Abstract
The research examines the concept of global organized crime. It commences by examining the concept of organized crime and how it occurs in the international community. This leads to discussions on the realities and challenges with dealing with organized crime in international communities.
Organized crime is very difficult to handle in political matters. It involves transnational crime that is organized and hierarchical. The process leads to major challenges for governments and this is based on the economic and political benefits that are utilized in an authentic desire to benefit citizens of countries around the world. Organized crime groups are often opportunistic and they move to places in every state and nation that brings the best of results for them economically.
However, there are problems with collaboration with foreign governments to deal with international organized crime. This is because there are major problems and issues in trans-governmental exchange of information about organized crime. Organized crime is also complicated because dealing with it has to do with limitations on privacy and the gathering of a lot of information. This is important and vital and could stand in the way of dealing with international organized crime.
Introduction
It is often said that unity is strength. In all aspects of criminality, when different people come together to pursue a common goal and maintain a criminal venture, it is very difficult to detect and control the crimes of that system. Organized crime seek to exactly this. It involves the agglomeration of criminal activities by different people who relevant aspects of a group that seek to create and maintain a criminal underworld. The purpose of this paper is to examine the elements of organized crime and how it affects the core values of community. The complications of dealing with organized crime and how it is further hindered by the internationalization of these crime rings and how it can be controlled.
Nature of Organized Crime
There are several facades of organized crime. It is viewed by some researchers as illegal behavior that is planned and conducted by groups of people who use systematic means to carry out these acts. This means that there are various ways through which organized criminals carry out their actions.
Another definition of organized crime focuses on “discipline” and “hierarchy”. This is because organized crime is based on a credible and identifiable leadership who head a pyramid which leads to the sustained commitment of a range of crimes within the command structure of a criminal group. Therefore, there are power hierarchies and structures that carry out activities in very logical ways with the hope of achieving an expected end – which is to continue to benefit from acts of crime in a given society.
“Organized crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in great public demand. Its continuous existence is managed through the use of force, threats, monopoly control, and/or corruption of officials” . This definition shows that organized crime is based on the control of a criminal underworld. This is because it is often set up to deal in illegal activities that are either considered illegal or immoral in a given society. Thus, organized crime causes people to make a living by continuously engaging in these criminal activities.
Another perspective of organized crime is based on the fact that it is carried out in a portfolio which involves the conduct of an array of illegal and illicit activities by a criminal group. This is because organized crime is based on the need to profit from an activity that is generally considered to be wrong or illegal. Therefore, the perpetrators tend to carry out their actions in ways that involve the maximization of profits and revenue from an array of activities and processes that might be illegal. Therefore, typically, a criminal organization might involve themselves in one criminal venture and use the profits from that venture in another criminal venture. For instance, they might trade in drugs and from there, they will use the revenues from the drugs to run a prostitution/human trafficking ring. Through this, when they are able to make money, they take up smuggling of illegal products from one country to another and money laundering.
Therefore, organized crime is a series of criminal activities and processes that lead to a series of actions and processes in a given society. Organized crime is difficult to detect because it does not include one person. It involves several people which typically involves some influential persons and their associates. Therefore, through organized crime, they are able to create financial power centers which is able to ensure that they have the collective power to deal with eventualities and problems that might threaten their ability to remain in an individual business venture and/or activities.
Globalization of Organized Crime
Globalization refers to the disappearance of national boundaries and the creation of a new international order in which people are free and able to deal with things between several countries without much restriction. This is fundamentally due to the new world order whereby it is promoted for nations to pursue an international agenda and the limits placed by movement and national hegemony is being removed and replaced by international activities and processes.
The five main drivers of globalization identified by Siegels and Nelen include the following:
Technological drivers
Political drivers
Economic drivers
Enforcement drivers &
Internal drivers (2013).
These pointers promote the growth of internationalization. Although they are meant to enhance and promote better cooperation between nations, they also play various roles in causing organized crime groups to pursue their agenda outside the national sphere. This includes the expansion of organized crime activity into foreign nations and the promotion of their goals across a broader span that is more difficult to detect and control. Hence, organized crime continues and it becomes entrenched in the fundamental essence of society.
