INTERNATIONAL WILDLIFE TRAFFICKING SPECIALISTS
WITA's International Wildlife Trafficking Specialists have many years fighting organized transnational wildlife crime.
Ed Newcomer - International Law Enforcement Advisor
Ed Newcomer is a well-respected law enforcement professional and lawyer who served as a Special Agent with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for over 20 years before retiring in 2022. During his career as a Special Agent, Ed worked in Los Angeles and in a variety of international posts while conducting complex investigations involving wildlife trafficking crimes. Between 2015 and 2020, Ed was based at the United States Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa where he served as the Wildlife Law Enforcement Attaché for Southern Africa. As the senior diplomatic representative of the US Fish and Wildlife Service in nine African countries, he provided investigative and enforcement assistance to African law enforcement agencies and advice to senior US Government officials at US embassies throughout the world. He was responsible for the conception and implementation of the US Visa Ineligibility for Wildlife and Timber Traffickers, the first and only such visa restriction adopted anywhere in the world. Prior to his Africa assignment, Ed served as the Deputy Resident Agent in Charge for the Southern California RAC District in Los Angeles, California, where he supervised criminal investigations conducted by Service agents in the Los Angeles area. During his career, he conducted many high-profile international wildlife trafficking investigations involving every continent, including Antarctica. He is a licensed attorney and, for ten years prior to joining the Service, practiced law as an Assistant Attorney General and Hearing Officer in the states of Washington and Colorado. In addition to his work with WITA, Ed is a member of the faculty at California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he teaches courses in criminal justice and administrative law.
Jim Karani - International Prosecution Advisor
Jim Karani is an attorney who advises on criminal, animal, and environmental law. He has a Master in Law and is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Criminal Justice at John Jay College, New York.
Before joining WITA, Jim headed the legal team at WildlifeDirect Kenya where he engaged in environmental public interest litigation and followed up on major elephant ivory trafficking court cases. He also managed the Eyes in the Courtroom program in partnership with Kenya’s Judiciary to monitor and analyze the effectiveness of law enforcement in handling wildlife crime in courts. Data from this program was used to guide reforms in wildlife law and build capacity of law enforcement to significantly strengthen Kenya’s response to wildlife crime.
Jim has been directly involved in the training of over 1,000 police officers, investigators, prosecutors and judicial officers on best practices of handling wildlife crime cases and development of legal texts, guides, toolkits and reference materials for law enforcement in various countries in Africa.
Walter Duran - International Law Enforcement Advisor
Walter was born in El Salvador, Central America and moved to California, USA at the age of 13 years old as an immigrant.
Walter is the proud father of four (4) daughters, one (1) son, one (1) grandson, and one (1) granddaughter.
Walter has over 25 years of combined law enforcement experience, as a police officer handling calls for service, dispatcher, as criminal investigator, handling complex transnational investigation, and instructor.
Walter began his career as a Police Officer in March 1999, with the United States Postal Inspection Service, and worked in the San Francisco Bay area, California, and Puerto Rico.
In 2002, Walter lateral transferred as Police Officer with the United States Park Police, in Virginia, Maryland, Washington, DC and later worked as a Law Enforcement Park Ranger, for the United States National Park Service, in Texas.
In 2006, Walter transferred to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service. Walter held the positions of Refuge Officer, Federal Wildlife Officer, Manatee Refuge Officer, Conservation Law Enforcement Officer, Special Agent and Senior Special Agent. While employed at the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Walter worked in California, Puerto Rico, Florida and Georgia, Walter worked for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Division of Refuge of Law Enforcement and the Office of Law Enforcement.
Walter retired in August 2024 as a Senior Special Agent with the Training and Development Unit of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service Office of Law Enforcement. Walter has been an instructor/team leader at the International Law Enforcement Academy (ILEA) San Salvador, El Salvador and Bangkok, Thailand.