Criminal Syndicates Research Articles

Breaking the cycle: Presenting insights and strategies to overcome violent conflicts hindering social cohesion and progress in South African communities

ABSTRACT This study addresses the pervasive issue of violent conflicts that undermine social cohesion and hinder progress within South African communities. Thus, the study explores the root causes and contributing factors of these conflicts to provide a foundation for developing effective, evidence-based intervention strategies. The investigation revealed five critical themes: (1) community awareness and perceptions of safety, (2) communication and information to ensure safety, (3) causes of violent conflicts in South Africa, (4) community engagement and membership influence and (5) Five Year/third-quarter 2019/2023 Crime Statistics. These themes underscore the complexity of violent conflicts in post-apartheid South Africa, where the persistence of a violent culture, pervasive corruption, and connections between criminal syndicates and government officials exacerbate the situation. The methodology used is desktop research that combined critical review of literature, reports and discussions of identified themes. The study is centred around the concept of Conflict Transformation, which plays a crucial role in fostering relationships and facilitating reconciliation processes in society. This includes grassroots initiatives and the participation of leaders at different levels. The study concludes that that violent conflicts can be mitigated through informed actions and strategic interventions. With these insights, this study offers recommendations as a framework for policymakers and practitioners to develop targeted measures aimed at fostering a safer, more cohesive society. The goal is to break the cycle of violent conflicts to pave the way for sustainable social progress in South African communities.

Risk and Reward: How Shadow Economies Impact the Financial Practices of Militant Organizations

ABSTRACT Violent non-state actors often maintain diverse economic portfolios to fund their operations and endure. While some tactics yield limited funds, such as opportunistic robberies or kidnappings, other activities such as smuggling and drug trafficking can produce consistently high returns, but require complex planning, coordination and execution. This study delves into the nexus between the economic environments in which militant groups operate and their funding tactics. We hypothesize that the magnitude of a state’s informal economy plays a significant role in shaping the fundraising choices of militant organizations. Specifically, groups operating within states with expansive shadow economies are likely to lean towards intricate, high-yield fundraising tactics over unpredictable, hit-or-miss methods. States with sprawling informal sectors often grapple with governance deficiencies, that provide fertile ground for collaborations between militant factions and criminal syndicates and enable them to pursue lucrative funding opportunities that demand connections and logistical infrastructure. We use the case study of FARC to illustrate our argument, and test our arguments quantitatively using group-level data on the funding activities of militant organizations around the world between 1998–2012.

International business theory and the criminal multinational enterprise

Criminal syndicates have been around for millennia. While some were founded to undertake cross-border activities, others have expanded internationally, evolving into sophisticated organizations that mimic multinational enterprises. The growing prevalence of criminal multinational enterprises (CMNEs) provides an opportunity to revisit international business theory, particularly internalization theory. We start by defining the CMNE, explaining its rise and interface with legitimate multinationals, and establishing similarities and differences with legitimate multinational enterprises. Then, we use the CMNE to “stress-test” the internalization theory of the multinational enterprise, set its boundaries, and offer theoretical development by way of extension, qualification, and refinement.

Qualitatively Examining and Analyzing Social Learning Theory in an Online Arena with a Focus on Sexting

Technology has completely revolutionized the way people live, work, study, and connect daily in the current world. The fast growth of the technological world has resulted in a greater requirement for theory and practice to successfully utilize the collaborative online arenas. However, there has been widespread sexual exploitation perpetrated by sophisticated organized criminal syndicates, a profitable sex business, and sexting due to frequent interaction with these online arenas. The word “sexting” is used to refer to the practice of receiving and transmitting sexually explicit images through various virtual communications, particularly in most internet environments. Although sexting is not limited to teenagers, their involvement and the impact on their lives have prompted significant concern among parents, schools, and the media. As a result, this article will examine the tiny but growing area of qualitative research on sexting to determine sexting’s impact on people’s well-being. Building on this, the primary goal of this report was to broaden the understanding of why a person engages in sexting by analyzing the theorized behavioral and cognitive mechanisms depicted by social learning theory and social opportunity structure devised to expand this existing, one-dimensional theoretical framework. The results of this study show that many individuals in online communities see sexting as “fun” and “amusing.” Besides, for adolescents unwilling to engage in actual sexual escapades, sexting may play an integral role in the sexual exploration period. Negative consequences for one’s well-being, such as reputational harm, are also addressed. Furthermore, according to the findings, scholars must continue to employ innovative, interactive techniques with the young generation to investigate the impacts of this sophisticated communication type.