The activities of organized crime groups is based on the ability to run illegal markets across different criminal lines. As long as the activities of these group remain hidden, they can go on for years without any kind of detection. Therefore, they run parallel economies in which criminal activities like sex, drugs, kidnapping and the use of violence is institutionalized and utilized to deal with the furtherance of the goals of such groups and organizations.
International organized crime is difficult to detect and control because they come in various forms and sizes. This could range from large groups like the Mafia, Triads or Yakuza and could also include school gangs and small time fraudsters and criminals who could operate as migrants across boundaries. The growth of technology and the lack of strong controls make it extremely difficult to deal with organized crime and how it affects the core of society.
Inequalities in rules and regulations and the uneven distribution of wealth across nations causes transnational crime to be of a high significance. This is because where one community or group has a gap created by inequalities, organized crime groups seek to move in to opportunistically fill the power gap created by the inequality. Therefore, in a situation where a rich country has opportunities for the attainment of high levels of income or revenue, organized crime groups from one part of the world that is poor could set up outlets in other parts of the world. An example is the case of Russian and Eastern European organized crime groups moving into the European Union to pursue human trafficking rings where women are sent to brothels in these rich countries as a means of generating greater wealth for these criminal groups.
Organized crime also means that criminals are able to pursue higher levels of revenue from places where there is a higher level of income and wealth. For instance, a person might want to move from a place like Jamaica into the United States of America to provide a sub-service like drug peddling and violence because that individual might have a strong collection of people who have military experience and might be of great use in these richer countries. Through this, they are likely to sell of their skills as violent people in society who can do things that are in demand in these foreign countries. This has caused organized crime to take on a globalized face as opposed to a localized system and process.
There are three aspects of globalization that has expanded transnational organized crime and this includes:
Material aspects of globalization;
Growth in physical infrastructure and
Selective criminalization
Globalization has promoted so much wealth across different parts of the world. This includes wealth in some countries which have evolved so quickly over the past 20 years. Due to this, organized crime groups that are doing well in some parts of the world feel it is more appropriate to move into other parts of the world where there is more wealth and a greater propensity to carry out crime without detection.
The second aspect is the growth in physical infrastructure which makes it easier to enter other countries and carry out crime. Unlike the past where things were centralized, technological growth and development has made it easier now than ever to carry out criminal activities without detection across the world. This has made it easier for organized crime groups to grow and flourish around the world.
Furthermore, criminalization is limited to a few weaker people in society. In most cases, when foreigners go to form organized crime groups in other countries, they move in with their capital. Thus, they can afford lawyers and they have a strong command structures that are able to conduct affairs in order to avoid arrest. Most organized crime groups that go overseas or to other countries tend to have enough capital. And when they bring on irresponsible people from their home countries, they are able to control such persons and ensure they do the right things. Therefore, in effect, these organized crime groups can go on for a long time without any form of detection. On the other hand, locals who will act individually are most likely to be captured by the police and since they do not have much money individually, they are more likely to do extended prison time. This does not often happen with members of organized crime groups who go to foreign countries.
Challenges in Controlling International Organized Crime
Organized crime is a completely different aspect of law and criminology. This is because organized crime make it difficult to deal with international organized crime. The US Congress passed the Organized Crime Act, 1970 to deal with international organized crime in the United States. There is also the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) which all come together to form a framework within which organized crime can be investigated and handled.
However, the reality of organizations and criminal groups in the world today, makes it almost impossible for organized crime to be detected and routed out of modern society. First of all, there are major political issues that make it difficult for certain frameworks and certain geographical areas to be permeated for investigations. This is because there are many treaties and international laws that make it difficult for cross border cooperation by police officials in the United States and beyond. Due to this, there are many organized crime acts that are unchecked.
Secondly, international matters are difficult to handle. It requires cooperation with faraway governments. And in some countries, the government and its officials are corrupt and have been bought out by criminals. Hence, the cooperation with such institutions and organizations prove futile. There is evidence of major corrupt officials in Latin American countries where the heads of organized crime groups are considered to be patriots who are supporting the interests of the country and people. There was a major shootout between US forces and armed men loyal to a popular organized crime head in Jamaica because these groups believed that the organized crime head was a patriot who cared about Jamaica. Therefore, cooperation with these foreign governments and authorities are almost always flawed and have major problems and issues which might not be properly dealt with in the normal sense of the law.
