Organized Crime Research Articles

All is not lost: Organized crime and social capital formation

We investigate how institutional quality influences social capital by exploiting a policy designed to fight organized crime in Italy: the dismissal of city councils following criminal infiltration into local governments. To measure social capital, we employ a novel, fine-grained indicator based on Italy’s 5 per Mille provision, which allows taxpayers to allocate a portion of their income tax to non-profit organizations. Using a difference-in-differences strategy, we find that city council dismissals lead to a significant increase in social capital. We document that the perceived strengthening of law enforcement is the primary mechanism through which city council dismissals enhance social capital.

High Security and Special Regime in the Albanian Penitentiary System

The Albanian penitentiary system underwent significant transformation in 2020, increasingly reflecting the implementation of a progressive treatment approach aligned with the social risk posed by the convicted individual and aimed at their re-education for the purpose of rehabilitation and reintegration into society. Through this paper, we aim to present an overview of the Albanian penitentiary system according to the provisions of Law No. 81/2020 "On the Rights and Treatment of Convicted Prisoners and Detainees," with a broad focus on the analysis of legal provisions regulating high-security penitentiary institutions and the implementation of the special regime in high-security institutions. This regime, similar to the 41 bis regime provided by Italian legislation, is closely linked to the penal policy pursued by the Albanian state in the context of combating and preventing organized crime. The adoption of this regime aims to maintain order and security by fundamentally preventing leaders and members of organized crime from having contact with their organization and other criminal organizations operating in Albanian territory, thereby inhibiting them from issuing orders from the penitentiary institution where they are held. Received: 21 July 2024 / Accepted: 24 October 2024 / Published: 05 November 2024

Female Offenders in Human Trafficking: Analyzing Roles in a Spanish Sample

Offenders convicted of trafficking human beings for sexual exploitation involve a high percentage of women compared to other similar offenses. Previous studies have searched for explanations for the dynamics of the illegal sex market and the coercion experienced by victims during the process of exploitation and exit. This article analyses the content of 58 judicial decisions involving a sample of 148 women convicted in Spain of trafficking in human beings between 2017 and 2024. Two main dimensions are explored: the criminal organizations performing the sexual exploitation phase in Spain and the characteristics, positions, and roles of women traffickers within the criminal organizations. Half of the sample occupies leadership roles, while the other half consists of supporters, especially in larger trafficking networks. Regarding the positions and roles of women offenders, supporters and partners in crime are at higher risk of being coerced due to the nature of their roles or partnerships.

Organised Violence, Inequality and Work: Violence Specialists as a Classed Occupation

Scholars have long debated what is the role of inequalities in organised violence, but the causal mechanisms remain unclear. I argue that mainstream approaches (e.g. deviance, subcultures, grievances, rational choice and Marxism) fall short because they overlook that organised violence is an intensive form of work. These perspectives often exoticise individuals involved in violence for profit or political purposes. Violence is not a deviant feature of social life but an integral part of collective action. By applying occupational lenses, I position those engaged in violence as a specialised class of manual workers recruited in the protection labour market. Scholars can acknowledge the occupational stratification observed before in research about organised violence by understanding violence specialists as workers. This essay explores how the sociology of work can enhance our understanding of inequality reproduction within criminal organisations, guerrillas, armies, police forces, mercenaries and private military companies.

The relationship between social order and crime in Nottingham, England

AbstractStudies of organized crime in cities have traditionally concentrated on the global south or ethnic enclaves and traditional mafia territories within the global north. Here this study turns its attention to governance-type organized crime in the English city of Nottingham, where the main protagonists are white and British born. It investigates whether such a gang can govern communities by reducing ordinary crimes. We conduct in-depth interviews with local officials and analyze a novel dataset of the public’s phone calls to the Nottingham police from 2012 to 2019, encompassing spatio-temporal information and police-labeled crime types. We identify Nottingham’s ward of Bestwood as the site of an entrenched, governance-type organized crime group, whereas its most similar ward, Bulwell, is not. Further comparative analyses indicate that certain ordinary crime rates are significantly lower in Bestwood than in Bulwell. We conclude that governance-type organized crime can emerge in a country with a high capacity to police and in a nonimmigrant, less affluent community. Our findings suggest that traditional explanations of the emergence of criminal governance in cities need to be revisited.

