TRANSNATIONAL ORGANISED AND CORPORATE CRIME
| Subject: | ⚖️ Law |
| Type: | Informative Essay |
| Pages: | 11 |
| Word count: | 2955 |
| Topics: | 🏛️ Justice, Human Trafficking, 🔪 Crime |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
The paper seeks to discuss ways in which the global structural conditions influenced the prevalence of transnational organized crime. Research has revealed recent developments in transnational organized crime which are solely influenced by the global structural condition. As a result, new trends have emerged on the transnational organized crime. For this reason, most of the discussion is based on the influence of global structural conditions on the transnational organized crimes which was specifically carried out by the law enforcement bodies. This is because the law enforcement bodies have been concerned with the nature of people involved in the organized crime (Guthega, 2016). Therefore, there appears to be a wide consensus that both the loosely structured and highly structured global conditions, directly and indirectly, influences such transnational structured crime. As such, a number of law enforcement bodies have argued that the highly structured global conditions are losing out to the loosely structured organizations. For instance, according to the European Commission, the conventional hierarchical structure is undergoing replacements by the loose network of criminal bodies.
Connections between the Emerging Business Practices
The conventional organized crime is highly equipped with the global structural prerequisite which makes the transnational organized crimes to be easily linked with the emerging business practices (Karstedt and Bussmann, 2000) because of the congruent structural patterns. The different forms of organized crime network tend to transfer specific areas of the patrimonial feudal patterns within the global markets in a similar manner as the conventional business cultures that invade the legal global business markets. For instance, the Yakuza from Japan is typically organized in hierarchical relations of loyalty and allegiance. Additionally, the Italian mafias and the Chinese Triads have highly extended their kinship network that reaches the entire continent (Obokata, 2010). This has enabled them to embed in ethnic enclaves and transacting abroad. The patrimonial pattern is featured for the Triads while on the other hand, the Mafia have combined the chain relations and the patron-client relations which are a result of the global structure conditions.
In 2004, the High-Level Panel of the United States found that the transnational organized crime is increasingly operating via the fluid networks instead of the traditional formal hierarchies. This improvement has been brought about by the changes in global structural conditions. This form of arrangements provides the transnational organized crime with flexibility, longevity, and low visibility (Loskutovs, 2016). Additionally, in 2006, the Organised Crime Threat Assessment Europol noted that the organized crime is increasingly becoming dynamic and heterogeneous in a structural manner, making them move towards the loose networks instead of the pyramidal monoliths. According to the research that was done by the United States Department of Justice Strategy to Combat the International Organised Crime, the transnational organized criminals have resorted to the loose network structures and are moving slightly away from the conventional hierarchical structures.
The above illustrations show that the global structural conditions represent a commendable development across various disparate activities (Gutieva, 2016). This activity range from child pornography rings to human trafficking. The development is associated with the fact that human beings always have this tendency to organize themselves and do things in a spontaneous manner when there is no order from the higher authorities. When the state fails to regulate both the people and the activities, they tend to fall under the guidance and control of domestic actors who then defend their power from acquisitions by the state. When the government lacks the formal apparatus and access to justices, the domestic actors tend to settle such disputes with aspects of violence (Strategy to combat transnational organized crime, 2011). The global structural conditions have enabled the organized crime to grow in areas and geographical communities which have been neglected by the government. Such places include the slum and immigrant neighborhoods. The communities that are socially excluded tend to respond to the lack of opportunity by developing their own credit sources, security, and job access. Ones they are highly unregulated, the schemes are prone to devolve to loan sharking.
Horizontal and Vertical Network
The global sub-structures within the patrimonial feudal patterns have supported the horizontal and the vertical networks within the transnational crime. The various global structures allow the transnational organized group to calculate and control all the illegal business transactions on all the rankings and level of the transnational organized crime. On the lower limit of the national and the domestic drug market, they tend to provide that protection for the riskier transactions (Karstedt and Bussmann, 2000). On the other hand, the higher levels of the financial and corporate crime, they tend to come with that trust and solidarity for all the other peers who are high ranking.
Because of global structural conditions, the transnational organized crimes are now embedded in the spread and horizontal networks existing between various organizations (Obokata, 2010). On the other hand, it has resulted in transnational organized crimes to embed in vertical networks which are established to the lower level of the organized and street criminal activities. In the same manner, as the organized crime is the linkage between the elite and the street crime. It acts as the connection between the national domestic crime scene and the transnational local scene. When it comes to the national level transnational crime in the global market, the concept relies on the relations of solidarities, trust, and allegiance.
The global structure conditions on a similar move, come up with the identity of the structural network in both the illegal and legal markets which gives rise to a strong connection between the legal and illegal business markets (Adamoli, 1998). Such legal and the illegal transaction are connected within the similar clan, peer-to-peer group and also the patron and the client relationship (Truong and Gasper, 2013). Those people that are involved in the transaction tends to slip from legal transactions to illegal transaction and occupations within these forms of global structures. The various substructure of the feudal complex is connected to the specific forms of transnational and corporate crimes. The patron to client relationship is common in conventional organized crimes.
