From Ma a to Transnational Organized Crime
HC1 - Transnational Organized Crime
De nition of Organized Crime:
Associations - Italian Ma a
• John Landesco -> 1929 Organized Crime in Chicago
• Cressey (1966): ‘ Organized crime is Italian Ma a’
FBI, INTERPOL and German Police: ‘Organized crime enterprise is a continuing criminal
conspiracy with organized structure, fed by fear and corruption and motivated by greed.
Systematically prepared and planned committing of serious criminal acts with a view to gain
nancial pro ts and power. Can be any business or business-like structure, which tries to in uence
politics, media, public administration and economy.’
International crimes = acts prohibited by international criminal law on basis of the 1994 draft
code, multilateral treaties of customary practice by all nations.
Transnational/Cross Border Crime = conduct that jeopardizes the legally protected interests in
more than one national jurisdiction and which is criminalized in at least one of the states/
jurisdictions concerned.
Transnational organized crime = a 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
o enses in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a nancial or
other material bene t.
Transnational criminal groups
Rigid hierarchy = single boss, strong internal discipline,
several divisions
Devolved hierarchy = regional structures, own hierarchy and
autonomy
Hierarchical conglomerate = umbrella association of separate
criminal groups
Core criminal group = a horizontal structure of core individuals
who work for the same organization.
Organized criminal network = individuals engage in criminal
activity in shifting alliances according to skills they possess to
carry out the illicit activity.
Structures,
Pyramid = the traditional American structure - pyramid,
godfather at the top
Networks = o enders cooperate in changing links
- nanciers and organisators - central role
- underground bankers, transporters, etc.
- broker - criminal mediator
- family and friends contacts
Criminological Theories
1. Alien conspiracy: this theory blames outsiders and outside
in uences for the prevalence of organized crime in ‘health and rich’
western society. Examples: Albanian, Russian and Turkish ma a in
Europe, mobile banditry.
2. Ethnicity and Organized crime: ‘Ethnicity trap’, the use of ethnicity
fails to explain the existence of the activity itself and often comes
to ethnic stereotypes.
- Criminal export model, criminal organisation sends its members
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, to establish posts in new countries, Organized crime is independent from migrant
communities (Chines Triads).
- Second generation model, organized crime is a product of immigrants in a new country.
Condition: large communities, enough young people who want to become rich (Russian
ma a in Germany).
- Mutual dependence model, combination of two previous models: organized crime follows the
emigration and make use of migrants (Turkish Ma a in the Netherlands).
3. Relative deprivation or strain: organized crime explained as a result of a discrepancy between
the social aspirations and factual opportunities. Examples: Italian ma a in the US.
4. Biological theories: Racial theories - organized crime as a reason of biological inclinations.
5. Criminal emigration theories, link between organized crime and the country of origin
(smuggling activities)
6. Cultural theories, criminal bring their cultural luggage to a new country (transplantation of
organized crime)
Various forms and examples of local and transnational organized crime:
Nigerian groups - fraud with creditcards and drugs couriers
Colombian groups – Illegal trade in cocaine
Moroccan groups – Illegal trade in cannabis
Russian ma a - smuggling of art, women tra cking, extortion, money laundering
Turkish and Kurdish ma a – Illegal trade in heroin, human smuggling
Albanian ma a –women tra cking
Israeli ma a – Illegal trade in XTC
Latin American Organized Crime,
- Colombian Cartels: cartels operate similar to legal business, they are exible and pragmatic.
- Cells, 5 to 50 people: specialize in distribution, smuggling or money laundering
Chinese Tongs = tongs in de US among the Chinese immigrants (1840-1850), famous tongs like
Hop Sings, Suey Sings, Kwong Ducks
- Wars in China towns - 1920s (Flying Dragons and Ghost Shadows, Mock Duck)
- Criminal activities: assistance in human smuggling (in the US) and trade in opium
Japanese Yakuza = the largest criminal organisation in the world (110.000 members in 2500
groups). ‘Yakuza’ means losers, or the worse combination in card game.
- two separate groups: bakuto = gamblers and tekiya = petty criminals
- Social changes after WWII -> all modern forms of organized crime, penetration into legal
business.