ANALYSIS OF INTERNATIONAL LEGISLATION REGARDING REGULATION OF THE MANIFESTATIONS OF CORRUPTION IN PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

The article is devoted to the analysis of international legislation on the regulation of manifestations of corruption in public administration. The introductory part states that corruption affects all spheres of social life, contributes to the spread of organized crime, creates social tension, creates uncertainty among the population in the ability of the authorities to implement organizational and practical measures to overcome the systemic crisis and revive Ukraine. Various approaches to the interpretation of the concept of «corruption» have been presented, in particular that it is both a «struggle for obtaining the maximum benefit» and «a social evil that spreads a negative image, or public crimes that usually intensively spread a negative image and practices», or «abuse state powers to create personal benefits» etc. It is noted that developing countries are more susceptible to the influence of corruption for various reasons, including the following: total poverty and low wages in the public sector; the absence of any risk-sharing mechanisms, such as insurance and a developed market; opportunities provided by complex, ill-defined, constantly changing and inadequate rules and regulations; lack of properly established laws and principles. A number of different international acts (conventions) adopted to combat corruption in a strategically planned manner are analyzed. It was emphasized that the introduction of changes in the legislative sphere took place on the basis of global surveys. It was concluded that the process of systematic updating and analysis of the international legal field contributes to the development of capacity, and also establishes benchmarks for the effectiveness of public administration, which can be monitored and measured. In view of global achievements, there is a need to develop and adopt a national system of integrity, which will provide a basis for analyzing both the causes of corruption and the adequacy and effectiveness of anti-corruption reforms.

Bifurcations in a Model of Criminal Organizations and a Corrupt Judiciary

Let a population be composed of members of a criminal organization and judges of the judicial system, in which the judges can be co-opted by this organization. In this article, a model written as a set of four nonlinear differential equations is proposed to investigate this population dynamics. The impact of the rate constants related to judges’ co-optation and ex-convicts’ recidivism on the population composition is explicitly examined. This analysis reveals that the proposed model can experience backward and transcritical bifurcations. Also, if all ex-convicts relapse, organized crime cannot be eradicated even in the absence of corrupt judges. The results analytically derived here are illustrated by numerical simulations and discussed from a crime-control perspective.

An old recipe, with a new spice: Union avoidance tactics adopted by organized crime when expanding in new territories

In its territories of origin, organized crime entrenched itself in the local institutional context by either colluding with or (often violently) silencing unions. Criminal organizations are today ‘discreetly’ expanding into new territories, and these tactics no longer fit with the strategy of the so-called ‘silent mafia’ when dealing with trade unions. This article explores the tactics that an Italian criminal organization (‘Ndrangheta) adopted in a new territory in its relations with unions in the labor market and workplace, as part of a broader strategy that ‘Ndrangheta pursued in relating with a wide set of local actors. The longitudinal case study, based on judicial documents and interviews with local informants, shows that the ‘Ndrangheta abandoned traditional tactics. It instead engaged in union avoidance by imitating tactics adopted by legal employers (the ‘old recipe’) made more effective through the violent potential of its criminal nature (a ‘new spice’).

COMBATING ORGANIZED CRIME IN UKRAINE: CURRENT PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS

This article presents the findings of a state-of-the-art analysis of Ukrainian legislation in the field of combating organized crime. The authors focus on specific features of meeting Ukraine’s obligations under the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, as well as implementing the provisions of the National Security Strategy of Ukraine (2020), the Strategy of Safeguarding State Security (2022) and the Strategy for Combating Organized Crime (2020). The special services of some foreign states continue intelligence and subversive activities against Ukraine, try to feed separatist sentiments, and use organized criminal groups and corrupt officials to strengthen their influence. In this context, the authors emphasize the need to safeguard state security by intensifying the fight against terrorism and organized crime, and counteracting the erosion of the state apparatus and local self-government bodies, which occurs due to the spread of systemic corruption in state bodies. The authors conclude that Ukraine lacks a systematic approach to combating organized crime, which is manifested through an inadequate level of interaction among law enforcement agencies in the relevant fields, an outdated and unbalanced regulatory framework for combating organized crime, an imperfect procedure for monitoring the criminogenic situation, a lack of a consolidated objective methodology for assessing threats from organized crime, and a reliance on obsolete forms and methods of combat. These factors aggravate problems related to organized crime and the low level of effectiveness of the fight against it. There is a need to consider the establishment of special bodies combating organized crime and the division of the fight against organized crime into strategic and tactical levels. The authors propose to entrust the fight against organized crime at the strategic level to a special-purpose state body with law enforcement functions.

