Transnational organized crime (TOC) is organized crime coordinated across national borders, involving groups or markets of individuals working in more than one country to plan and execute illegal business ventures. To achieve their goals, these criminal groups use systematic violence and corruption. Common transnational organized crimes include conveying drugs, conveying arms, trafficking for sex, toxic waste disposal, materials theft and poaching.
Definition Given TOC's complex qualities, definitions may vary depending on the context. Generally, TOCs are organizations that engage in illicit criminal activities in more than one country with the intent of gaining influence or material benefit. TOCs come in a variety of forms and constantly change in structure. More often than not, they're a collection of groups part of a fluid international network or are part of a temporary collective of small organizations.
Some scholars may emphasize TOC's role as a product of capitalism and an "illicit counterparts of multinational corporations" by pursuing geographical positions from which to operate shipments, secure markets, and collaborate with trusted criminal entities. Other scholars associate TOC operations as a security risk affecting public safety, human rights, economic stability, government accountability, and exacerbating internal conflicts.
Article III, title: "Scope of application", section II of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, defines transnational criminal activity under the following conditions:“(a) committed in more than one state”; (b) committed in one state but a substantial part of its preparation, planning, direction or control takes place in another state; (c) committed in one state but involves an organized criminal group that engages in criminal activities in more than one state; (d) committed in one state but has substantial effects in another state.”
History Prior to World War I, several organizations were created to formalize international police cooperation, but most quickly failed, primarily because public police institutions were not sufficiently detached from the political centers of their respective states to function autonomously as expert bureaucracies. In 1914, the First International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco, which saw police officers, lawyers and magistrates from 24 countries meeting to discuss arrest procedures, identification techniques, centralized international criminal records and extradition proceedings. This organization appeared poised to avoid the political forces that ended earlier organizations, but the outbreak of World War I disorganized the Congress.
In 1923, a second International Criminal Police Congress was held in Vienna, on the initiative of Johannes Schober, President of the Austrian police. Schober, eager to avoid the politics that doomed previous international police efforts, noted that "ours is not a political but a cultural goal. It only concerns the fight against the common enemy of humankind: the ordinary criminal." This second Congress created the International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), which served as the direct forerunner of Interpol. Founding members included police officials from Russia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia. In 1926, the ICPC's General Assembly, held in Berlin, proposed that each country establish a central point of contact within its police structure: the forerunner of the National Central Bureau (NCB). In 1938, the Nazis assumed control of the ICPC and most countries stopped participating, effectively causing the ICPC to cease to exist as an international organization.
After World War II, Belgium led the rebuilding of the organization, with a new headquarters in Paris and a new name – Interpol. The United Nations did not recognize Interpol as an intergovernmental organization until 1971. On June 17, 1971, President Nixon declared "America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. To fight and defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive." With this declaration, the United States began the war on drugs. At the time, the flow of illicit narcotics into its borders was deemed a major risk to the health and safety of Americans, and as a result, enormous resources were spent in the effort to curtail both the supply of and demand for illegal drugs. In the three decades that followed President Nixon's declaration, drug trafficking served as the dominant form of what the United States and many of its allies viewed as transnational organized crime.
In recent years, that viewpoint has changed. The character of transnational organized crime has changed in three major ways since the war on drugs began. Drug trafficking has become more diversified, criminal networks have harnessed new methods of conducting business, and the structure of criminal networks has changed. Organized crime has gone global, giving way to the term transnational organized crime. Global governance has failed to keep pace with economic globalization. Antonio Maria Costa, former executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, effectively summarized the change in TOC over the last quarter century by saying, "as unprecedented openness in trade, finance, travel and communication has created economic growth and well-being, it has also given rise to massive opportunities for criminals to make their business prosper."