Structure:
• oyabun or kaitch - boss or father
• wakato - captain or deputy
• wakai shu - soldiers
Rituals:
• Lynching
• Yubitzume (cutting ngers)
African Ma a - Nigerian Organized Crime,
- political and economic corruption in Nigeria
- services for columbian drugs dealers
- nancial and economic crimes (Advanced Fee Fraud (AFF))
- Nigerian Madams - human tra cking
Black Ma a - US
1970s in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York
- Extortion of other criminals (gamblers, pimps, prostitutes)
- ‘Fourty Thieves’ - Madame St. Claire in Harlem, New York
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, Principles of organized crime
Secrecy:
- outside (to conceal illicit activities from legal punishment)
- inside (to protect contacts, clients, partners, etc. from the competition)
- for self-interest to make money
‘Irony of secrecy’ (Adler, 1970) = con ict between purposive (rational) and impulsive (hedonistic)
behaviour.
Trust:
Non-contractual business relations, why do criminals trust each other?
- reputation (face to face relationship and knowledge)
- family ties (guarantee)
- satisfaction with pro ts
*Semi-autonomous elds: Non-governmental and uno cial obligatory settings
• Self regulation system
• Inner codes of behaviour/rules
• Trust relationship
• Inner arbitrary system
Violence:
- How and why do criminal organizations use violence?: ‘what di erentiates the violence
associated with OC is that it is structured an directed; and its objective is not facilitate a once-
and-for-all transfer of resources, but to enhance the OC groups position is an ongoing market-
place’
Reasons: to ght the competition and establish monopoly + to settle the con icts between the
rival parties + to guarantee loyalty and respect for prevailing norms and codes of behaviour.
NO VIOLENCE -> violence is the last resort by the OC:
- Attention of police
- Negative image of ‘out of control’
- Bugsy Siegel: ‘We only kill each other’
Traditional world-wide activities of Organized Crime
- Illegal gambling
- prostitution
- drugs (from production to retail)
- production of illegal rearms
- extortion
- money laundering
Modern activities of Organize Crime
- traf cking in human beings
- smuggling of human beings
- traf cking in body parts
- vehicles theft
- fraud
- cybercrime
- terrorism
- traf cking in diamonds and timber
- traf cking in art
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HC1 - Transnational Organized Crime
De nition of Organized Crime:
Associations - Italian Ma a
• John Landesco -> 1929 Organized Crime in Chicago
• Cressey (1966): ‘ Organized crime is Italian Ma a’
FBI, INTERPOL and German Police: ‘Organized crime enterprise is a continuing criminal
conspiracy with organized structure, fed by fear and corruption and motivated by greed.
Systematically prepared and planned committing of serious criminal acts with a view to gain
nancial pro ts and power. Can be any business or business-like structure, which tries to in uence
politics, media, public administration and economy.’
International crimes = acts prohibited by international criminal law on basis of the 1994 draft
code, multilateral treaties of customary practice by all nations.
Transnational/Cross Border Crime = conduct that jeopardizes the legally protected interests in
more than one national jurisdiction and which is criminalized in at least one of the states/
jurisdictions concerned.
Transnational organized crime = a 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
o enses in order to obtain, directly or indirectly, a nancial or
other material bene t.
Transnational criminal groups
Rigid hierarchy = single boss, strong internal discipline,
several divisions
Devolved hierarchy = regional structures, own hierarchy and
autonomy
Hierarchical conglomerate = umbrella association of separate
criminal groups
Core criminal group = a horizontal structure of core individuals
who work for the same organization.
Organized criminal network = individuals engage in criminal
activity in shifting alliances according to skills they possess to
carry out the illicit activity.
Structures,
Pyramid = the traditional American structure - pyramid,
godfather at the top
Networks = o enders cooperate in changing links
- nanciers and organisators - central role
- underground bankers, transporters, etc.
- broker - criminal mediator
- family and friends contacts
Criminological Theories
1. Alien conspiracy: this theory blames outsiders and outside
in uences for the prevalence of organized crime in ‘health and rich’
western society. Examples: Albanian, Russian and Turkish ma a in
Europe, mobile banditry.
2. Ethnicity and Organized crime: ‘Ethnicity trap’, the use of ethnicity
fails to explain the existence of the activity itself and often comes
to ethnic stereotypes.
- Criminal export model, criminal organisation sends its members
fi ffflfi fifi ff fi fi fi fi fi fl
, to establish posts in new countries, Organized crime is independent from migrant
communities (Chines Triads).
