Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are groups or operations run by criminals, most commonly for the purpose of generating a monetary profit. The Organized Crime Control Act (U.S., 1970) defines organized crime as "The unlawful activities of ... a highly organized, disciplined association...".
Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are politically motivated. Mafias are criminal organizations whose primary motivation is profit. Gangs sometimes become "disciplined" enough to be considered "organized" these are often referred to as mobs. The act of engaging in criminal activity as a structured group is referred to in the United States as racketeering. In the U.S., organized crime is often prosecuted federally under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), Statute (18 U.S.C. Part I Chapter 96 §§ 1961-1968).
Organized crime, however defined, is characterized by a few basic qualities including durability over time, diversified interests, hierarchical structure, capital accumulation, reinvestment, access to political protection and the use of violence to protect interests.
Overview
Criminal organizations keep illegal actions secret, and members communicate by word of mouth, telephone, or Internet. Many organized crime operations have substantial legitimate businesses, such as licensed gambling, building construction, trash hauling, or dock loading enterprises, which operate in parallel with and provide cover for drug trafficking, money laundering, prostitution, extortion, hijacking, fraud, and insider trading. Other criminal operations engage in human trafficking, governmental corruption, black marketeering, political violence, racist and religiously motivated violence, terrorism, and crimes against humanity.
In order for a criminal organization to prosper, some degree of support is required from the society in which it lives. Thus, it is often necessary to corrupt some of its respected members, most commonly achieved through bribery, blackmail, and the establishment of symbiotic relationships with legitimate businesses. Judicial and police officers and legislators are especially targeted for control by organized crime via bribes, threats, or a combination.
Financing is made easier by the development of a customer base inside or outside the local population, as occurs for instance in the case of drug trafficking.
In addition, criminal organizations also benefit if there is social distrust of the government or the police. As a consequence, criminal organizations sometimes arise in closely-knit immigrant groups who do not trust the local police. Conversely, as an immigrant group begins to integrate into the wider society, this generally causes the organized crime group to weaken.
Lacking much of the paperwork that is common to legitimate organizations, criminal organizations can usually evolve and reorganize much more quickly when the need arises. They are quick to capitalize on newly-opened markets, and quick to rebuild themselves under another guise when caught by authorities.
Globalization occurs in crime as much as it does in business. Criminal organizations easily cross boundaries between countries. This is especially true of organized groups that engage in human trafficking.
The only newest growth sectors for organized crime are identity theft and online extortion. These activities are troubling because they discourage consumers from using the Internet for e-commerce. E-commerce was supposed to level the playing ground between small and large businesses, but the growth of online organized crime is leading to the opposite effect; large businesses are able to afford more bandwidth (to resist denial-of-service attacks) and superior security. Furthermore, organized crime using the Internet is much harder to trace down for the police (even though they increasingly deploy cybercops) since police forces and law enforcement agencies in general operate on a national level while the Internet makes it even more simple for criminal organizations to cross boundaries and even to operate completely remotely.
In the past criminal organisations have naturally limited themselves by their need to expand. This has put them in competition with each other. This competition, often leading to violence, uses valuable resources such as manpower (either killed or sent to prison), equipment and finances. The Irish Mob boss of the Winter Hill Gang (in the 1980s) turned informant for the FBI. He used this position to eleminate competition and consolidate power within the city of Boston which led to the imprisonment of several senior organised crime figures including Gennaro "Jerry" Anguilo underboss of the Patriarca crime family. Infighting sometimes occurs within an organisation, such as the Castellamarese war of 1930-31 and the Irish Mob Wars of the 1960s and 70s.
Today criminal organisations are increasingly working together, realising that it is better to work in cooperation rather than in competition with each other. This has led to the rise of global criminal organisations such as Mara Salvatrucha. The Sicilian Mafia in the U.S. have had links with organised crime groups in Italy such as the Camorra, the 'Ndrangheta and the Sacra Corona Unita. The Sicilian Mafia has also been known to work with the Irish Mob (John Gotti of the Gambino family and James Coonan of the Westies are known to have worked together, with the westies operating as a contract hit squad for the Gambino family after they helped Coonan come to power) , the Japanese Yakuza and the Russian Mafia. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) estimates that global organised crime makes $1 trillion per year.
