Organized Crime

1707 Words4 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: white collar organized crime

Organized crime is a problem throughout the world. There are the drug cartels of Mexico and Columbia, the Russian Mafia, Asian Triads, and Eastern European crime syndicates to name a few. It is estimated that organized crime generates more than one trillion dollars in profits annually.1

An organized crime syndicate works in a very similar way to a government or corporation. There are different streams of income coming from drug and human trafficking, arms dealing, prostitution, blackmail, protection money, and legitimate business endeavors. It also provides protection similar to police and military.2 Much of the money that they collect needs to be “cleaned” before it can be seized by law enforcement and many legitimate business will not touch this money if it can be traced . If this money were to be rendered useless by freezing the accounts or if the money was seized this would cripple the organization because without the money, they can not pay off their debts if they purchased their drugs on credit, buy weapons or ammunition, pay their associates, or bribe officials.

One of the major problems in dealing with organized crime is that many often launder their money outside of the U.S. in order to avoid laws that were put in place to prevent laundering from happening. Some of the major countries are the Bahamas, the Cook Islands, Dominica, Lebanon, Liechtenstein, the Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Panama, the Philippines, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent, Russia, Israel, the Cayman Islands and the Grenadines.3 People, companies, and criminal organizations use these countries in order to keep the money out of the local authorities jurisdiction. It also makes the money difficult to trace once it crosses into a different count...

... middle of paper ...

...of INTERPOL. May 13, 2010. http://www.justice.gov/usncb/whoweare/mission.php (accessed May 13, 2010).

Justice, Federal Bureau of Investigation and The U.S. Department of. Financial Crimes Report to the Public. May 2005. http://www.fbi.gov/publications/financial/fcs_report052005/fcs_report052005.htm#h1 (accessed May 17, 2010).

"Money- Laundering Countries." National Center for Policy Analysis (2000): 1. Web. 23 May 2010. .

Muth, Mike. CALEA Online. http://www.calea.org/online/newsletter/No76/interpol.htm (accessed May 14, 2010).

Organized Crime - Structure. http://law.jrank.org/pages/1627/Organized-Crime-Structure.html (accessed May 20, 2010).

The Times of India. May 12, 2010. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/us/Indian-man-on-Interpol-list-arrested-in-US/articleshow/5922743.cms (accessed May 14, 2010).

Show More
Related

  • Gangster Life Portrayed in the Movie, Scarface

    559 Words  | 2 Pages

    This “business” aspect of organized crime is what the movie industry has latched on to in the Gangster genre. In Scarface, Tony Camonte is in the business of selling beer to the town watering holes. Of course, he doesn’t so much sell the beer as force it on the bar owners at jacked up prices. And just like any other business, there is competition for dominance in the market. And for this dominance, or rather monopoly, ringleaders do not think twice about taking their competition out – not by buying them out or forcing them into bankruptcy, but by sending a squad out to murder them.

    Read More

  • Money Laundering and Mexican Drug Cartels

    1407 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Mexican drug cartels have been smuggling drugs across the boarder of Mexico to the United States of America for decades. The Mexican drug cartels are a drug smuggling criminal organization. In other words they run a narcotic drug business. * In my research, I will be discussing about the money being laundered by the Mexican drug cartels from the U.S. to Mexico. The cartels need to launder their money in order to be able to take their drug money back to their country of Mexico.

    Read More

  • New England Patriarca Mafia

    2697 Words  | 6 Pages

    Organized crime is a collective result of the commitment, knowledge, and actions of three components: (1) Criminal groups, who are core persons tied by racial, linguistic, ethnic or other bonds; (2) Protectors, who are persons who protect the group’s interests; and (3) Specialist support, which are persons who knowingly render services on an side-job basis to enhance the group’s interests. In order to thrive, an organized crime group needs many different elements. First, it needs an ensured continuity of members, clients, supporters, funds, etc. Additionally, it needs structure, criminality, violence, memberships based on common grounds, and a willingness to corrupt a power and profit goal. Generally, mafia organized crime groups disguise themselves behind the ownership of a legitimate business to avoid questioning from the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) regarding any financial sources. The ille...

    Read More

  • 1920s Organized Crime

    740 Words  | 2 Pages

    Brett Boush English 11 Miss Steiner Mr. Hendershot March 25, 2014. Organized Crime in the 1920s and 1930s. Organized Crime in the 1920s and 1930s Have you ever wondered what it would be like in an America with no alcohol? Prohibition greatly impacted America when it was introduced and has continued to affect it since then. The spark from prohibition striking America has introduced a widespread plague of organized crime.

    Read More

  • Synthesis Essay: The Harmful Effects Of The Prohibition

    449 Words  | 1 Pages

    We can see in Source C, that though the law did try to take down organized crime, it was too well protected by both its own form of government: gang rule, and its protection its money gave it by buying off politicians and powerful officials who in turn made no effort to control the rise in organized crime. Source D tells us that 3300 police officers and prohibition agents could not take Al Capone down due to the protection he had bought for himself. This further shows us how ineffective the American government and police force was in demolishing organized crime and it was this ineffectiveness that was responsible for it becoming such a wealthy

    Read More

  • Essay On Organized Crime

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the 1920s, Prohibition caused organized crime to be at an all time high, and so gangsters were at their prime, dealing in bootlegging and the illegal distillation and distribution of alcohol. The big gangsters and their crimes had a big impact on the society and the economy of the 1920s.

