• Wildlife trafficking kingpin Vixay Keosavang (left) and his lieutenant Chumlong Lemtongthai (right) pictures in 'Killing for Profit'. Chumlong is currently serving a 40 year prison sentence in South Africa.

    The Kingpin

    By Julian Rademeyer This is the face of international wildlife trafficking. Vixay Keosavang is one of the most ruthless and active wildlife smugglers operating in Southeast Asia and Africa today. His activities and those of the Thai nationals he employed to acquire rhino horn, ivory, lion bones, pangolins, reptiles and monkeys for his company, Xaysavang [...]

  • Busting the illegal rhino horn trade from Julian Rademeyer on Vimeo.

    3rd Degree: Busting the illegal rhino horn trade

    3rd Degree with Debora Patta and Julian Rademeyer investigates the illegal rhino horn trade, pseudo-hunting, and  the activities of a ruthless Laotian crime syndicate headed by Vixay Keosavang, the “Pablo Escobar of wildlife crime”. (Be warned, the shows contains upsetting scenes which may disturb sensitive viewers) Tweet

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    Apartheid’s Secret

    The latest archive document…In January 1996, Judge Mark Kumleben – the chairman of a commission of inquiry into the illegal trade in ivory and rhino horn in South Africa – released his report. It ran to more than 200 pages and, despite the dry legalese, read like a thriller. It found that the South African [...]

  • Killing for Profit launch trailer from Julian Rademeyer on Vimeo.

    Killing for Profit launch trailer

    The official launch of “Killing for Profit – Exposing the illegal rhino horn trade” took place on  on 21 November 2012 at Hyde Park Exclusive Books. Watch the launch trailer… Tweet

  • Chumlong Lemtongthai

    The story that exposed the Xaysavang syndicate…

    Wildlife trafficking trail trail leads to SA safari man 21 July 2011 By Julian Rademeyer (Media24 Investigations) Johannesburg – A South African lion breeder and safari operator has emerged as a key supplier of millions of rands worth of rhino horn to a ruthless southeast Asian wildlife trafficking syndicate. Marnus Steyl, 37, allegedly stood to [...]

A terrifying true story of greed, corruption, depravity and ruthless criminal enterprise.

On the black markets of Southeast Asia, rhino horn is worth more than gold, cocaine and heroin. This is the story of a more than two-year-long investigation into a dangerous criminal underworld where merciless syndicates will stop at nothing to attain their prize. It is a tale of greed, folly and corruption, and of an increasingly desperate battle to save rhinos - which have existed for more than 50 million years.
Killing for Profit is a meticulous, devastating and revelatory account of one of the world’s most secretive trades. It exposes poachers, scoundrels, gangsters, conmen, mercenaries, killers, gun-runners, diplomats, government officials and kingpins behind the slaughter. And it follows the bloody trail from the frontlines of the rhino wars to the lair of a wildlife-trafficking kingpin on the banks of the Mekong River in Laos …

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Alan Paton Award shortlist salutes writers who "challenge and fuel debate"

Killing for Profit shortlisted for South Africa’s prestigious Alan Paton Award

Killing for Profit has been shortlisted for South Africa’s most prestigious literary prize for non-fiction, the Alan Paton Award. The book is one of five books that were chosen from an initial longlist of 42 titles. The judges described the book as “thoroughly entertaining and rich in detail and context” and said that all the entries were [...]

Marnus Steyl Update from Julian Rademeyer on Vimeo.

Update: Marnus Steyl case

Free State province game farmer Marnus Steyl, who was linked to the notorious Xaysavang rhino horn smuggling syndicate,  was arrested in December 2012. This followed the broadcast in November 2012 of a 3rd Degree documentary by Debora Patta and Killing for Profit author, Julian Rademeyer, which showed horrific footage of an alleged  ”pseudo-hunt” involving Steyl and [...]

“An astonishing book” – Eli Weiss, host of Voice America’s Our Wild World

Julian Rademeyer talks to Eli Weiss, president of the Wildize Foundation on her weekly Voice America radio show, Our Wild World, about Killing for Profit and South Africa’s worsening rhino poaching crisis. Tweet

SA pushes for legal rhino horn trade

By Julian Rademeyer Bangkok, Thailand – South Africa’s environmental Affairs ­Minister Edna Molewa has thrown her weight behind controversial calls for the legalisation of trade in rhino horn. Molewa said for the first time in an interview that she believes it “is the right direction” to take and could be the key to saving South Africa’s [...]

Vietnam in denial, blames China for rhino slaughter

By Julian Rademeyer Bangkok, Thailand – The head of Vietnam’s wildlife trade authority has angrily dismissed accusations that his country is the driving force behind the illicit trade in rhino horn, describing them as “bullshit”. He went on to blame China for the slaughter. In a rare interview during the triennial conference of parties to [...]

“Of all the books and articles I have read on this subject, this is the best”

“This is a devastating story, born of relentless, thorough investigation”, writes Sue Blaine in her review of Killing for Profit. “Julian Rademeyer spent two years bringing to life this story of corruption, greed and selfish depravity, but also of courage, tradition and honour. “They are all here, the smugglers, the conservationists, the hedonists, the self-sacrificing. [...]

CNN - Killing for Profit from Julian Rademeyer on Vimeo.

CNN – Killing for Profit

CNN correspondent Nkepile Mabuse examines a shocking video of an international wildlife trafficking syndicate’s activities and chats to Julian Rademeyer about his investigations. Tweet