organized crime Flashcards
Belgian’s Organized Crime Definition
the planned commission of criminal offenses, determined by the pursuit of profit or power which, individually or as a whole, are of considerable importance if more than 2 persons, each with their own assigned tasks, collaborate for a prolonged or indefinite period of time
* By using commercial or business-like structures
* By using force or other means of intimation or exerting influence on politics, media, public administration, the JS or bureaucracy sector
National Level Policies for OC:
1: Substantive Penal Law (ex: membership in criminal orgs, money laundering
2: Procedural Penal Law (ex: wiretapping, controlled delivery)
3: Administrative Law (ex: BIBOB Act in the Netherlands)
4: Institutional Reforms (ex: partial centralization of police)
5: At EU Level (ex: rapid expansion of JHA reforms)
2 rivaling notions: “Who” vs “What”
- Who? (the individual offenders and their variable partnerships)
- What? (criminal activities conducted)
UN Organized Crime Requirements
OC to be identified with a grid of 11 characteristics, 4 of which were mandatory:
* 1: Collaboration of more than 2 ppl
* 3: For a prolonged or indefinite period of time
* 5: Suspected of the commission of serious criminal offenses;
* 11: Motivated by the pursuit of profit and/or power
9 Theoretical Perspectives on OC:
1: “Alien Conspiracy Theory
2: Bureaucracy Model
3: Illegal Enterprise Theory
4: Protection Theory
5: Social Network Approach
6: Logistic or Situational Approach Toward OC
—— new:
7: Criminal Careers in OC
8: Link Between Ethnicity and OC
9: Transit Crime, Mafia Transplantation
Alien Conspiracy Theory
- OC is the result of an alien conspiracy of outsiders that threatens open, democratic societies
- Developed by policymakers, not scientists (1950s-60s)
- Evolve particularly around the dominance of Italian mafia groups in society
- OC is a problem of “outsiders” that threaten society
Bureaucracy Model
- Focus on the way in which groups are organized & presupposes that criminal orgs are quite similar to formal bureaucracies
- Pyramid-shaped- with a strict hierarchy, clear division of tasks, codes of conduct, and internal/external sanctions
Illegal Enterprise Theory
Part of the fierce criticism toward the bureaucracy model; states that illegal activities are quite similar to legal activities & that illegal entrepreneurs (and illegal enterprises) may be best viewed as calculating individuals (or enterprises) operating in illegal markets in a similar way as in legal markets
Protection Theory
- Mainly based on the historical manifestation of Mafia control over specific territories and over specific licit economic sectors such as the building industry in Italy
- Mafia groups gained control, acting as “alternative governments”
- Make profits from use of violence and taxation
- Come from “weak states”
- Sells private protection and protects property rights and economic transactions, both legal and illegal
- The Social Network Approach
- (social embeddedness, social capital, and criminal networks)
- Social ties are important, esp in a hostile and uncertain environments that are a result of the illegality of OC actors and their activities
- Social embeddedness - offenders may find new opportunities through the use of their acquaintances resources, such as money, knowledge, and contacts
- Clustering based on geographic distance, ethnicity, education, age, etc
- Bridging - offenders making the necessary connection between networks that would otherwise remain apart ; often forged thru family ties or other strong social bonds
- “A broker”/facilitator can bridge structural holes in criminal networks
- “Social snowball effect” of how offenders get involved in OC & how their careers develop
The Logistic or Situational Approach Toward OC
- Changes perspective from the motivations of offenders TO the opportunities & constraints that arise from the environment
- Is “crime specific”
Ex: coke smuggling, or more specifically, ppl who smuggled swallowed balloons of coke on transnational flights - Instead of focusing on criminal groups, focus is on criminal activities and opportunity structures (Related to routine activity/opportunity theories of crime)
- “Opportunity structures”, “crime scripts”, “offender convergence settings”