    Read More

  • The Mafia

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Mafia is a secret criminal organization that has great economic and political control over large parts of Sicilian society and operates both criminal and legitimate enterprises in the United States. It is believed to have started during Sicily's late Middle Ages, beginning as separate bonds of strong-arm enforcers hired by local landowners. It eventually evolved into a network of independent groups governing in rural areas. With the Sicilian immigration of the late 19th century, the Mafia began to operate in several large United States cities. During the period of Prohibition it monopolized the trade in bootleg liquor and controlled loan sharking, gambling, and prostitution. Competing Mafia families established mutually recognized territories, reaching agreement by negotiation or by intimidation. By the mid-1930 the Mafia had taken on the institutionalized structure that is now typical of organized crime in the United States.

    Read More

  • The Effects Of Organized Crime: Law Enforcement And Organized Crime

    823 Words  | 2 Pages

    Research for this assignment will be done to see if get tough policies have any effect on organized crime. Will organized crime through lucrative deals prevail? Will also be researched and answered within the context of this paper. By analyzing to see why get tough policies being put in place to stop organized crime, doesn’t work, then how organized crime can be stopped, will be explained and researched within this paper. The author of this paper will implement a point of view on how to stop organized crime, within the context of this paper. Lastly answer what effect does the war on crime against organized, will be researched and explained, if it works or not.

    Read More

  • Impacts of the Mafia

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    ...benefit economically from their activities on these markets. Countries with offshore centers that specialize in money-laundering reap significant benefits. Unlike the negative effects of the Mafia and organized crime, the positive effects are direct and quickly noticeable (Van Dijk 56). Even though it may seem like the revenue from all of the illegal activities helps the economy, it actually does not. There are profits but it does all lead back to negativity: corruption, lesser rule of law, risk of business, etc. The economy is actually slowed down and weakened rather than strengthened (Van Dijk 52).

    Read More

  • Mafia

    1945 Words  | 4 Pages

    Mafia. What does this word mean? The actual members of the Mafia aren’t even sure where the word first originated or what it really means. One of the theories as to where the word came from is from Sicily, where people would yell “ Morte alla Francia, Italia anela!” (Death to France, Italy groans!), therefore forming the acronym MAFIA. Others claim the word derived from the battle cry of rebels who slaughtered thousands of Frenchmen after a French soldier raped a Palermo woman on her wedding day. Their slogan echoed her mother’s cry, “Ma fia, Ma fia” (my daughter my daughter). There are other less “glamorous” stories as to where the word originally formed. The most likely reasoning says that it came from the Arabic word mahias, meaning bold man. The American Mafia has become infamous due to its leaders, its method of operation, and its impact on the economy through illegal means.

    Read More

  • Human Trafficking

    2482 Words  | 5 Pages

    estimated 7 billion dollars earned in shadow market. This money is used for drugs, gangs, mafia,

    Read More

  • Italian Mafia

    1302 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the beginning the Mafia had no centralized organization. It consisted of many small groups. Each of these groups was considered as a district. And, each of these districts, had its own form of government. The Mafia had gained their strong-arm by using scare tactics amongst the people. By using these terroristic methods against peasants who could vote, the Mafia used this upper hand in placing themselves into political offices. They would achieve this in several communities. Using this political power in their advantage, the Mafia was able to gain influence with police authorities and the ability to obtain legal access to weapons.

    Read More

  • White Collar And Organized Crime

    895 Words  | 2 Pages

    When I think of Organized Crime, I think of the mafia like you see on television. That’s probably what most people think of if you don’t know much about it. In the recent years, organized crime has changed, and the threat is more complex than it has been in the past.

    Read More

  • The Globalization of Crime

    1449 Words  | 3 Pages

    With the world changing and advancing with technology, criminal organizations are taking advantage of new opportunities. The advancement of travel, ease of communication, and an increase in demand, has all contributed to the globalization of crime. Every nation has been affected by the globalization of crime and the problem continues to grow.

    Read More

  • money laundering

    2732 Words  | 6 Pages

    Money laundering is the routing of illegal profits from bank to bank to disguise its existence. The illegal profits are usually made through activities such as drug trafficking, prostitution rings, illegal arms sales, and various other things. Unfortunately money laundering is a serious crime that is still prevalent in the United States and other countries. The Russian mafia, the Triad or Chinese mafia, and the Columbian drug cartel are just a few of the groups that partake in money laundering. No one knows exactly how much money is laundered yearly but it is estimated to be about $100 billion in the United States. The United States is not the only country affected by these numbers. The estimated amount of laundering is 2% - 5% of the world’s GDP, between $600 billion and $1.5 trillion dollars annually. Although there are hundreds of ways in which to launder money, some are more lucrative than others. For example, the Black Market Peso exchange, gold, and digital cash are some of the more common ways to launder money. Making it harder to crack down on money laundering is the fact that many countries do not have money-laundering laws in place like the United States does. These other countries make it possible for this illegal activity to carry on, and are only hurting themselves because money laundering creates a direct negative effect on their economy. If these nations want to fight money laundering they will need to implement laws against it. Banks could be one of the most useful tools in stopping the laundering of money.

    Read More

More about Organized Crime

Open Document