- Second generation model, organized crime is a product of immigrants in a new country.
Condition: large communities, enough young people who want to become rich (Russian
ma a in Germany).
- Mutual dependence model, combination of two previous models: organized crime follows the
emigration and make use of migrants (Turkish Ma a in the Netherlands).
3. Relative deprivation or strain: organized crime explained as a result of a discrepancy between
the social aspirations and factual opportunities. Examples: Italian ma a in the US.
4. Biological theories: Racial theories - organized crime as a reason of biological inclinations.
5. Criminal emigration theories, link between organized crime and the country of origin
(smuggling activities)
6. Cultural theories, criminal bring their cultural luggage to a new country (transplantation of
organized crime)
Various forms and examples of local and transnational organized crime:
Nigerian groups - fraud with creditcards and drugs couriers
Colombian groups – Illegal trade in cocaine
Moroccan groups – Illegal trade in cannabis
Russian ma a - smuggling of art, women tra cking, extortion, money laundering
Turkish and Kurdish ma a – Illegal trade in heroin, human smuggling
Albanian ma a –women tra cking
Israeli ma a – Illegal trade in XTC
Latin American Organized Crime,
- Colombian Cartels: cartels operate similar to legal business, they are exible and pragmatic.
- Cells, 5 to 50 people: specialize in distribution, smuggling or money laundering
Chinese Tongs = tongs in de US among the Chinese immigrants (1840-1850), famous tongs like
Hop Sings, Suey Sings, Kwong Ducks
- Wars in China towns - 1920s (Flying Dragons and Ghost Shadows, Mock Duck)
- Criminal activities: assistance in human smuggling (in the US) and trade in opium
Japanese Yakuza = the largest criminal organisation in the world (110.000 members in 2500
groups). ‘Yakuza’ means losers, or the worse combination in card game.
- two separate groups: bakuto = gamblers and tekiya = petty criminals
- Social changes after WWII -> all modern forms of organized crime, penetration into legal
business.
Structure:
• oyabun or kaitch - boss or father
• wakato - captain or deputy
• wakai shu - soldiers
Rituals:
• Lynching
• Yubitzume (cutting ngers)
African Ma a - Nigerian Organized Crime,
- political and economic corruption in Nigeria
- services for columbian drugs dealers
- nancial and economic crimes (Advanced Fee Fraud (AFF))
- Nigerian Madams - human tra cking
Black Ma a - US
1970s in Philadelphia, New Jersey, New York
- Extortion of other criminals (gamblers, pimps, prostitutes)
- ‘Fourty Thieves’ - Madame St. Claire in Harlem, New York
fi fi fi fifi fi fi ffi ffi ffi fi fi fl
, Principles of organized crime
Secrecy:
- outside (to conceal illicit activities from legal punishment)
- inside (to protect contacts, clients, partners, etc. from the competition)
- for self-interest to make money
‘Irony of secrecy’ (Adler, 1970) = con ict between purposive (rational) and impulsive (hedonistic)
behaviour.
Trust:
Non-contractual business relations, why do criminals trust each other?
- reputation (face to face relationship and knowledge)
- family ties (guarantee)
- satisfaction with pro ts
*Semi-autonomous elds: Non-governmental and uno cial obligatory settings
• Self regulation system
• Inner codes of behaviour/rules
• Trust relationship
• Inner arbitrary system
Violence:
- How and why do criminal organizations use violence?: ‘what di erentiates the violence
associated with OC is that it is structured an directed; and its objective is not facilitate a once-
and-for-all transfer of resources, but to enhance the OC groups position is an ongoing market-
place’
Reasons: to ght the competition and establish monopoly + to settle the con icts between the
rival parties + to guarantee loyalty and respect for prevailing norms and codes of behaviour.
NO VIOLENCE -> violence is the last resort by the OC:
- Attention of police
- Negative image of ‘out of control’
- Bugsy Siegel: ‘We only kill each other’
Traditional world-wide activities of Organized Crime
- Illegal gambling
- prostitution
- drugs (from production to retail)
- production of illegal rearms
- extortion
- money laundering
Modern activities of Organize Crime
- traf cking in human beings
- smuggling of human beings
- traf cking in body parts
- vehicles theft
- fraud
- cybercrime
- terrorism
- traf cking in diamonds and timber
- traf cking in art
fi
fi fififi fl ffi ff fl