Causes
Globalization Due to Globalization's impact in reshaping the modern international system, it's cited by scholars as one of the main factors contributing to the growth of TOCs in the late 20th century. Globalization, characterized by increases in economic interdependence, the emergence of the global financial system, and advances in technology and communications has diminished national barriers integral to the Westphalia nation-state system. This shift provided TOCs with new possibilities for criminality. Improvements in coordination for illicit operations decreased the likelihood of detection, and better management of cross-border business ties and outreach for new opportunities through innovations like high-speed travel, telecommunications, and the internet proliferated TOC entities and arranged them into complex criminal networks. Money laundering and other financial crimes link illicit and licit businesses creating new avenues for capital. In effect, domestic authorities are less capable of dismantling TOCs without international support, as targeting them in their local jurisdictions could result in a relocation of operations to different regions, countries, and even continents. TOCs can operate in various jurisdictions without a physical presence (e.g., internet scams).
Inequality Scholars have conflicting views regarding the extent to which globalization has impacted international inequality in general. However, many claim globalization has impacted inequality on measures that affect organized crime and increases in criminal activity. The World Bank published a report suggesting that although developing countries have experienced economic growth, inequality within those countries (between individuals) has increased due to globalization. Studies suggest that high levels of inequality in a given location are correlated with the relative power of organized crime and the high levels of corruption from which they benefit. Phil Williams, Professor at the University of Pittsburgh and fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations suggested that "[Globalization's] disruptive effect has actually caused people to have to go into organized crime and operate in illicit markets as coping mechanisms."
Citizens in developing countries may experience relative deprivation, or the perception of poverty relative to others rather than absolute poverty, becoming a motivator for criminal pursuits in countries transition to a free market.
Law Enforcement and Imprisonment During the globalization process, developing countries pursue stricter rule of law policies and prosecution of criminal activities, attempting to ensure a suitable and stable environment for economic development and foreign investment. This includes the protection of property rights against criminal actions, professionalization of police, and increasing law enforcement capacities to confront organized crime, all of which are common in the transition to a capitalist free market. This resulted in a sharp increase in adult and juvenile crime rates as crime organizations are more likely to operate in developing countries with high levels of corruption and in regions distant from state interference.
Higher imprisonment rates may proliferate TOC activities as prisons are an essential recruitment network center for criminal enterprises. Detainees prove proper criminal credentials while serving their prison sentence and are given ample time to develop a relationship of mutual trust with members representing criminal organizations. This results in higher recruitment rates, improved vetting of new recruits, and the formation of new TOC ventures. One example is the Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), evolving a prison gang in São Paulo, Brazil, to a prevalent criminal organization operating on multiple continents.
Effects TOC is insufficiently understood, according to the executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In the most recent full-scale United Nations assessment of TOC, conducted in 2010, the executive director states, "there is a lack of information on transnational criminal markets and trends. The few studies that exist have looked at sections of the problem, by sector or country, rather than the big picture. Without a global perspective there cannot be evidence-based policy." In response to the threat, law enforcement agencies have created a number of effective approaches for combating this transnational organized crime.
Louise I. Shelley (Director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center at George Mason University) has said:
Transnational crime will be a defining issue of the 21st century for policymakers – as defining as the Cold War was for the 20th century and colonialism was for the 19th. Terrorists and transnational crime groups will proliferate because these crime groups are major beneficiaries of globalization. They take advantage of increased travel, trade, rapid money movements, telecommunications and computer links, and are well positioned for growth. (This article incorporates text from the U.S. Department of State that is believed to be in the public domain.)
Types of crime TOCs may be involved in various types illicit activities. Smaller organizations within a TOC network may operate these activities at a local/regional level while a larger organization arrange international logistics with the help of middlemen who facilities coordination between both groups. The most common types of crime include the following:
Cybercrime Firearms trafficking The sale of Counterfeit medications Human trafficking Illicit Exploitation of natural resources (including illegal mining, crude oil theft, and illegal logging.) Illegal wildlife trade (including poaching and smuggling.) International Drug trafficking Money laundering (among other illicit financial activities.) Smuggling of migrants Organ Trafficking
Relation to terrorism and insurgent groups
TOC is commonly linked to terrorist organizations, serving as patrons and as a reliable alternative to state sponsorship. Frequent transactions with terrorist groups engaging in asymmetric attacks include the sale of high-yield weapons that can inflict substantial damage to populations, as well as small firearms and common explosives.