Stage Talks with Bellingcat “Digging for Gold in Import-Export Data” with Bellingcat's Katherine de Tolly
Dec 8, 2025
Katherine De Tolly, a research consultant at Bellingcat and expert in financial investigations, shares her insights on navigating trade data. She discusses how this data reveals illicit flows, using an intriguing case study of opioid shipments from India to West Africa. Katherine explains the challenges of data inconsistencies, the importance of corroboration, and the surprising clarity of illegal trade records. Plus, she offers practical tips for analyzing ship data while emphasizing the need for a broader understanding of global trade dynamics.
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Trade Data Reveals Hidden Flows
- Trade data records import-export events and can reveal hidden supply chains when combined with other sources.
- Katherine De Tolly shows it helped expose opioids and diverted aircraft parts in major investigations.
BBC Traced Opioids From India To West Africa
- The BBC used export records to trace Indian pharma shipments of dangerous opioids into West Africa.
- That led them to interview exporters and expose unethical exports.
NYT Used Trade Data To Expose Sanctions Evasion
- The New York Times combined trade records with corporate registries to show Boeing parts routed through intermediaries to sanctioned airlines.
- Trade data helped prove sanction-busting chains of shipment.