of Zone 7, Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum, sits down with Ed Newcomer, a retired special agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service who spent over 20 years chasing down criminals most folks don’t even know exist. From bug smugglers to black market fish dealers, Ed’s seen it all, and y’all, he’s worked cases across a variety of continents, even Antarctica. The duo dig into some of his biggest cases, like the takedown of a notorious insect trafficker, Yoshi Kojima, and an undercover sting that exposed a major fish smuggling ring moving endangered Asian arowanas. Ed opens up about the real dangers behind wildlife crime, why these cases matter, and how they connect to other threats like human trafficking and organized crime.

Show Notes:

• (0:00) Welcome back to Zone 7 with Crime Scene Investigator, Sheryl McCollum  
• (2:00) Sheryl welcomes guest, Ed Newcomer to Zone 7
• (2:30) Ed's undercover work and challenges
• (3:00) The bug emporium heist
• (5:00) Becoming a wildlife cop
• (8:00) The case of Yoshi Kojima
• (14:00) Building the undercover persona
• (21:00) Taking advantage of communities and $10k butterflies 
• (27:00) Gaining Yoshi’s trust
• (34:00) Ed uses awkward advances and undercover finesse 
• (35:30) The arrest and aftermath of
• (37:30) The connection between wildlife and human trafficking 
• (38:00)  ”Investigation is investigation, and crime is crime. This isn't directly what you're referring to, a lot of times once a smuggler has the systems in the roots in place, they will engage in other types of crimes.”
• (38:30) The fish smuggling case
• (43:00) How fish become evidence and crime currency
• (46:00) Operation RTG begins
• (50:00) The cost of Asian arowanas and setting up buyers
• (55:00) A deliver bust in broad daylight
• (1:01:00) Aftermath of case and final thoughts
• (1:04:00)  ”My dad worked for the Fish and Wildlife Service, and he worked for the Department of the Interior, you know, like the federal government. And consequently, I spent a lot of time outdoors in my life. I even became the voice of Smokey the Bear.” -Sam Elliot
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Sheryl “Mac” McCollum is an Emmy Award winning CSI, a writer for CrimeOnLine, Forensic and Crime Scene Expert for Crime Stories with Nancy Grace, and a CSI for a metro Atlanta Police Department. She is the co-author of the textbook., Cold Case: Pathways to Justice. Sheryl is also the founder and director of the Cold Case Investigative Research Institute, a collaboration between universities and colleges that brings researchers, practitioners, students and the criminal justice community together to advance techniques in solving cold cases and assist families and law enforcement with solvability factors for unsolved homicides, missing persons, and kidnapping cases.  

Social Links:

• Email: [email protected]
• Twitter: @ColdCaseTips
• Facebook: @sheryl.mccollum

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