—Locations where offenders may find co-offenders and allow criminal cooperation to persist, even when the particular persons vary
Criminal Careers in OC
- differ from standard criminal careers; crimes committed are logistically more complex than other crime - Transnational character of many criminal activities
- Contacts & social resources needed for OC activities often available late in life; goes against the age-crime curve (offenders are older; late starters)
- 4 different involvement mechanisms
—–Social ties, work ties, leisure activities and sidelines, and life events (a financial setback)
Link Between Ethnicity and OC:
- criminal cooperation is built not so much on ethnicity as on social relationships between several individuals
—Ppl cooperate bc they’re family or they originate from the same village
—-Often this means they have the same ethnicity, bc ethnicity affects social relations
—A “spurious” relationship as it can be explained by the logic of social relations
—- Opportunities available to members of different ethnic groups could account for this grouping
Link Between Ethnicity and Transnational OC:
- Transnational social bonds, created by migration, can be a breeding ground for transnational criminal cooperation
- Ethnicity can be transformed from a “trait” into a product of social position, social ties, opportunity structures, and situational aspects
Transit Crime, Mafia Transplantation, & Adaption of Traditional Mafia Groups
Some mafia groups have difficulties in joining in on transnational crime; just stay in their territory
- Foreign criminal orgs have better opportunities to operate in open, developed economies, than in isolated areas that are dominated by locally based criminal groups
- Transit crime vs Racketeering
3 Emerging Issues in OC Theory
1: Criminal Careers in OC
2: Link Between Ethnicity & OC
3: Transit Crime, Mafia Transplantation
Is there an all-encompassing theory of OC?
- no encompassing theory yet → theories of OC are either conceptualization or focus on specific aspects (like networks, link with ethnicity, migration)
- Distinction between “Who” and “What” can serve as basis for developing more explanatory theories
- Few tests of general criminological theories but frequent references to routine activity theory and rational choice
Research/Methodological Challenges of OC
- The lack of uniform & consistent definitions of OC
- Lack of criminal stats (except on membership in a criminal org)
- Lack of adequate monitoring systems
Illegality & professional engagement of many participants - “Victimless”/consensual nature of many OC exchanges
- Victims’ fears in some contexts
Research Methods of OC:
1: Official Data & Accounts
2: Quantitative & Economic Analyses
3: Historical/Archival Research
4: Network Analyses
5: Ethnography
6: Interviews with OC Actors, Consumers/Clients, & Victims
Method: Official Data & Accounts
- Useful statistical data is rare in Europe
—-No distinction of OC in general stats - Other data, like court cases & policy documents useful but biased
Method: Quantitative & Economic Analyses
- Surveys → useable only for some issues and methodological problems
- Economic analyses of illegal markets → important insight, but estimation difficulties & biases of official databases
Indexes of penetration of OC
Method: Historical/Archival Research
- May provide wonderful insight on specific phenomena, at low risk
- BUT doesn’t provide neutral or full info → issues of authenticity, credibility, representativeness, and meaning
Method: Network Analyses
- Used since the 1950s
- Aim: to reconstruct criminal networks usually using police data on contracts
- Brought methodological rigor and offered alternative view; but they also have biases
Method: Ethnography
- Serious crime community is ideal for ethnographies: some wonderful studies
- Dependent on researcher’s social capital, race, age, ethnicity
- Validity and generalizability?
Methods: Interviews with OC Actors, Consumers/Clients, & Victims
- Interviews with “free” offenders are opportunistic
- Interviews with imprisoned offenders easier to carry out, but more biased
Interviews with consumers reveal demand side of markets - Interviews with victims can question stereotypical images of victimhood
What are the mafias?
