Kevin Davis stood before the Counterterrorism Center’s ranking brass as he delivered his findings. Projected behind him was a map of the world, with lines tracking the flow of global wildlife from their sources (“Production,” as it was labeled) in the developing regions of Asia and Africa, through smuggling routes in Southeast Asia (“Distribution”), and on to the end users in the industrialized world (“Consumption”). It was a tangled web of warlords, cartels, corrupt politicians, and private zoos spanning dozens of countries. The eyes in the room were all drawn to names they had grown familiar with over the course of the Global War on Terrorism: Boko Haram in Nigeria, the Lord’s Resistance Army in Uganda, and Jemaah Islamiyah in Indonesia.

“. . . In exchange for the endangered tigers, the triads deposited three million in a known Jemaah Islamiyah bank account,” Davis revealed with rehearsed confidence. “We can therefore determine that animal trafficking syndicates are like any other type of transnational criminal organization, with dollars spent on illegal wildlife not only financing terrorist acts, but also directly supporting murders, human trafficking, drug smuggling, arms dealing, and governmental corruption, making these organizations an imminent threat to global security.” Though all these conclusions were true, the particular case study Davis had presented was itself a fabrication. But no one needed to know about that little detail.

Ron Nelson, Davis’s nemesis, reliably jumped in to discredit his work. “Forget global security. Are they a threat to national security?”

Before Davis could respond, Director Wilkes chimed in. “Ease off, Nelson. I think the Sumatra link has that covered.”

Director Wilkes then turned his undivided attention to Davis. “What about other players on the field? How many more trafficking syndicates are out there?”

Davis wanted to get a sense of Wilkes’s body language to judge how hard he still needed to sell, but he could barely make out the director’s silhouette through the blinding light of the projector. “To be honest, sir, we’re in uncharted waters. No one knows how many players there are. But what we do know from Chinese law enforcement is that since the triads were apprehended, the street value of rhino horn hasn’t gone up a penny. I would have assumed the reduction in supply would drive up the price, but this data indicates there are still plenty of other suppliers keeping a steady flow of product on the street. We’ve only begun to scratch the surface here.”

Davis finished, his words hanging in the air as Wilkes considered his fate. Davis switched off the projector to gauge the director’s reaction, but all he could see was a man who was generally exasperated from fighting an asymmetric global war on infinite fronts.

Wilkes finally spoke. “Phenomenal work, Davis.”

Davis didn’t have a chance to breathe a sigh of relief before Wilkes continued. “Unfortunately, resources are always tight.”