Patterns and trends in global organised crime Flashcards
What is global organised crime?
(+ sociologist)
- Franko Aas- the cross border activities of organised crime groups exploiting to their advantage increasing global interconnectiveness
Examples of global organised crime?
- Drug trafficking
- Human trafficking
- Arms trading
- Counterfeiting and extortion
- Wildlife crime
- Kidnapping
- Corruption
- Credit card fraud
- Identity theft and cyber crime
- Money laundering
What is the UN’s definition of an organised crime group?
- Structured group of three or more persons existing for a period of time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offences in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit
What are the estimates of global organised crime?
- Hard to estimate- only a fraction become known to law enforcement agencies yearly
- 2009 UN estimates= $870 billion annually (6x world’s annual official development aid budget)
- The world’s shadow economy may be as high as 10% of global GDP
Why is the international response to global organised crime slow?
Due to:
- Diversity of groups and the range of activities involved
- Difficulties relating to international co-operation
- Border issues and lack of common definitions
- Increased trend towards state deregulation
- Lack of global attenton at the expense of the threat of terrorism
What do global organised crime groups take advantage of?
- Developments in communications and transportation
- Increasingly open borders (facilitate movement of goods/services)
What does Castells say about global organised crime?
- Views organised crime groups as a type of business work, who actively take advantage of globalisation to expand in the same way as other global businesses
- Crime has become globalised
- Global crime networks have developed, as globalisation allows knowledge, goods and people to move easily, quickly and cheaply across national borders (increasing pace of globalisation allows criminal organisations to take advantage of developments)
What has globalisation created?
- A global criminal economy (estimated to be $2.5-3 million yearly)
What does Taylor say about global organised crime?
- Globalisation of crime creates a grey area between legitimate and illegitimate activities
- E.g: it’s easy for groups/transnational corporations to move funds/profits around the world to avoid taxation which can lead to overlap between criminal organisations and capitalist elites
What does McCuire say about global organised crime?
- Cybercrime should be seen as a new economy, rather than a business (worth $1.2 trillion
- Legitimate online platforms (Facebook, Amazon) offer opportunities for hackers to accquire data, sell illegal goods and launder money (profit from these activities, which reduces the incentive to address the issue)
- Interconnectedness/interdependence= the ‘Web profit’
Where does global organised crime originate and why?
- Typically in countries with weak/corrupt governments to feed demands from powerful Western countries for illegal goods
- E.g: in some South American countries, farmers prefer to grow illegal plants as it makes more money
What does Blackburn say about global organised crime?
- Global organised crime is closely interlinked with corruption within law enforcement agencies/the government
What does Glenney say about global organised crime?
- Refers to global organised crime networks as ‘McMafia’, and highlights the increase in activities in the last 30 years caused by a mix of globalisation, increasing technology and shifting balances of world power
What is the role of glocalisation in global organised crime?
Glocalisation= when international corporations modify its offerings to accomodate local consumer taste
- Seen as glocal as there is a need to function in different local contexts following different laws and police practice
- E.g: drug trade is organised differently in individual countries based on political context, local demographics and culture
