Post on 23-Dec-2015
transcript
Transnational Organized Crime
A continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often
in great public demand.
Its continued existence is maintained through the use of force, threats, monopoly control, and/or
the corruption of public officials.
Entrepreneurial Rationale
“ Like legitimate business,
transnational criminal enterprises
are embracing globalization
by adopting new communication
and transportation technologies
which allow them to pursue global markets.”
(Center for Strategic and International Studies, 2001)
Transnational Crime Problem Worldwide
Major issues creating the rise of transnational organized crime:
Globalization of the world economy, i.e., downfall of the Soviet Union and the switch to a free-market economy in China
Emerging democracies
Economic independence throughout the world
Opening of the borders for trade and travel
Seamless electronic environment
The Scope of Organized Crime
Organized crime involves two types of activity:
Provision of illicit goods and services
and/or
Infiltration of legitimate business
Provision of Illicit Goods and Services(Enterprise Syndicates)
Harm
Consensual Activities*
No Inherent Violence
Economic Harm
* Between the organized crime group and the customer.
Traditional Activities:
Gambling, loansharking, prostitution, narcotics,
stolen property
Contemporary Activities:
Theft of intellectual property, illicit arms trafficking,
money laundering,
and trafficking in persons
Infiltration of Legitimate Business(Power Syndicates)
Harm
Nonconsensual Activities
Threats, Violence, Extortion
Economic Harm
Traditional Activities
Coercive use of legal businesses for purposes of
exploitation
Contemporary Activities
Bankruptcy fraud, insurance fraud, extortion by computer
Violence
The use of violence occurs as either a part of an extortion scheme or else to enforce “agreements.”*
Threats and actual violence have several objectives:
Intimidate outsiders Terror/fear directed at potential informers Discourage competition Settle disputes
* Agreements to provide illegal products cannot be enforced in court.
Organized Groups
Pre-existing social or culturally-based groups: Groups that have ongoing hierarchical structures from “bosses” to “soldiers,” longstanding criminal activities due to their influence in a local area, socialize as a group and engage in neighborhood life apart from crime, i.e., Mafia groups, Yakuza.
Groups that emerge to exploit a specific criminal opportunity: Entrepreneurial, small, inter-ethnic ad hoc groups with limited hierarchy and limited group cohesiveness. Networking among groups occurs when needed to carry out a criminal activity, i.e., Russian Mafia, Ukraine, and South African groups.
Selected Regions and Transnational Crime
EUROPE: a continent in transition with the European Union (EU) expanding from 15 to 25 countries. EU member states report the existence of 4,000 organized crime groups with approximately 40,000 members in 2003 (Europol, 2003). Groups include: traditional European groups, ethnic Albanian groups, Russian groups, Turkish groups, Nigerian groups, Colombian groups, Chinese groups, Moroccan groups, and the Accession states – Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Romania, and Bulgaria, and finally, the “Stans.”
Selected Regions and Transnational Crime
CENTRAL ASIA: developing countries rich in resources, i.e., water and oil. However, influenced by corrupt governments, longstanding ethnic divides, and a geographic location between major drug producing regions. Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyz Republic. At high risk for organized crime problems.
SOUTH AFRICA: organized crime involve a “loose and highly interchangeable association of people,” which include government officials and businesses,” responsible for $8 billion dollars of “dirty money” flowing through South Africa.
Corruption
Corruption is the abuse of a position of power for illegitimate private gain, i.e., conflict of interest,
embezzlement, bribery, political corruption, nepotism, or extortion.
Factors which contribute to corruption:
A weak government Weak accountability in government agencies Low pay of civil servants Corruption in the criminal justice system Influence of organized crime
Response to Transnational Organized Crime
The best example of international cooperation against organized crime is the
United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organization (signed by 147 countries in 2003).
The goals of the Convention are to develop and monitor binding agreements which target measures that include:
criminalizing participation in a criminal group money-laundering laws extradition laws mutual legal assistance specific victim protection measures law enforcement provisions
Predictions About Transnational Crime Issues
Computer Crime
Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling
Terrorism
Human Trafficking and Migrant Smuggling
With the opening of international borders,
the globalization of the economy,
and improvements in the ease of
travel and communications
has come a significant increase in problems related
to human trafficking and migrant smuggling.
Increased problems include the exploitation of groups of individuals who are impoverished and vulnerable and who
seek a better alternative to their current life situation.
Human Trafficking
The illegal sale or trading of persons across borders against their will for financial gain.
Estimates* note that the number of women and children trafficked each year is between 700,000 and 2 million with most of them coming from Southeast Asia, Latin
American, and Eastern Europe (Richard, 2000).
* It is extremely difficult to determine the true extent of the problem.
Human Trafficking and Its Impact
Human trafficking results in the following negative consequences:
Promotes social breakdown
Fuels organized crime
Deprives of human capital
Undermines public health
Subverts government authority
Imposes enormous economic costs
Migrant Smuggling
Migrant smuggling is
“the procurement, in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit, of the illegal entry of a person into a state party of which
the person is not a national or permanent resident,”
(Article 3 of the UN Protocol against the
Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Air and Sea).
Migrant Smuggling
In contrast to human trafficking, migrant smuggling varies in one important way – victimization.
In the case of migrant smuggling the person involved “voluntarily” submits to being engaged in criminal activity.
Factors such as economic deprivation, political instability, and ethnic strife, motivate individuals
to cross borders in search of a better life.
Restrictions by governments on the flow of immigration has therefore created a lucrative business
in the form of migrant smuggling.
Illegal Migrants
Estimates place about 300,000 people smuggled into western Europe each year.
Russian migration officials estimate that up to 2 million Asian and African illegals are living in Russia.
In the United States, approximately 10.3 million illegal migrants were estimated to be living in the U.S.; 57% Mexican, 24% Latin American, 9% Asian, 6% Europe/Canada, 4% African-other. (Task Force Report, 2005; Pew Hispanic Center based on 2004 Current Population Survey and 2000 Census).
Computer Crime
Cybercrime has spread from minor crimes of
consumer fraud to major crimes that affect
national security systems.
The major problem is that computer networks
and the Internet do not recognize
international boundaries.
Computer Crime
Two types of computer crime are generally acknowledged: (1) a crime in which the computer is used as a tool, or, (2) a crime in which the computer is used as a target.
Categories of computer crime include:
Violations of or into telephone systems Violations of or into major computer networks, i.e., viruses to damage
or destroy data Computer privacy (pirating of licensed software) Industrial espionage Cyber crimes: cybertheft, cyberstalking, cyberbanking fraud,
cyberporn, cyberterrorism
Terrorism(Major Issues)
A complex international response, i.e., Interpol, Europol, and United Nation Security Council resolutions, G8 and G20 groups, and bilateral agreements.
Military and police issues, i.e., small cell groups spread around the globe.
Adjudication – crime and punishment and the rule of law versus humanitarian law and international human rights. An old problem with new players.
The growth and collaboration of traditional criminal enterprises, i.e., Russian Mafia, Triads, and Mexican and Columbian drug gangs - beginning to link political extremism with their propensity towards transnational crimes. Inter-ethnic networking.
Terrorism(Major Issues)
Weapons of mass destruction which include nuclear, chemical, or biological (bacteria, viruses or toxins) weapons.
Cyberterrorism which includes computer viruses and complex systems that infiltrate defense systems, cutting water supplies, and disrupting transportation systems.
Evolving technologies: Electromagnetic pulse technologies, plastics which can be converted into weapons, and liquid metal embrittlement technology.