Presidency and Staff

John M. Sellar OBE FRGS  was engaged in law enforcement for almost four decades, initially in the Scottish Police Service and then the United Nations. As a Detective, he investigated murders and other serious crime but also dealt with human rights abuse in Scotland’s maximum security prison. Before transferring to the UN, he was Officer-in-Charge of a police area where royal security and anti-terrorism matters featured significantly. In 1997, Mr Sellar moved to Switzerland, handling anti-smuggling, fraud and organised crime issues for the Secretariat of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), ultimately becoming Chief of Enforcement.

During 14 years with CITES he conducted 234 missions to 66 countries, assessing enforcement in the field and designing strategies to tackle wildlife trafficking. He was instrumental in establishing the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime in 2010, a partnership of CITES, INTERPOL, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime, the World Bank and the World Customs Organisation. He has lectured extensively worldwide and his book, ‘The UN’s Lone Ranger: Combating International Wildlife Crime’, was published in January 2014. He is Senior Advisor of the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime.

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