- Contradictory understandings of “mafia” → for govt officials, includes an embodiment of offenses
- a “criminal organization”
(large, long-lasting, clear barriers to entry, an internal structure & rules, routinely engage in profit-making & other criminal activities)
**For media and public; → appears to be a powerful & secret society
Hard to distinguish the myth from reality bc of all the books and movies made
- Media images shape and distort, but also reflect reality, but very exaggerated
5 Iconic Mafias
1: Sicilian Cosa Nostra
2: Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta
3: American Cosa Nostra
4: Japanese Yakuza
5: Chinese Triads
7 Distinguishing Characteristics of the Mafia:
1: Longevity
2: Large Size
3: Formalized Complex Internal Structure
4: Elaborate Cultural Apparatus
5: Multifunctionality
6: Claim to Exercise Political Power and Provide Governance
7: Popular Legitimacy & Power Sharing Agreements with State Authorities
Longevity of Mafias
- longstanding; roots in pre-modern context
- Male-only membership
Large Size of Mafias
But limited international spread
Formalized Complex Internal Structure of the Mafia
- all have ruling bodies; creating a clear-cut separation between members & non members
- hierarchy; ranking
- most important one
Elaborate Cultural Apparatus of the Mafias
- meant to generate lifelong commitment, new identity, and fictive kinship ties
- impose status & fraternization contracts
- initiation rituals
- myths & symbols (must brainwash them & be predisposed)
- written legal codes
Multifunctionality of the Mafias
- inherently multifunctional & not exclusively interested in profit maximization
- throughout history mafias have carried out a variety of functions
- numerous illegal/legal activities
Mafias Claim to Exercise Political Power & Provide Governance
- declining success
- provision of protection from violence from the mafia by paying taxes
Mafias Popular Legitimacy & Power Sharing Agreements with State Authorities
- declining legitimacy; they long enjoyed popular legitimacy
— often had power-sharing arrangements with local governments which came about during state weakness or absence
8th Common Trait of the Mafias?
- all mafias have experience decline recently; affecting their typifying characteristics (besides longevity)
- modernization & due to police investigations & witnesses weakening their power & reputations; repressing them
Mafia & Criminal Orgs Consolidate in 3 Scenerios:
1: state absence
2: state weaknesses
3: state collusion/tolerance
What are the other criminal organizations besides the mafia?
cartels, prison gangs, motorcycle gangs, thieves-with-a-code-of-honor (post-soviet)
Motorcycle Gangs
- Criminal organization with formalized structures and well-defined recruitment procedures
- Observers disagree on whether motorcycle gangs should be classified as criminal organizations
Illicit Enterprise
- Several authors prefer “illicit” or “illegal enterprise” as substitute for the ethnically loaded term “organized crime”
- OC has become a synonym for illegal enterprise
What are the main characteristics of OC in the Netherlands and Belgium?
- OC in Belgium & NL consists primarily of drug supply networks
–NL and then BE are major producers of cannabis and top worldwide producer of ecstasy
—BE and NL are major entry points for cocaine via ports
—-BE and NL also host other OC activities but play no special role in them; OC is primarily a matter of drug trafficking in BE and NL
—- violence used sparingly, mostly threats, use bribery (port personnel)
— OC actors are older than average, mostly men, and mostly from BE or neighboring countries
Key Themes of the 5 Dutch OC Monitors?
1st: OC framed as mafia-type orgs & racketeering (focus on money-making but also groups)
2nd: transit crime; the need for an international approach to tackle transit crime; networks, brokers, & facilitators
3rd: Local vs. Transnational Dimension; local embeddedness necessary to operate successfully, but contacts beyond local are also important; many OC groups multiethnic
— need to reduce opportunities thru situational prevention & administrative approach
—- involvement mechanisms of organized criminals
4th: Where’s the money?
——Need to focus on facilitators, seizing assets; complex money laundering schemes
- criminal investments r used for criminal activities
5th: IT & its Affect on Criminal Operations of OC Groups
- it introduces new opportunities; cybercrime & bitcoin
What are the logistics of cannabis cultivation, cocaine, and human trafficking in Belgium?
cannabis cultivation= rapid growth of large-scale plantations in Belgium, driven by demand of Dutch coffeeshops
—Networks → Traffickers of different nationalities often involved in same network
—Growing professionalization of cultivation
—Destination usually Dutch market
coke= Port of Antwerp, reasons unclear; arrives on ships in containers, facilitation with logistics personnel, limited violence
human trafficking= Belgian has no special role, is rare, 2 main forms (sexual exploitation & forced labor), lasts long
What are the main characteristics of outlaw motorcycle gangs in the Netherlands?