The Legacies of Rebel Rule in Southeast Turkey

During armed conflict civilians often inhabit areas of contested governance or areas where rebel groups, NGOs, and/or criminal syndicates vie for authority and challenge the control of the state. As non-state actors confront the authority and legitimacy of the state, civilians become central players in that competition asked to uphold or undercut these alternative governance claims. In this paper we examine the long-term impact of rebel governance for citizens living in spaces where state governance is challenged. Leveraging survey data from areas historically under PKK control in Southeastern Turkey, we focus on the ways in which contestation over governance during the conflict influenced future trust and engagement with the Turkish state. Specifically, we find that individual engagement with rebel governance institutions and personal conflict experience are important factors in understanding the effects of contested governance. Our findings increase our understanding of the long-term impact of armed conflict on civilians and the potential lasting impacts of rebel governance on the post-conflict state.

Comparative Legal Analysis on Drug Trafficking

Narcotic drug and psychotropic substances have been used in the world in different form since long time. Similarly trading in these substances has been carried on over a considerable period of time. Narcotic drug and psychotropic substances have been regarded as one of the worst enemies of the humans since centuries and it is same in this scientific and technological age. Drug trafficking and abuse is a global phenomenon and has acquired the dimension of epidemic, affects the economic policy of the state, corrupt the system and is also detrimental to the future of the Country. The illicit trafficking and abuse of these drug is raising at alarming rates and if the trafficking of these substances are not prevented then the same will bring big disaster and mismanagement in the system of governance, as well as future of mankind would be questionable. The drugs are cultivated and manufactured in some parts of the globe and are trafficked to other parts of the world by international criminal syndicates to satisfy the demands of the consuming public. Trafficking in narcotics is, therefore, a big challenge faced by the world community and the same needs to be addressed in order to find some practicable and long lasting solution. Inspite of the concerted efforts by various enforcement agencies both at the national and international level, the problem of trafficking continues to remain a big issue. There are a number of reasons for this illicit trade to continue and thrive unabated and it is believed that the most important factor which makes trafficking in narcotics a highly attractive proposition is that it is a high profitable criminal activity.

Risk assessment for commercial crime and legal protection based on modularity-optimized LM and SCA-optimized CNN

With the Internet of Things (IoT) making significant strides in recent years, the challenges associated with data collection and analysis have emerged as a pressing concern in public security. When employed to tackle extensive criminal networks, the conventional deep learning model encounters issues such as heightened computational complexity, sluggish operational efficiency, and even system failures. Consequently, this research article introduces an intricately devised framework for detecting commercial offenses, employing a modularity-optimized Louvain-Method (LM) algorithm. Additionally, a convolutional neural networks (CNN)-based model is formulated to determine the feasibility of extending legal aid, wherein feature transformation is facilitated by utilizing TFIDF and Word2vec algorithms aligned with diverse legal text corpora. Furthermore, the hyper-parameter optimization is accomplished using the sine cosine algorithm (SCA), ultimately enabling the classification of relevant legal guidance. The experimental outcomes comprehensively affirm the exceptional training effectiveness of this model. The commercial crime identification model, grounded in modular optimization as proposed in this article, adeptly discerns criminal syndicates within the commercial trading network, achieving an accuracy rate exceeding 90%. This empowers the identification of such syndicates and bestows the judicial sphere with pertinent legal insights.

Crimes on the edge? Criminal activities and the crime-terror nexus in the Kenyan peripheries of the Indian Ocean

ABSTRACT Maritime security threats in the East African coastal peripheries are greatly interwoven with local crimes, economies, and socio-political lifestyles. How crimes are viewed, defined, and categorised as legal and illegal by the locals elucidates how the crime-terrorism nexus is contextualised in specific localities along the coastal seafronts. Often, financial-motivated crimes have the potential to go hand in hand with ideologically driven terrorist activities, where both syndicates operate discreetly in these communities. Based on an ethnographic study in Kenya, this article interrogates the local meanings and understandings of criminal activities in peripheral societies to determine how local crimes intersect with terrorism-related activities. The crisscrossing modus operandi of criminal syndicates and terrorist networks provides each other with safe havens, secrecy in operations, and a vulnerable base of supporters in environments where state-citizen relationships are deteriorating.

