MIDTERM 1 - Reading Notes: Transnational Crime: Globalization Shadowy Stepchild

How does the FBI define “organized crime”?

Any group with formalized structure whose main goal is to make money through illegal activities.

What is transnational organized crime (TOC)?

Organized crime that crosses borders, exploting globalization and technology.

Organized crime has diversified, gone global and reached macro-economic proportions: illicit goods are sourced from one continent, trafficked across another, and marketed in a third. Mafias are today truly a transnational problem: a threat to security, especially in poor and conflict-ridden countries.

What proportion of the global economy may be linked to criminal activity according to Misha Glenny?

Up to 20% of global GDP

How are ordinary consumers linked to TOC?

Buying pirated goods, counterfeit products, hiring undocumented workers, consuming trafficked resources (blood diamonds, coltan).

Why is coltan significant to TOC?

It’s essential for electronics, much of it mined illegally in Congo under brutal condition

How did the fall of the Soviet Union contribute to TOC?

Corrupt prioritization, weak institutions, and power vacuums allowed mafias to rise.

What is a “gangster state”?

A state controlled by organized crime (ex. Transnistria, Kyrgyzstan, North Korea, Somalia).

What percent of organized crime income comes from drugs?

About 70%

What is a “narcostate”?

A country where drug trafficking dominant the economy. ex. Guinea-Bissau.

How many small arms exist, globally, and what percent are illicit?

~ 550 million, 20% illicit

What are the two forms of piracy?

Counterfeit goods (intellectual property theft) and maritime piracy.

How many women and children are trafficked annually?

~800,000

Average global “price” of a traffic person today?

~$12,500 (cheaper than 19th century slavery).

Which organized crime groups, dominate Italy?

Sicilian Mafia, Camorra, ‘Ndrangheta, Sacra, Corona Unita.

What are Chinese “snakeheads”?

Criminal gangs smuggling undocumented Chinese labour.

What is MS-13?

A transnational Central American gang (Mara Salvatrucha) known for violence and US ties.

What are a Nigerian “419 scams”?

Advance fee fraud, emails requesting money named after a Nigerian criminal code.

Do terrorists and TOC have lasting partnerships?

Rarely, mostly short term alliance since profit and ideology conflict.

Example of terrorist criminal overlap?

Al-Qaïda with diamonds, Taliban with opium, Hezbollah with blood diamonds, FARC with cocaine.

Example fo gangster turned terrorist?

Dawood Ibrahim (India)

What is the Palermo protocol?

A 2000 UN treaty against human trafficking and TOC?

What is the Merida initiative?

A 2007 US aid plan to combat drugs and organized crime in Mexico/Central America.

What is Interpol’s role?

Global policing cooperation, sharing intelligence, issuing alerts.

Why is fighting TOC so difficult?

Because it’s demand driven; consumer appetite sustains the market.