Global Organized Crime: A Reference Handbook

by Mitchel P. Roth

Overview

This book offers a comprehensive, multidimensional look into the major activities, groups, causes, and policing strategies related to global organized crime.

Global Organized Crime: A Reference Handbook examines global organized crime dating back to its 17th-century roots. Unlike most works on the subject, which take a parochial approach by concentrating on individual countries or regions, this book uniquely details the impact of 21st-century globalization on such groups and their activities.

Exploring the continuum of international organized crime and related developments from its early beginnings to the present era, the book also looks at the complicated issues that continue to influence its growth. It covers the impact of the end of the Cold War, immigration, the global drug trade, weapons sales, human smuggling and trafficking, the convergence of funding sources, and the effects of technology. What especially distinguishes this book is the connections it makes between organized crime activities and failed states, civil wars, political transitions, regional conflicts, and terrorist groups.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781598843323
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	05/05/2010
Series:	Contemporary World Issues
Pages:	308
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Mitchel P. Roth, PhD, is professor of criminal justice in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX.

Table of Contents

List of Tables xv

Preface xvii

1 Global Organized Crime: A Brief History 1

Introduction 1

Piracy 2

History 2

Economic Factors 3

Definition 4

Piracy in the 21st Century 5

Piracy then and Now 7

Background 9

Globalization 9

Defining Organized Crime 10

Transnational Crime: Definitions and Types 12

Mafia 12

Structures of Organized Crime Groups 14

Major Global Organized Crime Activities 16

Slavery and Human Trafficking 16

Structures of Human Trafficking Operations 19

Human Trafficking versus Human Smuggling 20

Coyotes 21

Snakeheads 22

Illicit Drug Trafficking 22

Weapons Trafficking 27

Conclusion 29

References 30

2 Problems, Controversies, and Solutions 35

Introduction 35

Circumstances and Conditions 36

Failed States 36

Corruption 37

Political Officials 37

Police 39

Tribalism and Ethnicity 40

Civil Wars, Political Transitions, Regional Conflicts 41

Organized Crime and Terrorism 45

Borrowed Tactics 48

Organized Crime Hybrids 50

Intersecting Activities 50

Narcoterrorism 52

Diamond Smuggling 54

Counterfeiting 55

Nuclear Smuggling 57

Other Types of Criminal Activities 58

Money Laundering 58

Hawala 59

Offshore Banking and Shell Corporations 60

Controlling Money Laundering 61

Electronic Money Laundering 62

High-Tech Crimes 63

Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud 65

Music Piracy 66

Gang Structures 67

Russian Mafiya 67

Drug Cartels 67

Export Syndicates 69

Crossing the U.S.-Mexico Border 70

Prison Gangs and Street Gangs 71

Law Enforcement 72

International Cooperation 72

European Union 74

Barriers to International Law Enforcement 75

Language 76

Varying Laws and Jurisdictions 77

Technology 77

Policing Cyberspace 78

Conclusion 78

References 80

3 Global Organized Crime Groups 89

Italian Organized Crime Groups 89

The Sicilian and Italian-American Mafias 89

The Americanization of the Mafia 92

Camorra [Naples, Italy] 94

'Ndrangheta [Calabria, Italy] 94

The Corsicans 96

Russian Organized Crime (ROC) 97

Mexican Drug Cartels 99

Juarez Cartel 100

Sinaloa Cartel 101

Tijuana Cartel [Arrellano-Felix Organization] 101

Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas 102

Guadalajara Cartel [Amezcua-Contreras Organization] 103

Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) [Central America, Mexico, United States] 104