Transborder Crimes and the Challenges of Regional Integration in West Africa: Insights from the Nigeria-Benin Republic Borders

Transborder crimes and the operation of criminal syndicates have emerged as major threats to security and efforts to advance integration in West Africa. The proliferation of transborder criminal syndicates and rising criminal activities has made member states take steps to curtail these growing challenges, sometimeswith unintended consequences on the free flow of factors of production as enshrined in the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Protocol on Free Movement. Informed by the need to understand the challenges that transborder crimes pose within a specific context, this study examinestransborder criminal activities across the Nigeria-Benin Republic border. The study assesses three forms of criminal activities along the two countries’ borderlands and their implications for the security of the two countries concerned. The qualitative method was adopted, and data for the study was derived frommostly secondary and less primary sources. These criminal activities affect the national security of the two countries and impact efforts to advance integration in the sub-region. The study recommends the implementation of joint border security reforms.

Smart Ports: Is SADC positioned for Transition?

Whereas international trade was previously the preserve of organised business, the digital revolution and the increased popularity of online purchases on the internet has meant that international trade is now easily accessible at an individual level. At both a domestic and international level, the Covid-19 crisis amplified the pressure placed on businesses and consumers to adopt digital technologies, and this has been catalytic in moving the public towards greater reliance on online transactions and a movement away from traditional purchasing practices. Increased global trade at an individual level has put greater pressure on global supply chains, with every link in the supply chain being called upon to perform more effectively and efficiently. Ports, as gates of entry into domestic markets and transshipment routes, have been under increased pressure to conform to the needs of the international trading community. Greater trading volumes have put ports at risk of higher levels of crime by international and domestic criminal syndicates. The changing environmental landscape has meant that ships are being transformed for compliance purposes. Increased concern about water quality and impacts on sensitive habitats has put additional pressure on port authorities. These pressures have led to the creation of smart ports, which are fully automated, taking advantage of the latest technologies, blockchain and artificial intelligence (AI), and state of the art monitoring software and processes, while adhering to and promoting compliance with both the latest environmental protocols and the United Nations (UN) 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In this contribution to the conference, the discussion centres on the challenges facing ports in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, in the light of the latest global developments. Smart ports and the drivers towards greater changes are discussed and analysed. Finally, the state of ports in the SADC region are evaluated in the light of the latest global developments in order to determine whether our ports are prepared to transition and changes that can be made to facilitate the process.

Taming Violence: The Shanghai Green Gang and its Self-Legitimation Claims in the Early Twentieth Century

AbstractFrom the end of the nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, gangs and secret societies (banghui) exercised enormous influence on Chinese society and politics. The two portrayals ofbanghuiin historiography – as modern criminal syndicates that came out of an emerging capitalist economy or, alternatively, a cultural succession of traditional secret society – are so distinct that their proponents often speak past each other. Revisiting primary and secondary materials on the Shanghai Green Gang, one of the most activebanghuiorganizations during the Republican era (1911–49), this article aims to bridge the two understandings by focusing on the gang’s self-legitimation claims. Facing rapid social changes of the early twentieth century, I argue, the Green Gang reframed its use of violence as disciplinary, revolutionary, and nationalistic to gain public legitimation. Together with its involvement in state building and resource extraction, the gang’s cultural work contributed to its prominence and led multiple political authorities to promote it to an exceptional degree.

Revolt and Rule: Learning about Governance from Rebel Groups

AbstractRecent work in international relations has problematized state-centric assumptions of governance to explore variations in authority by a range of nonstate actors (e.g., nongovernmental organizations, criminal syndicates, gangs). This forum centers on the phenomenon of rebel group governance during civil wars and leverages the concept to advance our understanding of current theories and conceptualizations of governance. The nature of rebel organizations provides a unique opportunity for researchers to expand the state-centric focus on governance because rebel actors differ from states in their comparative position within the global state system, the contexts in which they operate, and their lack of legitimizing principles that permit consistent membership as a class of political actors. These differences allow for meaningful extensions of how we theorize and conceptualize governance beyond the state. Furthermore, variation across these differences allows our findings in the study rebel governance to speak directly to the broader literature in international relations on governance by state actors. In our introduction to this forum, we detail the ways in which rebel groups have chosen to address the central components of governance through a variety of governance strategies. We then devote three essays in the forum to the concepts of legitimacy, capacity, and territorial control. In each of the three essays, authors discuss the ways in which rebel governance problematizes and advances these concepts for the broader study of governance. In the conclusion, this forum synthesizes extant and emerging work in the field of rebel governance in order to raise new questions of the governance and state building literatures. In this way, we show how investigating governance by rebel groups in particular advances our understanding of governance more broadly.

