Organized crime has had deep roots in almost every part of the world for hundreds of years. It has become entangled in aspects of people’s everyday lives, all the way up to the highest ranks of the government, and everywhere in between. In a majority cases cartels and mafias bring corruption with them everywhere they go. Seeing that developing countries have all the right ingredients for organized crime to flourish, its effects are severely felt by the population. These crime rings play big roles in creating instability in the society in which they function through the trade of illegal substances and establishment of large drug rings. The presence of an organized crime group in more developing nations also corrodes the local economy through …show more content…
In countries such as Colombia and Mexico, there is a direct link between illicit drug trafficking and the internal authority structure. These types of cartels find ways to corrupt governmental networks, by ridding the system of any political obstacles, to the optimization of their business’ economic output. For instance, “ almost 99% of the cocaine supply comes from Andean countries, which in turn, have forms of government known to be notoriously apt] to corruption” (Soberón Garrido Soberon). The operations done by these crime groups have to most impact on the lowly residents living in the places that they function in. For majority of occasions, any involvement of locals in the conduct of illegal operations is involuntary due to the excessive amount of authority instated to organized crime, which comes as a result of corruption in the area. In many cases farmers from developing countries produce illicit crops because they are not given a sustainable alternative by their government ("Organized Crime and Corruption"). Thus, the circle of corruption is continuously fed, without means of external intervention; the corruption in these kinds of places drives its population further and further from developing. While drug trafficking may generate the most amount of income in the regions that it operates in, the international human trafficking …show more content…
This “black money” along with illegal exports taint local economies and corrodes the financial structure in developing countries where organized crime has strongholds. Developing countries become the targets for such practises due to the ability for organised crime groups to manipulate the system in place to their benefit. A country’s tax system is an important economic feature that has a major impact on organized criminal activities. A financial environment in the country where tax evasion is prevalent is often accompanied by the higher levels of organized crime associated with the nature and scale of money laundering. Organised crime groups take advantage of an already weak system to benefit their own enterprises. Instead of being granted a chance to improve, developing countries’ financial systems are stemmed from achieving success due to the presence of malicious “black money” operations done by crime groups. A great deal of money traverses these illegal systems every year, and it put to use on more illicit trades, operations, etc. Consequently, “according to an estimate by the non-profit Global Financial Integrity group, $1 trillion vanishes from the developing world’s economies every year. That is money that is badly needed for development” (Indrawati). By taking the money from countries where the regulations are not as strict in turn squanders any chance that
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...
Due to the serious consequences of the drug problem and its related crimes in the United States, law enforcement identified six goals to handle cases of such nature. The first goal is to reduce the gang violence associated with drug trafficking and prevent the emergence of powerful organized criminal groups. Organized group are the main distribution of drugs in the community. They sell drugs for many reasons. It’s fast money, help fund other criminal activities and difficult for law enforcement to build a case against them for it. The drugs problem brings other crimes into the community. With drugs comes violence, drug wars and death. It is the main cause of the degradation of the community. Therefore, confronting the root of the problem by
The cartels are now in control of most of the drug trades and are successful. The Mexican border gives them the power to go everywhere they desire, making them a relentless force. “To date operation Xcellrator has led the arrest of 755 individuals and the seizure of approximately 5 U.S. Currency more than 12,000 kilograms of cocaine, more than 16,000 pounds of marijuana, more than 11,000 of methamphetamine, more than 8 kilograms of heroin, approximately 1.3 million pills of ecstasy”(Doj 2). Mexican cartels extend to central and southern America. Columbia is the supply of much of the cocaine exported to the U.S. Colombia is under control of South American gangs, they do business with the Mexican cartels to transport drugs the north. The Northern Mexican gangs hold the most control because the territory is very important (Wagner1). They are many different types of cartel in Mexico it also signifies that there are killing each other so their cartel can expand an...
Over the last several decades, violence has consumed and transformed Mexico. Since the rise of dozens of Mexican cartels, the Mexican government has constantly been fighting an ongoing war with these criminal organizations. The cartel organizations have a primary purpose of managing and controlling illegal drug trafficking operations in Central America and South America to the United States. Violence on a massive and brutal scale has emerged due to the nature of the illegal drug trade. Because the drug trade is vastly widespread, cartels are often fighting one another and competing in business. Mexican authorities count at least 12 major cartels, but also talk of an untold numbers of smaller splinter groups. (Taipei Times). Five cartels from Mexico have risen to become the extremely powerful amongst all the drug organizations operating in Mexico. The Guadalajara Cartel, the Sinaloa Cartel, the Tijuana Cartel, the Juarez Cartel, and the Gulf Cartel. These organizations, along with other distinguished Mexican cartels, have plagued Mexico with violence, terror, and fear due to the essence and nature of illegal drug trafficking.
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.