This rise in cooperation between criminal organisations has meant that law enforcement agencies are increasingly having to work together. The FBI operates an organised crime section from its headquarters in Washington and is known to work with other national (e.g. Polizia di Stato and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police), federal (e.g. Drug Enforcement Administration and the United States Coast Guard), state (e.g. Massachusetts State Police Special Investigation Unit and the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation) and city (e.g. New York Police Department Organised Crime Unit and the Los Angeles Police Department Special Operations Division) law enforcement agencies.
Notable criminal organizations
Notable examples of criminal organizations include the Sicilian Mafia (or Cosa Nostra), the Irish Mob, the Colombian drug cartels, the Japanese Yakuza, the Chinese Triads, the Russian Mafia, the Brazilian PCC (Primeiro Comando da Capital) and Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13). Prisoners may also be involved in criminal organizations. Many terrorist groups, such as Hezbollah, Al Qaeda and the Provisional IRA also engage in criminal activity such as trafficking and money laundering as well as terrorism.
World leaders throughout history who have been accused of running their country like a criminal organization include Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Mao Zedong, Augusto Pinochet, Idi Amin, Mobutu Sese Seko, Nicolae Ceauşescu, Francisco Franco, Hugo Banzer, and various other dictators and military juntas.
In human rights law
Another use of the term "criminal organization" exists in human rights law and refers to an organization which has been found guilty of crimes against humanity. Once an organization has been determined to be a criminal organization, one must only demonstrate that an individual belonged to that organization to be punished and not that the individual actually individually committed illegal acts.[citation needed]
The concept of the criminal organization came into being during the Nuremberg Trials. Several public sector organizations of Nazi Germany such as the SS and Gestapo were judged to be criminal organizations, while other organizations such as the German Army High Command [dubious — see talk page] were indicted but acquitted of charges.[citation needed]
This conception of criminal organizations was, and continues to be, controversial, and has not been used in human rights law since the trials at Nuremberg.
Non-traditional organized crime
In addition to what is considered traditional organized crime involving direct crimes of fraud swindles, scams, racketeering and other RICO predicate acts motivated for the accumulation of monetary gain, there is also non-traditional organized crime which is engaged in for political or ideological gain or acceptance. Such crime groups are often labeled terrorist organizations and include such groups as Al Qaeda.
Typical organized crime activities
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Organized crime can be categorized:
- Theft and Fraud:
- Victimizing business:
- Victimizing individual persons:
- car theft (either for dismantling at "Chop shops" or for export)
- burglary
- credit card fraud
- stock fraud ("pump and dump" scam)
- Victimizing state:
- bid-rigging public projects
- money counterfeiting
- smuggling, manufacturing illegally (counterfeiting) or trading in untaxed alcohol (bootlegging) or cigarettes (buttlegging)
- providing immigrant workers to avoid taxes
- Providing illegal services and goods:
- loansharking
- bookmaking
- gambling
- prostitution
- pornography
- drug trafficking
- arms dealing
- murder for hire
- toxic waste dumping
- people smuggling
- trafficking in human beings
- Business and labor racketeering:
- casino skimming
- Insider trading
- setting up monopolies in rigid market low-tech industries (e.g. garbage collecting, cement pouring)
- bid-rigging
- abusing labor unions
- extortion (e.g. construction, transport, garment industry, longshoremen)
- getting "no-show" and "no-work" jobs
- using non-union labor and pocketing the wage difference
- monopolizing the supply of immigrant workers with the associated people smuggling
- Misc. activities:
See also
External links
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/global_crime_report/radioseries/ BBC radio series on global crime (including audio files)
- UN Office on Drugs and Crime - Has sub-section dealing with organised crime worldwide
- Organized Crime Research - Has a vast collection of definitions of organized crime, reviews of books on organized crime, research papers, and other material
- Extensive page of links relating to organized crime
- Hungary emerges as base for foreign organised crime groups Jane's Intelligence Review, July 2006
- Organised crime killings shock Ireland
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