«Simple» Criminal Law Measures to Combat Organized Crime and Consequences of their Application

Effective criminal law measures to counter organized crime should be based on an adequate understanding of this phenomenon and should comply With the principles, approaches and traditions of the national legal system. The disposition of the article 210.1 «Occupying the highest position in the criminal hierarchy» introduced in the Special Part of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation is excessively concise and does not correspond to the fundamental principle of legal certainty of criminal law norms. Despite the declared successes in its application, the practice of judicial review of criminal cases of crimes is ambiguous. In addition, the conviction of a «thief-in-law» («criminal lord») and his incarceration does not deprive him of either a criminal «title» or real power in the criminal world. The low effectiveness of criminal law measures is explained by the fact that the «thieves’ world» and its criminal hierarchy headed by «thieves-in-law» are neither a criminal community (criminal organization), nor an organized group or any other form of complicity listed in Article 35 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. It is proposed, having eliminated terminological redundancy, to call it a criminal community, in contrast to the forms of complicity provided for in Part 4 of Article 35 and Article 210 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation that are more correctly called criminal organizations. The paper defines a criminal community in its new understanding, and proposes a set of criminalized acts to effectively counter this phenomenon.

Neo-Institutional Analyses of Criminal Legal Organizations and Policies

Since emerging in the late 1970s and early 1980s, neo-institutional theory has been a popular framework for understanding law, legal institutions, and policies on the books and in action. Neo-institutional theory has been particularly useful for explaining diverse criminal justice phenomena, from changes in penal law and policy statements to on-the-ground practices across police departments, courts, carceral facilities, and community corrections. This review describes how scholars of the criminal legal system have used neo-institutional theory and where there is room for further utilization. Additionally, it discusses how and why neo-institutional theory is particularly useful for sociolegal scholars, and not only those studying criminal legal organizations and policies.

Complex Hybrid Governance in the South American Borderlands: The Agency of Grassroots Actors in Transforming Violent Conflicts

ABSTRACTThis article examines the role of grassroots actors in regions of violent conflict where competing governance systems exists. Specifically, it focuses on those living in the borderlands of South America, where alternative forms of governance may be created in response to violence between state and criminal organizations. In this context, how can grassroots actors overcome protracted armed violence and establish new, legitimate forms of social governance? To explore this question, our methodology employs data triangulation, combining literature, news reports, and fieldwork data collected in two violence‐prone territories: the borderlands of Cúcuta (Colombia)/Táchira state (Venezuela) and Pedro Juan Caballero (Paraguay)/Ponta Porã (Brazil). We argue that grassroots actors can develop innovative and alternative governance structures that differ from those of the state and criminal groups. This research also contributes to the ongoing discussion about the agency of local actors in violent conflicts between nonstate actors and the state. The findings demonstrate that grassroots actors in violent border regions can actively transform conflicts and build peace, particularly in areas such as migration, security, health, and education.

Demonstration of an End-To-End Workflow Using Atmospheric Solids Analysis Probe-Mass Spectrometry (ASAP-MS) With Real-Time Sample Recognition Software for the Identification of Falsified and Substandard Pharmaceutical Tablets.