1: members disproportionately engaged in crime
2: are well organized bc they aren’t yet fully criminal in eyes of the law
3: function as offender convergence settings
4: link between gangs & crime = “bad apple”, “club within a club,” “club as a criminal org”
transit crime & promoting factors
import/export or production of illegal goods & services & the accompanying logistics
– networks, brokers, & facilitators
promoting factors: demand, profit margins, social infrastructure (social bonds- created by migration), logistics/infrastructure (legal economic activities)
Situational Prevention
more energy should be devoted to analyzing the situational circumstances and to making organizations change these circumstances, by screening personnel, monitoring and changing production logistics and procedures, checking customers, etc
Involvement Mechanisms of Organized Criminals
1: social ties (can be criminogenic)
2: work ties (can create opportunities for crime; transport/logistic personnel most at risk)
3: leisure activities & sidelines (golf)
4: life events (like financial setbacks)
** need to move beyond focus on early onset & “usual suspects”
“Bad Apple” Scenario of OMCG’s
(OMCG function as offender convergence settings); “power of the patch”
- member(s) who commits theft for personal gain, independently of the OMCG (happens a lot)
What are the constraints of illegality?
- All OC actors heavily constrained by product illegality bc of threat of arrest & asset confiscation
- Causes the disorganized nature of OC in the EU bc of effective state agencies
- the emergence of large hierarchical illegal firms unlikely
- when the state is strong & operates under the rule of law, unlikely to emerge/expand & infiltrate legitimate economy + political system
Why are most OC actors small and short-lived in the EU?
- OC typically consists of “networks” without a clear hierarchical structure & aren’t able to expand too big before being detected
- Countries with effective state agencies have numerous, small, and often short-lived enterprises
— state enforcement & threat of detection causes “Disorganized crime”
What are the main types of OC activities and what are the key findings about each of them?
1: Drug Trafficking
2: Human Trafficking/Smuggling
3: Illegal Trade in Heavlily Restricted Goods & Services
4: Fraud & Other Predatory Activities
5: Corporate Crimes
6: Cybercrime
7: Money Laundering
Drug Trafficking
- better characterized as loose criminal networks or small enterprises carrying out illicit profit-driven activities, rather than highly structured OCGs.
cannabis most profitable
- Size, durability, and market share of the groups vary depending on drugs, country, and distribution level
- OCGs involved in the EU drugs market are increasingly inter-ethnic and transnational
- Fighting illegal drug trade is a key priority for the EU
Human Trafficking
the recruitment, transportation, and harbing of ppl, including the transfer of control over these ppl thru coercion, abduction, deception, or payment, for the purpose of exploitation
- sexual exploitation most common
- structure consists of loose networks, linked by family kinship or ethnic ties, or companies that could benefit (transport, hospitality, entertainment, etc)
- internet increasingly used for recruitment
- to control victims; use psychological & emotional violence, rather than physical abuse
- increase in trafficking of kids (impoverished or recruitment)
Human Smuggling
- the procurement for financial/material benefit of illegal entry of a person into a State of which that person is not a national or resident
- there is a diverse range of actors within a network, who perform a variety of roles in the business of smuggling of migrants
- Mostly loose smuggling networks, size of operations vary, diverse range of actors within a network who perform a variety of roles
- Violence & exploitation along routes
- require relatively low skill
Illegal Trade in Heavily Restricted Goods & Services
1: tobacco (counterfeiting, fake branded, bootlegging, smuggling untaxed products, diversion from legitimate chains, illicit manufacturing)
2: Waste (demand from cheap businesses, mixing up waste of different kinds for cheaper/less regulated category)
3: Weapons (usually originate either from legal sources or existing stockfiles; production far less important bc less money & demand in the market, can be undertaken by non-OCG’s)
Fraud & Other Predatory Activities
- card card, insurance, food, infringements, counterfeiting, organized robberies, organized car thefts
- VAT fraud (sophisticated & very profitable; inherently transnational; type of actors involved unclear)
Corporate Crime
Many CC also fit in the official definitions of OC
Cybercrime
(most frequently reported crimes)
- online frauds, cyber extortion, online trade in drugs or counterfeits, cyber espionage, illegal assess, spamming, malware, dark web
- absence of commonly agreed definitions of cybercrime make it hard to identify trends & level of OCG involvement
Money Laundering
Accompanies most other OC activities
Which difficulties need to be overcome and which distinctions need to be made to assess costs and harms of OC?
