Globalization and Transnational Organized Crime by Association Prof. Dr. Suyatno Ladiqi

• Introduction
• Transnational organized crime is big business.
• These international illegal markets are anonymous and more complex than ever and each year generate billions of dollars.
• In 2009 it was estimated to generate $870 billion - an amount equal to  1.5% of global GDP.
• That is more than six times the amount of official development assistance for that year, and the equivalent of close to 7% of the world's exports of merchandise.

• International Political Background

World Order Promise

• Peace of Westphalia. 
• Territorial Integrity.
• Political Independence.
• Equality in Law Inherent Right of self-defense.
• World War I.
• World War II.
• United Nations.

World Order The Present

• WW II generated a new middle class.
• The world became smaller.
• Democracy visible to all.
• 194 Nations.

End of Cold War

• Loosed tension originally confined by a bi-polar world.
• Weak states foster crime and conflict.
• All conflict becomes a breeding ground for corruption, organized and transnational crime and terrorism.
• Balkans, Iraq, Former Soviet client states, African conflict areas.

• Contemporary Threats
• International Terrorism 
• Official Corruption 
• Environment 
• Natural Disaster 
• WMD/Proliferation 
• Genocide 
• Inter-State Conflict
• Espionage 
• Economic Espionage 
• Supply Chain 
• Transnational Organized Crime 
• Front Companies 
• Cyber threats 
• Virtual Reality

• Different forms of Transnational Organized

1. Drug Trafficking

• Drug trafficking continues to be the most lucrative form of business for criminals, with an estimated annual value of $320 Billion. 
• In-2009, UNODC placed-the approximate annual worth of the global cocaine and opiate markets alone at $85 Billion and $68 Billion.

2. Illicit Trading in Firearms

• Illicit trading in firearms brings in around $170 million to $320 million annually and puts handguns and assault rifles in the hands of criminals and gangs. 
• It is difficult to count the victims of these illicit weapons, but in some regions (such as the Americas) there is a strong correlation between homicide rates and the percentage of homicides by firearms.

3. Human Trafficking

• Human trafficking is a global crime in which men, women and children are used as products for sexual or labour-based exploitation. 
• While figures vary, an estimate from the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2005 indicated the number of victims of trafficking at any given time to be around 2.4 million, with annual profits of about $32 billion. 
• Recent research on overall forced labour trends however would suggest that the scope of the problem is much bigger. 
• In Europe, the trafficking of mostly women and children for sexual exploitation alone brings in $3 billion annually and involves 140,000 victims at any one time, with an annual flow of 70,000 victims.

4. Smuggling of Migrants

• Smuggling of migrants is a well-organized business moving people around the globe through criminal networks, groups and routes. 
• Migrants can be offered a "smuggling package" by organized crime groups. they get along the route corresponds to the price they pay to their smugglers, and the treatment. 
• In the process of being smuggled, their rights are often breached and they can be robbed, raped, beaten, held for ransom or even left to die in some cases, when the risks get too high for their smugglers.
• Many smugglers do not care if migrants drown in the sea, die of dehydration in a desert or suffocate in a container. 
• Every year this trade is valued at billions of dollars. In 2009 some $6.6 billion was generated through the illegal smuggling of 3 million migrants from Latin America to North America, while the previous year 55,000 migrants were smuggled from Africa into Europe for a sum of $150 million.

5. Trafficking in Natural Resources

• Trafficking in natural resources includes the smuggling of raw materials such as diamonds and rare metals (often from conflict zones). 
• The trafficking of timber (legal logging) in South-East Asia generates annual revenues of $3,5 Billion.
• In addition to funding criminal groups, this strand of criminal activity ultimately contributes to deforestation, climate change and rural poverty.

6. The Illegal Trade in Wildlife

• The illegal trade in wildlife is another lucrative business for organized criminal groups, with poachers targeting skins and body parts for export to foreign markets. 
• Trafficking in elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts from Africa and South- East Asia to Asia produces $75 million in criminal profits each year and threatens the exitence of some species. 
• Organized crime groups also deal in live and rare plants and animals threatening their very existence to meet demand from collectors or unwitting consumers.
• According to the WWF (World Wildlife Fund), traffickers illegally move over 100 million tons of fish, 1.5 million live birds and 440,000 tons of medicinal plants per year.

7. The Sale of Fraudulent Medicine

• The sale of fraudulent medicines is a worrying business, as it represents a potentially deadly trade for consumers.
• Piggybacking on the rising legitimate trade in pharmaceuticals from Asia to other developing regions, criminals traffic fraudulent medicines from Asia, in particular to South-East Asia and Africa to the value of $1.6 billion. 
• instead of curing people they can result in death or cause resistance to drugs used to treat deadly infectious diseases like malaria and tuberculosis. 
• In addition to traditional trafficking methods, criminals continue to build a lucrative online trade in fraudulent medicines targeting developed and developing countries alike, which can also lead to health implications for consumers.

8. Cybercrime

• Cybercrime encompasses several areas, but one of the most profitable for criminals is identity theft, which generates around $1 billion each year. 
• Criminals are increasingly exploiting the internet to steal private data, access bank accounts and fraudulently attain payment card details.

• Implications
• While transnational organized crime is a global threat, it's effects are felt locally. 
• When organized crime takes root it can destabilize countries and entire regions, thereby undermining development assistance in those areas. 
• Organized crime groups can also work with local criminals, leading to an increase in corruption, extortion, racketeering and violence, as well as a range of other more sophisticated crimes at the local level. 
• Violent gangs can also turn inner cities into dangerous areas and put citizens' lives at risk.

• What can we do about organized crime?
• COORDINATION: Integrated action at the international level is crucial in identifying, investigating and prosecuting the people and groups behind these crimes. 
• EDUCATION AND AWARENESS-RAISING: Ordinary citizens should learn more about organized crime and how it affects everyday lives. Express your concerns to policy and decision makers so that this truly global threat is considered by politicians to be a top priority among the public's major concerns. Consumers also have a key role to play: know what you are purchasing, do so ethically and make sure that you do not fuel organized crime.
• INTELLIGENCE AND TECHNOLOGY: Criminal justice systems and conventional law enforcement methods are often no match for powerful criminal networks. Better intelligence methods need to be developed through the training of more specialized law enforcement units, which should be equipped with state of the art technology. 
• ASSISTANCE: developing countries need assistance in building their capacity to counter these threats. An important toot that can help with this is the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which has been ratified by 170 parties and provides a universal legal framework to help identify, deter and dismantle organized criminal groups.