Terrorism and Organized Crime

Abstract

IntroductionThere is little question that criminal activity has been and continues to be a lucrative source of funding for all kinds of terrorists. However, there is still ongoing disagreement about the extent of overlap between the worlds of terrorism and organized crime (OC). Confusion over the nature of the threat in turn acts as a barrier to developing more effective countermeasures. This article attempts to clarify the situation, beginning with an examination of the similarities and differences between terrorists and criminals, including profiles, methods, systems of organization, and motives. In other words, the who, what, how and why of terrorism and OC. This is followed by a discussion of the crime-terror nexus and the concept of convergence, i.e. the relationships between the two. The chapter then concludes with a brief discussion of implications for counter-terrorism (CT) and law enforcement (LE).Similarities and DifferencesBy systematically breaking down the similarities and differences between terrorists and criminals we can gain a better appreciation of who they are, what they do, how they operate and why they do what they do. We can then better understand the parallels between these two worlds as well as the potential for cooperation.ProfilesIt is often thought that factors which seem to protect against involvement in crime (namely, being married, better educated and of higher occupational status), fail to reduce the likelihood of involvement in terrorism.2 On the one hand, higher socioeconomic status may reduce the motivation to engage in criminal activity for financial gain, while being married can counter negative social influence. By contrast, the ideological/political motives of terrorists appear to override these factors. Nevertheless, this overlooks the tremendous diversity among both terrorists and criminals. The bottom line is that while the single biggest risk-factor for involvement in either terrorism or crime is being a young male, there is no unique demographic profile of either population and there is a great deal of overlap between the two.MethodsTo appreciate the extent of overlap in terms of terrorist and criminal methodology, it is useful to begin by breaking down the different types of crime that terrorists engage in, in order to achieve different objectives:1.Inherent / violentActs of terrorism inherently involve a variety of different criminal offences relating to the use of violence, often including (but not limited to) murder, assault, threatening behavior, property damage, kidnap and weapons / explosives offences. In fact, because the majority of terrorist behaviors are already proscribed in law, there is an argument to be made that specialized CT legislation is unnecessary. While this is open to debate, there is no doubt that organized criminals commit all of these same offences. However, criminal use of violence, generally speaking, is more discriminate 3 and more deliberately covert, whereas terrorists strive for publicity. In connection with this (as discussed below) the motivation or purpose is also different.2. Preparation / FacilitationTerrorists must frequently break the law in order to prepare or facilitate attacks. Offences here can include arms trafficking, forgery, immigration violations, smuggling, and corruption. When it comes to these, and other ostensibly non-violent crimes aimed at making attacks possible, terrorists are much more similar to criminals in the sense that they want to remain under the radar.3. FundingMuch of the discussion of terrorists' involvement in crime tends to focus on crimes committed for financial gain. Although drug-trafficking is the most lucrative and widely documented criminal endeavor that terrorists are involved in, other profitable offences include kidnap-for-ransom (KFR), smuggling, robbery, extortion, fraud, counterfeiting, theft, trading in illicit goods, illegal mining and money laundering. …