Asian Organized Crime Groups 105

Triads [China] 105

Big Circle Boys [China] 108

The Green Gang [China] 109

Tongs and Chinese Street Gangs [United States and Canada] 109

Yakuza [Japan] 111

Organized Crime Groups in Other Regions 114

Jamaican Posses [Caribbean, United Kingdom, United States] 114

Nigerian Gangs [Africa] 116

Hells Angels [United States, Western Europe, Canada, Australia] 117

References 119

4 Chronology 125

5 Biographical Sketches 149

Global Organized Crime Figures 149

Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia 149

Jose Miguel Battle 149

Viktor Bout 150

Klass Bruinsma 151

Tommaso Buscetta 151

Ibrahim Dawood 152

Pablo Emilio Escobar-Gaviria 153

Don Vito Cascio Ferro 154

Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa 154

Osiel Cardenas Guillen 155

Joaquin Guzman 155

Vyacheslav Ivankov 156

Daut Kadriovski 156

Yoshio Kodama 157

Luciano Leggio 157

Heriberto Lazcano 158

Arturo Beltran Leyva 158

Charles "Lucky" Luciano 159

Semion Mogilevich 159

Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno 160

Cheng Chui Peng 161

Ze'ev Rosenstein 161

Khun Sa 162

Charles Ghankay Taylor 162

Tu Yueh-sheng 163

Crime Fighters 163

Harry Anslinger 163

Thomas Dewey 164

Giovanni Falcone 164

Rudolph Giuliani 165

Walter Maierovitch 165

Cesare Mori 166

Giuseppe Petrosino 166

Joseph D. Pistone 167

Enrique Camarena Salazar 168

Researchers 168

Howard Abadinsky 168

Jay S. Albanese 169

Pino Arlacchi 169

Ko-lin Chin 170

T.J. English 170

Cyrille Fijnaut 170

James Finckenauer 171

Robert J. Kelly 171

Letizia Paoli 172

Kip Schlegel 172

Joseph Serio 172

Louise Shelley 173

Federico Varese 173

Klaus von Lampe 174

Michael Woodiwiss 174

6 Data and Documents 175

Facts and Statistics on Organized Crime 175

Defining Organized Crime 176

Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (1970) 176

United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000) 179

Categories of Transnational Criminal Offenses 181

Drug Trafficking 182

Potential Worldwide Heroin Production, in Metric Tons, 2002-2006 182

Estimated Andean Region Coca Cultivation 184

Estimated Amounts of Illicit Drugs Transiting or Produced in Mexico and Seized, 2000-2006 184

Gangs Affiliated with the Sinaloa, Gulf, Juarez, or Tijuana Cartels 185

The 20 Largest Cocaine Seizures Ever Reported 186

Drug Seizures in the Central Asian Region, 2005-2006 186

International Opium Convention of 1912 188

Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914 189

Marijuana Tax Act of 1937 191

The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961 192

The Merida Initiative, 2008 193

Weapons Trafficking 195

Inter-American Convention against the Illicit

Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, 1997 195

U.S. Senator Richard Lugar on Weapons Trafficking, 2009 198

End User Certificate (EUC) 199

Human Smuggling and Trafficking Legislation and Statistics 201

Human Trafficking and Smuggling Definitions 201

United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951 201

Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Article 3, Supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000 202

Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Article 3, Supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000 202

The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking Human Beings, 2005 202

Crackdown on Human Trafficking in 2005 203

Selected Average Costs for Human Smuggling, 2005 203

Services Required by Successful Trafficking Operations 204

Organized Crime Groups in the European Union (2005) 205

Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005) 205

Other Types of Organized Crime 208

Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, 2003 208

Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, 2006 210

Money Laundering 211

Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 212

Amounts of Money Reported Laundered in the Tri-Border Area (TBA), 1992-2001 (USD) 213

Combating Organized Crime in the United States 214

Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) 214

U.S. Patriot Act, 2001 215

U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, 2008 216

Quotations 217

On Russian Organized Crime 219

On Latin American and Mexican Drug Networks 220

On Drug Trafficking 221

7 Directory of Organizations 223

Academic and Research-Oriented Organizations 223

Governmental Organizations 227

Law Enforcement Organizations 236

Nongovernmental Organizations 244

Investigative Roundtable on Organized Crime 246

8 Resources 249

Print Resources 249

African Organized Crime 249

Asian Organized Crime 249

Canadian Organized Crime 252

European Organized Crime 253

Globalization and Organized Crime 255

Italian Organized Crime 259

Law Enforcement 263

Maritime Piracy 264

Organized Crime and Related Issues 265

Organized Crime-Terrorism Nexus 271

Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs 272

Russian and Soviet-Era Organized Crime 273

Trafficking and Criminal Networks 274

Nonprint Resources 276

Videos 276

Web Sites 282

Glossary 287

Index 293

About the Author 308

Editorial Reviews

Roth (criminal justice, Sam Houston State U.) provides a reference work on the history and development of global organized crime, the factors that influence it, and its connections to failed states, civil wars, political transitions and conflicts, and terrorism. The author also explores the varieties of organized crime (such as illegal drug trafficking, weapons, and snake heads), gang structure, law enforcement and barriers to international law enforcement, and criminal groups.” —Reference & Research Book News

“Because of its depth of exploration, this reference will probably be most useful for college students, but general-interest readers may find it informative.” —Library Jourbanal

“Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above.” —Choice

From the Publisher

Roth (criminal justice, Coll. of Criminal Justice, Sam Houston State Univ.) presents an informative general overview of international crime organizations and agencies trying to stop them. The book's opening chapter presents a brief history of international crime, beginning with piracy and slavery, then examining more modern criminal organizations. Other chapters explore how international crime can flourish in certain areas, what the author describes as failed states. Also covered are procedures taken by government and nongovernment agencies to try to halt criminal organizations, as well as the obstacles they face. The book also contains statistics about criminal activity, estimated profits from various activities, and texts of treaties pledging to combat it. The chapter presenting biographical sketches provides a useful if brief look at famous criminal leaders, law enforcement figures, and scholars in the field of international crime. This chapter is a somewhat selective list and readers may find their "favorite" crime figure missing (for example, Al Capone). Scholars can find more information both in the bibliography at the end of each chapter and the "Other Resources" chapter. Mostly arranged by geographic location, this section presents an annotated list of books, videos produced by various media sources, and reliable web pages. BOTTOM LINE Because of its depth of exploration, this reference will probably be most useful for college students, but general-interest readers may find it informative. Libraries that own Transnational Organized Crime (Routledge, 2009) probably won't want to buy a second book, but those with older resources may wish to upgrade.—James Langan, Univ. of Pittsburgh at Johnstown

Library Journal