Combating the Use of Cyanide Poison in Ivory Poaching

Malicious, commercial or retaliatory poisoning of wildlife is increasing across Africa, including the killing of elephants (Loxodonta africana) to supply the illegal ivory trade. Regional differences exist in the types of poisons used by poachers and in Zimbabwe cyanide has become more commonly employed in recent years – sourced illegally from its commercial use in the gold mining industry. Cyanide is potent, so can be rapidly lethal in small quantities and is also not too difficult or costly to source illegally. It is therefore a relatively low-risk option for any ivory poacher, even individuals not involved with criminal syndicates. On the positive side, however, cyanide has far fewer bio-accumulative and cycling properties in ecosystems than more frequently used poisons like pesticides. Detection and subsequent proof in a court of law, of the illegal use of cyanide in elephant carcasses, can be problematic to distinguish conclusively from other causes of sudden death. Therefore, proactive strategies to combat wildlife poisons are far more successful and the one proposed here against cyanide provides a good model. It encourages the establishment of strong intelligence networks to enable the arrest of poachers in possession of poisons before they are deployed in the field, and effective application of laws which now facilitate convictions for poaching. A key element in prosecution under recently revised Zimbabwean laws is proving that illegal possession of cyanide in the relevant circumstances includes the intent to use it for ivory poaching. Zimbabwe's legal experience in this respect could prove especially valuable to other countries facing similar threats of poison being used illegally to kill any wildlife species.

RESEARCH PAPER ON CYBERSECURITY

We live in the digital era. We use the internet and electronic media for paying bills, purchasing any items, watching a movie, doctor’s prescription, ordering food, and everything else. Due to this widespread use, there are innumerable incidents of security breach, fraud, malicious attack, etc. reported. To keep the internet age well-ordered and safe for users we need cybersecurity. It protects you from cyber-criminals, hackers, criminal syndicates, insiders, script kiddies, hacktivists and anybody who wants to damage you or your asset financially, mentally or engage in data theft online.

Customs Inspections Building a Culture of Proactive Curiosity: Thailand Case Study

The global drug trade continues to expand, straining public health and law enforcement resources, financing transnational organised crime and terrorism, and causing unfathomable harm to communities around the world. Law enforcement at our borders is the ‘first line of defence in the fight against cross-border illicit trade and the protection of our citizens and economies against criminal organisations operating internationally’ (Mikuriya, 2019, p. 4). Nowhere is this more evident than the Golden Triangle, where the borders of Thailand, Myanmar and Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR) intersect. This area is one of the primary international sources of narcotics, producing methamphetamine, heroin and opium. Criminal syndicates commonly try to export contraband from the Golden Triangle to other countries via Thailand, seeking to exploit Thailand’s large, well-connected ports and airports. Thus, Thai authorities are often the first line of defence against drug flows from this key area to the rest of the world. However, criminals are employing increasingly sophisticated concealment methods to evade detection. Faced with this constantly evolving challenge, Thai authorities are actively building a ‘Culture of Proactive Curiosity’, enhancing internal cooperation and sharing knowledge among staff to enhance risk management systems. Furthermore, the integration of internal, interagency, and international cooperation is vital to control borders, promote sustainable economic growth and protect the international trade supply chain.

Combatting Substandard and Counterfeit Medicines in the Nigerian Drug Market: How Industrial Pharmacists Can Rise Up to the Challenge.

Substandard and counterfeit medicines (SCMs) are a major public health threat in Africa. In Nigeria, the manufacture and distribution of substandard and counterfeit medicines in the drug market are booming, despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies to crack down on criminal syndicates over the years. The current situation has been exacerbated due to factors tied to unregulated open drug markets, lack of counterfeit detection technology, poor local pharmaceutical manufacturing capacity, and porous cross-border monitoring and surveillance systems. However, industrial pharmacists have a key role to play in combatting the production and circulation of SCMs in the Nigerian drug market. In this commentary, we examine the prevalence of SCMs in Nigeria and proffer feasible recommendations that industrial pharmacists can leverage to ensure its effective containment.

