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E-commerce emerged as a primary conduit for global illicit trade, according to the World Customs Organization’s Illicit Trade Report 2025
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Report found that e-commerce accounted for about half or 44.8% of all illicit trade cases globally
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It is based on 163,850 enforcement cases submitted by 170 Customs administrations through the Customs Enforcement Network
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Report highlights growing use of postal, courier and e-commerce platforms for trafficking counterfeit goods, drugs, medical products and other illegal items
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Drugs remained the largest enforcement category with 67,757 cases across 146 administrations
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Counterfeit goods and medical products accounted for 42,026 cases, while revenue-related violations totaled 34,236 cases, dominated by tobacco smuggling
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WCO secretary general Ian Saunders called for more agile, intelligence-led Customs responses as criminal networks become more sophisticated
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WCO says risk profiling and intelligence-sharing remain the most effective tools for detecting illicit trade
E-commerce has emerged as a primary conduit for global illicit trade, with criminal networks increasingly exploiting online marketplaces, postal services and courier networks to move counterfeit goods, drugs and other illegal products across borders, according to the World Customs Organization’s (WCO) Illicit Trade Report (ITR) 2025.
The report found that e-commerce accounted for about half or 44.8% of all illicit trade cases globally, making it one of the most significant logistics channels used by organized crime.
The report, which transforms frontline enforcement data into strategic intelligence, analyzed 163,850 cases submitted by 170 Customs administrations, including reports from the WCO’s Customs Enforcement Network (CEN) and coordinated enforcement operations.
Counterfeit goods represented 68.2% of cases involving parcel and postal delivery systems, while counterfeit medical products accounted for 65.1%. Reporting customs administrations also detected 62.6% of cannabis cases, 23.9% of environmental crime cases, and 23.6% of security-related cases, including firearms, restricted drones and tactical equipment, through these channels.
“Illicit trade is growing in scale, sophistication and reach, while also threatening economies, public safety and global supply chains,” WCO secretary general Ian Saunders said in a statement. “The WCO Illicit Trade Report for 2025 underscores the critical value of intelligence-sharing, data-driven analysis and risk profiling in identifying emerging threats.”
“The growing misuse of e-commerce, postal and courier networks by criminal actors signals a fundamental shift in how illicit goods are distributed – one that demands agile, intelligence-led and forward-looking responses from Customs administrations,” he added.
New kind of illegal drugs
Among the report’s six strategic enforcement areas, drug trafficking remained the largest category with 67,757 cases reported by 146 administrations. Seizures included 548.8 tonnes of cannabis, 400.1 tonnes of cocaine, 186.8 tonnes of psychotropic substances, and 24.3 tonnes of opioids and opiates.
The report noted a significant shift in drug trafficking patterns, with fentanyl accounting for 30.6% of opioid seizure cases, or 772 cases, in 2025. Because fentanyl is highly potent and shipped in much smaller quantities than traditional narcotics, customs agencies are being urged to adapt their targeting and detection methods.
New psychoactive substances (NPS) also emerged as a growing concern. NPS seizure cases doubled from 2024 to 7,721 cases, with most shipments transported through mail and courier services due to their small size and weight. NPS accounted for 81.9% of e-commerce-related drug cases, the highest share among all drug categories.
The report said enforcement against synthetic drugs increasingly requires postal risk profiling, partnerships with postal operators and advance electronic data from shippers rather than relying solely on airport narcotics interdiction.
In intellectual property rights (IPR) and health and safety enforcement, Customs administrations reported 42,026 cases and 82,596 seizures from 110 administrations. Counterfeit products accounted for 35,759 cases, while medical products comprised 6,267 cases.
Revenue-related violations totaled 34,236 cases and 40,744 seizures from 120 administrations, with tobacco accounting for 92.2% of cases. Customs authorities also seized 674 tonnes of e-cigarettes.
Environmental crime enforcement recorded 4,803 seizures involving waste, ivory, wildlife and plants across 123 administrations.
In the security category, weapons trafficking accounted for 86.9% of reported cases. The report also highlighted the growing challenge posed by unmanned aerial systems (UAS), or drones, which represented 11.9% of security cases, totaling 653 cases.
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WCO said drone seizures increasingly involve both regulatory compliance issues and security risks associated with modified or military-grade systems, requiring specialized technical expertise by customs authorities.
“UAS should be viewed by customs and law enforcement as an emerging, product-specific area of security enforcement that requires technical awareness and specialized assessment to prevent the illegal distribution of these highly dangerous goods,” according to the report.
Risk profiling, WCO tools prove effective
The report found that intelligence-led risk profiling remains customs’ most effective enforcement tool. Risk profiling led to the detection of 84% of IPR cases, 79.6% of weapons cases, and 65% of wildlife and timber cases, while also proving to be the most successful detection method in drug enforcement.
The WCO said the CEN enables member administrations to exchange intelligence, analyze enforcement data, identify emerging trends and develop targeted risk indicators that strengthen coordinated action against illicit trade.
The organization emphasized that sustained international collaboration will be essential going forward. Through capacity-building initiatives and global information-sharing platforms, the WCO said it remains committed to empowering its members and fostering a coordinated global response to illicit trade involving Customs administrations, law enforcement agencies, international organizations and industry stakeholders.
While emphasizing that the reported figures do not represent the full scale of global illicit trade, the WCO said the findings underscore the growing importance of intelligence-sharing, international cooperation, and coordinated enforcement in protecting public health, safeguarding legitimate trade, and addressing increasingly sophisticated criminal networks.
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