Syndicated crime in Britain?

Abstract

For some long time the discussion of "organized" crime was concerned principally with the question of the evidence of its existence in North America on a continentally organized scale, with supply links for certain commodities extending to Europe, Asia and elsewhere [1 ]. More recently, researchers of a more sceptical mind and a greater interest in interviewing criminals than consulting police and other public officials, have cast doubt upon the degree of organization between the local syndicates that undoubtedly exist, and have pointed out the functionality of the myth of the Mafia as an omnipotent, mysterious, continental organization for the law enforcement agencies whose survival depends upon an annual vote of public funds [2]. Some progress has also been made in defining more precisely what is referred to by organized crime, most notably by Albini [3], who has pointed out that most serious professional crime is well organized, and that to a greater or lesser extent the same personnel may be used in, for example, bank robberies [4] or pocket picking [5]. Although they may engage in other activities as well, the essential feature of the criminal syndicate distinguished by Albini, is the provision to a public of illicit goods or services on a continuous basis. Because it is outside the law and hence unable to call it in aid, the syndicate is also compelled to use force where necessary, or the threat of it, to control suppliers, customers and competitors. Further, because of its public visibility else it could not sell enough of its wares to make much profit the syndicate has to accommodate to its visibility to the police by paying them off or otherwise obtaining some hold over them to prevent arrest and prosecution. These three points constitute the characteristics Albini argues to be definitive of syndicated crime. In a later paper Albini considered the extent to which syndicated crime exists in Britain, on the basis of a year's fieldwork there [6]. In common with the conventional wisdom, he found little evidence that syndicated crime does exist in Britain (I will return to this evidence in detail below) and certainly none that it exists on the scale of North America. This conclusion is confirmed by Mack and Kerner in their review of serious crime in Europe [7]. Albini refers briefly to some of the reasons why this should be so, but does not explore this avenue very fully. The aim of this paper is to