Counterfeit pharmaceuticals are a subclass of falsified and substandard medicines. They are illicit products, purporting to be genuine medicines, that are made and sold by criminal organisations. They represent a significant risk to patient safety, as well as a financial and reputational threat to the companies who make the genuine medicines. It is essential to have analytical methods to determine if suspect samples seized by law enforcement agencies are counterfeit, with mass spectrometry (MS) being a commonly used technique in forensic cases. Speed-to-answer is vital to enable law enforcement agencies to progress investigations, as well as for pharmaceutical companies so that they can notify health authorities of the circulation of counterfeit medicines. In this work, an atmospheric solids analysis probe (ASAP)-MS was assessed as a fast and simple-to-use approach to analyse tablets on a commercially available instrument. Complementing the analytics with real-time sample recognition software demonstrated that the classification of tablets as authentic or counterfeit could be achieved quickly (< 2 min) and without the need for MS interpretation skills. Authentication of five tablets (two authentic pharmaceuticals, one placebo and two counterfeits containing the correct active pharmaceutical ingredient [API] but at lower quantities than in the genuine medicine and with different excipient contents) of unknown origin was achieved with 100% success. This creates the opportunity to deploy the end-to-end workflow as a tool for non-scientists, such as law enforcement officers and border control staff, for use in-territory to obtain fast answers and make data-led decisions to control the illegal trading of medicines.

Determinants of crimes committed by members of criminal organizations in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors

The article, based on the study of judicial practice and scientific literature, examines the determinants of crimes committed by members of criminal organizations in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors. According to the results of the study, it was established that the actions of members of criminal organizations in the sphere of circulation of narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances, their analogues and precursors are determined by a complex of numerous factors, in particular: socio-economic (low level of socio-economic security of part of the population), moral and psychological (moral degradation of a certain part of society, its positive attitude to the use of prohibited substances, to the possibility of quick enrichment through violation of moral and legal norms), medical (drug addiction), socio-political (corruption, lack of a State strategy for drug policy in Ukraine), organizational and managerial (lack of forces, means and tools for combating these crimes, ineffectiveness of pre­trial investigation and trial in relevant criminal proceedings, low level of professionalism of some of the specified employees, difficulties of proving organized drug business operating on the Internet, problems of bringing these subjects to criminal responsibility), legal (imperfect grounds for criminal liability of members of organized criminal associations; shortcomings of the criminal procedural legislation, which determines the procedure for detection, pre-trial investigation and trial of criminal offenses, which allow the prosecution to complicate these processes; the system of punishments for committing them, as well as the system of execution and serving of such punishments, is ineffective).

International migration in the context of financial and economic security: The role of public administration in the development of national economy, education, and human capital

The article outlines trends in today global migration and its consequences for economic growth and security. Both positive and negative sides of ongoing processes are analyzed, in particular the effect of remittances on the one side and money laundering and terrorism financing due to activities of criminal organizations involved in migrant smuggling on the other side. Accordingly, challenges and goals for national public administrations are indicted.

Customs Intelligence Strategy Encountering Smuggling Threats in a Changing World

This research analyzes the intelligence strategies employed by the Directorate General of Customs and Excise (DGCE) in Indonesia to combat the evolving landscape of smuggling in the era of Industry 4.0. The study aims to identify and analyze current intelligence practices and subsequently formulate effective strategies for early detection, prevention, and suppression of smuggling activities. Employing a qualitative research methodology, the study utilizes NVivo 14 software to analyze data gathered from relevant sources. The findings reveal a significant increase in the complexity of smuggling operations, characterized by the involvement of transnational organized crime syndicates, sophisticated trade-based money laundering schemes, and the exploitation of electronic commerce (e-commerce) platforms. Despite these challenges, the research indicates that customs intelligence has not been fully maximized as a tool for economic security. Therefore, this study proposes the adoption of a dynamic and adaptive customs intelligence strategy. This strategy encompasses crucial aspects such as strengthening legal frameworks, optimizing organizational structure, enhancing human resource capabilities, and modernizing intelligence facilities and infrastructure. With implementing these recommendations, the DGCE can optimize the role of customs intelligence in safeguarding national economic security and effectively enforcing customs and excise laws in the face of increasingly sophisticated smuggling threats.