Migration and regional cooperation for development: ECOWAS in perspective

ABSTRACT The phenomenon of migration involves the movement of people from one milieu to another. Different reasons underscore this movement by people such as escape from conflict, quest for greener pasture, search for employment, and coercion from criminal syndicates. This paper focuses on the dynamics of intra-regional migration in West Africa. The importance of migration within West Africa is emphasized in the region’s development agenda, Vision 2020, which places importance on regional resource development. Ease of migration is central to harnessing the region’s human resource potential for development ends. At inception, migration within West Africa was governed by the ECOWAS protocol on free movement of persons, residence, and establishment adopted in 1979. Within this framework, migration is considered as an integral element in the economic integration of the region. Hence, the protocol provides the right of entry for 90 days, residence and establishment for citizens of ECOWAS member countries. The ECOWAS Common Approach on Migration adopted in 2008 currently governs the migration process in the region. In interrogating migration governance in West Africa, this paper identifies challenges, such as, defective state capacities and continued underdevelopment, protectionist policies, language, colonial vestiges, such as, currency, among others, as factors militating against the successful exploitation of the region’s productive population for development ends.

El mercado global de apuestas deportivas online: terreno fértil para fraudes y crímenes

Las nuevas tecnologías han modificado radicalmente la industria de las apuestas deportivas. En la actualidad, millones de personas apuestan en línea y en tiempo real, en una amplia gama de eventos que se desarrollan por todo el mundo. Este mercado global ha generado diversas oportunidades para el crimen y el fraude. En el panorama actual, el amaño de partidos ha evolucionado de ser un fenómeno histórico dentro del mundo de los deportes a un problema criminal global que involucra a organizaciones criminales transnacionales, a jugadores profesionales, a empresarios, árbitros, deportistas e intermediarios. A pesar de que la manipulación de competiciones se ha posicionado en la agenda pública como la mayor amenaza contra la sustentabilidad del deporte, la complejidad y extensión del nuevo mercado de apuestas generan áreas de riesgo para el delito que van más allá del simple amaño de partidos. El artículo tiene el objetivo pedagógico y práctico de explicar los cambios en el mercado y tipos de apuestas deportivas y describir las nuevas estructuras de oportunidad para el delito y el fraude que surgen del nuevo marco comercial. Todas estas cuestiones, poco estudiadas, abren una ventana de oportunidad para nuevas líneas de investigación multidisciplinar sobre deporte, criminalidad, economía y políticas públicas.

Re-Inventing Magnificence: Gaining Status from Contribution Not Consumption

Most luxury consumers link rarity to higher status. It may be a luxury car, yacht, haute-couture fashion and accessories, prestige holiday destinations such as Venice, or purchasing “exotic” wildlife products. For some, legal luxury is not enough to fulfil their status need and they take a step into a world of illegal consumption; this is the case for the buyers of rhino horn in Viet Nam. The desire for rare wildlife “products,” both legal and illegal is increasing rapidly. Legally, the desire to supply means species are both captive bred en masse and legally harvested from the wild to fulfil the demand. Illegally, criminal syndicates have moved beyond simply exploiting the existing demand to manufacturing new markets using the same principles luxury goods manufacturers have used for decades to trigger desire and purchasing decisions. Uncurtailed luxury consumption of exotic wildlife “products” is driving the illegal poaching and unsustainable harvesting of many species. Extinction is a direct result of the “vulgarity of desire” for luxury goods made from endangered species. Battling this trend requires a different approach to traditional conservation methods. Nature Needs More utilises an innovative approach to wildlife conservation, that of “demand reduction.” But demand reduction alone is not enough, there is a need to redirect desire away from both legal and illegal consumption of exotic and endangered species. Nature Needs More combines demand reduction campaigns in SE Asia with work to revive and reinvent Magnificence, a concept steeped in history but subverted by luxury in recent centuries. This paper outlines Nature Needs More’s research in the field, and the mechanisms by which we can provide elites with an alternative to fulfil their self-image and status needs based on contribution instead of consumption of our most fragile heritage.

Dynamic Asymmetry and Converging Threats

Terrorism is changing its paradigm. The superb adaptive capability and the diversification of the methods of financing terrorism give the chance to infiltrate into the political establishment of the most vulnerable countries. The terrorist and the criminal syndicates as allies have common methods, common structures but never merge their organisations. Their strategic goals remain different.