Thirdly, it is very easy for organized crime groups to carry out their activities in today’s world. This is because in an era of human rights and civil liberties, people have a lot of opportunities to carry out illegal activities and processes without detection. For instance, the prostitution industry of today is not what it was 20 years ago. Women are advertised online and they can meet their clients in many discrete areas. Therefore, it is rather easy and convenient for people to indulge in these activities without being detected in any way or form.
Furthermore, the task forces in America that operated against organized crime work with laws that have a lot of loopholes. The surveillance of people suspected to be members of organized crime groups is often limited. Due to that, they often get the people who are not so crucial to the organizations. Rather, they often arrest lower people in the pyramid of an organized crime group. This leads to major limits that might not have high quality results as one might expect for an advanced nation like the United States of America.
In cases where arrests are made, it is almost always difficult to press charges successfully. This is mainly because law enforcement is challenged. This is due to the fact that defenses often exist and until full evidence can be guaranteed, there cannot be a conviction. Since most evidence gathered and witnesses might straddle different countries and continents, it is most likely that there would be major problems and issues in trying to prosecute such cases. There have been numerous issues and situations where mafia bosses were captured but trial could not take place. In other situations, there were problems with the extradition of people who were involved in organized crime and had caused a lot of harm to the United States. This therefore created major problems and issues that could not be easily handled and adjudicated. Therefore, there are challenges with the promotion of international action against organized crime.
Intelligence networks are often difficult to handle and deal. This is because they often require collaboration and effort. Although in principle, there is confidentiality and professionalism in the gathering of information about organized crime, there have been many instances and situations where information gathered by other countries were leaked. These leakages are difficult to fix and cannot be handled. This shows that there are major problems and challenges.
Intelligence centers are problematic because they have to work within a framework of many limitations - this include individuals’ rights to privacy, the need for high quality equipment and technology as well as strong methods and processes that are applied in dealing with the intelligence and systems for checking organized crime. This is because there is the need for a lot of balance to be achieved. This include the procedure of evaluating and analyzing the information that is necessary to track down on criminals in organized groups and in their activities.
Furthermore, intelligence is difficult to gather in relation to organized crime because there are many systems and processes to deal with matters. There is always the need for the achievement of some kind of sensitivity to gather information about the people in regions around the world. This goes deeper than just actions and processes. It involves the gathering of a large volume of intelligence. These intelligence reports provide a lot of possible information that could be utilized to deal with the information. The information is often a lot and comes with many different possibilities. There is the need for information to be brought together from various angles and this should done in a way that is accurate and can be utilized in gaining information about background information that is possible to be utilized in prosecuting cases relating to organized crime.
Conclusion
Organized crime is completely difficult to handle. It involves transnational crime that is organized and hierarchical. The process leads to major challenges for governments and this is based on the economic and political benefits that are utilized in an authentic desire to benefit citizens of countries around the world. Organized crime groups are often opportunistic and they move to places in every state and nation that brings the best of results for them economically.
However, there are problems with collaboration with foreign governments to deal with international organized crime. This is because there are major problems and issues in trans-governmental exchange of information about organized crime. Organized crime is also complicated because dealing with it has to do with limitations on privacy and the gathering of a lot of information. This is important and vital and could stand in the way of dealing with international organized crime.
References
Albanese, J. S. (2014). Organized Crime in Our Times. New York: Routledge.
Berdal, M. R., & Serrano, M. (2012). Transnational Organized Crime and International Security: Business as Usual? Amsterdam: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Greene, H. T., & Gabbidon, S. L. (2012). Encyclopedia of Race and Crime. New York: SAGE Publications.
Kelly, R. J., Chin, K., & Schatzberg, R. (2013). Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States. Darby, PA: Greenwood Publishing.
Siegel, D., & Nelen, H. (2013). Organized Crime: Culture, Markets and Policies. New York: Springer.