Difficulties: no clear def of OC with differences in OC across the EU; many harms can’t be easily monetized & hard to assess; lack of data
Necessary Distinctions: the different kinds of OC, possibly response costs, analysis of OC activities/actors/assessment of harms & causes is necessary start in evaluating policy interventions
What is known so far about the costs and harms of OC?
- costs & harms difficult to estimate but crucial for evidence-based policy
- question of causality of harm crucial for development of effective policies; harms of some activities (drug trafficking, human smuggling) partially due to prohibition policies
— Policy-driven harms likely for all market-based OC activities
- harms haven’t been systematically assessed yet, are often serious but also exaggerated (in the media)
Which factors can explain North Brabant’s attractiveness of OC?
(criminal opportunities, network, social exclusion)
- an ideal production climate:
infrastructure in/out of our country
- Relatively low penalties (tolerance policy)
- Lack of manpower with authorities; organization fragmentation
- low attachment to state authority; long treated like a colony, gangs since 17th century; kinship & longevity
Which reforms at the national level have been carried out/justified with the fight against OC?
- new offenses introduced/expanded (money laundering, human trafficking/smuggling, participation in criminal org)
- now centralized police (interregional teams & national police)
- Belgium has specialized prosecution offices/specialized courts
- expansion of administrative approach
- transnationalization of police controls
How has organized crime been conceptualized since the early 20th century?
Many, partially contradictory, meanings since early 20th century/ meanings of OC have changed considerably and repeatedly over time
When looking at the concept’s history in the last 100 years; the entire debate about meaning of OC centers on 2 rivaling notions: “Who” vs “What”
Started out as separate notions, having their own “moments of popularity”/ depending on time and placed defined as who or what shift of attention from US to Europe
evolution of debate -> coined in 19th century w no fixed meaning -> 1960s well-structured powerful org aka mafia -> 1980s alternative paradign “illegal enterprise” -> (Who) networks & transnational dimension of OC
How is organized crime currently defined in EU and UN documents?
Absent consensus, OC to be identified with a grid of 11 characteristics, 4 of which were mandatory:
1: Collaboration of more than 2 ppl
3: For a prolonged or indefinite period of time
5: Suspected of the commission of serious criminal offenses;
11: Motivated by the pursuit of profit and/or power
“committed whenever more than 2 ppl cooperate over time in commission of serious criminal offenses”
Shift to combination of “OC” and “serious crime” in EU debate
— Concept “transnational organized crime”
Which policy uses have the EU/UN definitions of OC served?
Loose/vague definition with high policy impact also at UN level
Ambiguous understanding of OC enabled far-reaching reforms, both at national and international level
- substantive penal law
- procedural law
- administrative law
- institutional reforms
- EU level-> rapid expansion of JHA & related reforms
What is the future of the term of organized crime in both policy and academic debates?
Policy: Growing relevance of the concept serious crime in EU policy documents, BUT: no “demise” of importance of OC; concept remains engrained in many EU policy documents
—In the US, there’s revival of attention to the conceptualization of OC, in which a merger of “who” and “what” is taking place
Academic: Future of OC concept in academic debate is more uncertain
— OC, as currently defined, is not a useful unit of analysis
—– empirical studies should focus on specific subset of OC, or abandon the term; instead = “organization of crime for gain”