Evaluation of Human Trafficking and its Causes in Kosovo

The occurrence of human trafficking is a very harmful and disturbing crime for Kosovo and the countries of the region, which are encountering this criminal issue that seriously attacks human rights. Human trafficking is often associated with organized criminal groups that operate outside the state borders of Kosovo, making the fight against this occurrence much more challenging for the mechanisms that combat this type of crime. This research paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of human trafficking in Kosovo, evaluating the contributing factors and assessing the effectiveness of existing legal frameworks. It also offers actionable recommendations for enhancing collaboration among key stakeholders. The method used in this research is a literature review, systematically analyzing academic literature, reports, and relevant documents on human trafficking. The findings indicate that human trafficking severely deteriorates the socio-economic conditions in Kosovo and reinforces organized crime networks. Therefore, close cooperation at both regional and international levels is essential for effectively addressing this criminality, which remains a pressing concern in Kosovo and beyond.

The problem of criminal charisma: State authority and the politics of narcocultura in Mexico's drug war

AbstractThis article examines Mexico's “war on drug trafficking” through its affective and ideological dimensions. By ethnographically exploring two sites of official representations of organized crime in Mexico City—the Secretariat of Defense's Drug Museum and the Institute to Give Back What Was Stolen from the People—I analyze the strategies through which the Mexican state acknowledges and addresses criminality's charisma as a key challenge to its authority. In these official representations, the drug world becomes visible in partial and selective ways, such as through drug traffickers’ confiscated possessions, which project ideas of extravagant capitalist consumption and transgressive social mobility. The state's inevitable failure to contain or redirect this criminal charisma is a symptom of a deeper problem. Such charisma is a key element constituting organized crime as a political actor that menaces state power. It does so not only through violence, but also by means of its capacity to align and organize publics ideologically by doubling and mimicking the state's forms of meaning‐making and valuation.

Analysis of Psychotropic Substance Seizures Occurring in 2017–2022 in Tamaulipas, a Mexican Border State with USA

The trafficking of illegal substances is a global issue. Tamaulipas, a northeastern state in Mexico, is strategically located for drug trafficking to the United States by organized crime. In this study, drug seizure events conducted by the Mexican government in the main cities of Tamaulipas between 2017 and 2022 are analyzed. It was noticed that there was a decrease in events from 2017 to 2020, followed by a slight increase in 2021. Marijuana was the most seized drug, with cocaine and amphetamines following behind. The frequency of drug seizure events was higher in the border cities of Nuevo Laredo, Reynosa, and Matamoros due to their international commercial bridges with the USA. Nuevo Laredo and Reynosa showed a high amount of marijuana seized. In Matamoros, a coastal city, the quantity of cocaine seized was the highest. Results suggest that substances seized were intended to be illegally transported to the USA through Mexican border cities.

WHITE COLLAR CRIME AS ORGANIZED INSTITUTIONAL CRIME

The object of treatment in this paper is the problem of detection and treatment of corruption. There is no single definition for corruption and in this case it is limited to the corruption practices of white-collar crime, being a link to institutional organized crime, with confirmation of the suspicion of crime in the Prosecutor's Office - especially that of serious crimes which is the main pillar of the state in this right to enforce the law and fight the phenomenon, as well as the state courts. Its meaning is broad and cannot be defined only by accepting or giving a bribe to an official or buying it, as is often practiced. Corruption is often carried out by a highly organized group of people, which gives us elements of institutional organized crime. Since corruption, especially political corruption, is carried out by highly qualified and professional persons, this greatly complicates the operation of the law, detection, investigation, prosecution and judgment of authoritative persons, decision-makers, due to the great powers to hide the traces of corruption and especially the crime of money laundering, being a serious consequence and with great material and moral damage for the citizens of a state. Due to the problems leading to the discovery and proof of this crime and due to the way it is committed, the secret nature, corruption is part of the crimes where the rate of proof is extremely low or even definitely impossible. The work is mainly elaborated on the problems encountered not only by the agencies, the bodies that have a mandate to prevent and fight this negative phenomenon in our society, but also the media and especially the citizens who are involved in harm from authoritative persons and state institutions. A major problem where the citizen there is no address for orientation and when the organized Institutional group usurps the State Institutions and in some form is created as a Mafia group.