Prior to Prohibition, the majority of organized crime in Chicago was centered on the markets of prostitution and gambling because these were both illegal practices with high demand that could easily be exploited for large profits (Sullivan). Gambling appealed to impoverished men who dreamed of changing their lives by winning big bets against all odds and therefore were willing to spend their paychecks on a game of chance. Prostitution, on the other hand, was lucrative due to the amount of adolescents who thought it was cool and the market of married men who were experiencing marital troubles. Both of these illegal practices provided gangsters with a living but had notable limitations and did not allow for them to rise from utter poverty to
Drug trafficking has been a massive concern between the borders of Mexico and the U.S. “since mid 1970s” (Wyler, 1). Drug trafficking is “knowingly being in possession, manufacturing, selling, purchasing, or delivering an illegal, controlled substance” (LaMance, 1). A dynamic relationship exists amongst Columbia, Mexico, and the U.S. the informal drug trafficking economy. This growing informal drug economy leads to many individuals creating a substantial living through this undercover market. These individual drug cartels monopolizing the trafficking market are a growing problem for the U.S economy and need to be located and controlled. If this trafficking continues, the U.S. informal economy will crush the growth of legal industries. The trafficking and abuse of drugs in the U.S. affects nearly all aspects of consumer life. Drug trafficking remains a growing issue and concern to the U.S. government. The U.S. border control must find a way to work with Mexico to overpower the individuals who contribute to the drug trafficking business. This market must be seized and these individuals must be stopped.
...g cartels stimulate local economies making it difficult for governments to stamp out the illegal drug trade. Many solutions have been tried and failed, but this does not end the constant attempts to end drug trafficking world-wide. The world continues to combat drug trafficking, even when failure is of great odds.
Concerned authorities have focused essentially on criminalization and punishment, to find remedies to the ever-increasing prevalent drug problem. In the name of drug reducing policies, authorities endorse more corrective and expensive drug control methods and officials approve stricter new drug war policies, violating numerous human rights. Regardless of or perhaps because of these efforts, UN agencies estimate the annual revenue generated by the illegal drug industry at $US400 billion, or the equivalent of roughly eight per cent of total international trade (Riley 1998). This trade has increased organized/unorganized crime, corrupted authorities and police officials, raised violence, disrupted economic markets, increased risk of diseases an...
Media representations are essential catalysts in illustrating the nature and context of organized crime in Canada and throughout the world. Indeed, various media sources have attempted to portray the realities of a criminal lifestyle while also entertaining, informing, and enlightening each generation of Canadian interested in organized crime over the last century.
The Mafia is an Italian secret criminal society. The Mafia, or syndicate, impacts cities all around the world. Most of the effects of the Mafia are negative, but there can be several positive effects on the culture and economy of the cities in which it frequents.
No country is devoid of violence, but it is especially prevalent in Latin America. The Organization of American States labeled violence in Latin America as an “epidemic, a plague that kills more people than AIDS or any other known epidemic” (Carroll). Brazil and Colombia are two countries that have been shaped by gang violence; both are gripped by some of the largest, most violent, and institutionalized gangs in the world. In Donna Goldstein’s ethnography of life in a Brazilian shantytown, Laughter Out of Place, the power and prevalence of gang violence is apparent. In Colombia, gangs flourish nationwide and have direct consequences on the country’s economic, political, and social structure. Despite existing in entirely different countries, and though they are unlike in some regards, gangs in Brazil and Colombia, as a whole, share similarities in their power, function, and effect on the lives of the poor.
Organized Crime Organized Crime is non ideological. It perpetuates itself and is typified by the motivation to use illegal violence and inducement. It is focused in the division of labor, is monopolistic and directed by precise rules and regulations. The study of organized crime is a multidisciplinary attempt. Organized crime, from a political scientist’s viewpoint, can be an interesting object of study in a variety of respects. First of all, organized crime is a construct that characterizes and legitimizes criminal policy. Secondly, organized crime may be conceptualized as an aspect of politics where crime networks and power elites overlap or where organized criminality turns out to be an instrument of politics. Thirdly, organized crime in the sense of criminal milieu as well as criminal subcultures can be interpreted as primitive states in their own right. Organized crime is a methodical criminal activity for money and power and applies this definition meticulously to the rich and powerful. The conventional perceptive of organized crime, which centers on gangsters and Mafia-type organizations that penetrate and corrupt the national and even international economic and political systems, is inadequate. Organized criminal activity was never a severe danger to create or developing economic and political power structures in the United States however more often a fluid, variable, and open-ended phenomenon that complemented those structures. Thus we can say that politics, money and power are important in the study of organized crime. William Chambliss defines the importance of politics, money and power in the study of organized crime on his book “On the Take” and “Power, Politics and Crime”. On the Take illustrates the level and intri...
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.
Government revenue can be diverted away from basic services by corruption. Funds from aid and natural resources are often sent by government individuals for money laundering to overseas banks which insist onbank secrecy, instead of spending on the poor. A Global Witness report asked for more action from Western banks as they have proved capable of stanching the flow of funds linked to terrorism. Illicit capital flight from the developing world is estimated at ten times the size of aid it receives and twice the debt service it pays About 60 per cent of illicit capital flight from Africa is from transfer mispricing, where a subsidiary in a developing nation sells to another subsidiary or shell company in a tax haven at an artificially low price to pay less tax.] An African Union report estimates that about 30% of sub-Saharan Africa 's GDP has been moved to tax havens. Solutions include corporate “country-by-country reporting” where corporations disclose activities in each country and thereby prohibit the use of tax havens where no effective economic activity occurs