The transnationally organized crime groups are different by varied names globally and the majority of the active groups that currently exist have been there for many generations. As a stronger organization, these transnationally organized groups have been conservative especially hierarchical and clannish (Truong and Gasper, 2013). Their greatest concern has been local, offering for and exploitation of their parent communities, while at the same time combating both their rival groups and the state. They are known to engage in various criminal activities within their locality instead of specializing in a specific service or commodity. The global structural conditions have proven to be a challenge at the same time an opportunity for this transnationally organized group. Although majority have taken part in transnational trafficking for many years, their global structures have enabled them to miss some emerging global opportunities. This has resulted in too many authorities to think that they are replaced by smaller but more flexible group. One of the most common notions is that their networking patterns are one of the adaptive responses to the pressure of the law enforcement on the visible conventional hierarchies normally the next generation in transnational organized crimes. The traditional organized groups are normally weakened by repeated arrest and other seizures. As a result, the narrative will go on and on where the market gaps will then be filled by the low profile and the agile groups. This evolution in the transnational crime would act in a parallel manner to the development of certain cell structure in terrorism.
Evolution of the Transnational Organised Crime
Global structural conditions have also brought about the evolution of the transnational organized crime. For instance, the drug epidemics have been dynamic in the market because of its coming and going (Aronowitz, n.d.). Recently, the epidemic has surfaced under new environment. Additionally, issues to do with human trafficking and transportation of the firearms have been rapidly expanding in regions filled with conflicts. After the end of the cold war, the reduction in number and severity of the civil wars and the globalization affected the transnational organized crimes in ways that are highly unpredictable. In most of the instance, the failure of the global community to come up with a prediction on this trends led to damage that could easily be avoided with a slight foresight.
The global structural conditions brought about enhanced movement of things that directly affected the transnational organized crime. This enhanced flow of goods led to the enhanced flow of capital and services which later resulted to the outsourcing of manufacturing. The global tourism also expanded, which was facilitated by the cheaper airfares and regimes. As a result, both the goods and people moved cheaply than before (Aronowitz, n.d.). For this reason, the criminal and other contraband could only be interdicted by the national governments. The commercial and the human flows are too intense that it was very easy to differentiate between the licit and the illicit.
Expansion of Global Communication
The global structural conditional have influenced the transnational organized crime through expansion of the global communication. The global structure has resulted in the growth of the global communication. For instance, the number of people who are now subscribed to mobile phones has increased from 200 million to 3.3 billion over the last twenty years. Therefore, it is estimated that the percentage grown in global communication is roughly 25%. Initially, the telecommunication was highly linked to location, the concept has now become mobile as their users. Additionally, more than 30 years ago, the internet had only a total of ten websites, in 2009, the number moved to 240 million users (Strader and Jordan, n.d.). It is not possible to operate this flow of information. Old forms of criminal activities are supported by the evolution of the information technology and new mechanisms are coming up to the virtual world. One of the transnational organized crime that has erupted in child pornography.
This is regarded as a new phenomenon because the Internet has now enabled a cheaper and an instant distribution globally to millions of client from the concealed origins which are normally positions in countries where there is little or no prosecution (Ruggiero, 2000). In the previous years, the images would be processed, printed, and then the hard copies are then distributed with the help of mail or even the retail outlets. Additionally, other crimes that are related to technology, the legislations are struggling to keep up with them. According to the recent studies, 93 countries are found to be lacking the legislations that are addressing the crimes related to child pornography. On the contrary, countries that have those legislations, they fail to offer those offenses that are facilitated by the computer technologies. Meaning that most of the countries in the world do not keep the pace with lateral development that is happening within the criminal world.
Gray and Black Markets
The global structural conditions have also brought about the gray and the black markets. This is because most of the transnational organized crimes are subjected to vagaries involving the international economic climates. Some of the economic conditions seem to be on the side of the rapid development of the transnational organized crime and the one most crucial global economic event in the recent time. Apart from opening the avenues for globalization, the quick social changes brought the about large number of states which generated some sort of gaps in governance which spawn the transnational organized crimes (Strader and Jordan, n.d.). The fact that there was a transition from the highly managed societies to those of free market societies developed some deep challenges for the Warsaw Pact states. The older regulations of the social and the economic behavior underwent suspension with the new norms were still on the verge of taking the hold (Ruggiero, 2000). Some of the countries that were dependent on the Soviet Union for directions and guidance were left independent. On the other hand, the social sectors were left open without any form of regulations.
Sped up Global Interconnectedness
The global structural conditions have really widened, deepened and sped up the global interconnectedness based on the economic, social, and cultural criminal aspects. Globally the economic integration has really grown as the spreading out of the production relations, global commerce and financed across the economic regions of the world (Broadhurst and Ganapathy, 2007). The net influence of globalization is that the world has now become borderless. The transnational and the non-governmental actions have become progressive. In reality, the international criminal firms have become the main beneficiary to the liberation and economic integration. Therefore, the global diffusion of expertise in technology and internalization has made it possible for the cultivation and refining of drugs in far places of the globe and still within the reach of the distance markets. The structural conditions have also expanded the transportation network, and tourism. The concept also expanded the personal mobility, majorly in mass media, and the global telecommunications (Broadhurst and Ganapathy, 2007). There is also growth in the integration of the financial system on a global scale which provided the organized crime with the opportunities to do money laundering and investing in other illicit activities. This form of development has really facilitated the drug traffickers. Therefore, it is true that the global structural conditions have both the advantages and disadvantages. As an implication of the dense population, desperate conditions have been created like civil war, environmental degradation, and civil strife in various parts of the globe. On the supply side, it is easy to deal with drugs.
Because of the global structural conditions, the transnational organized crime has become a phenomenon which has emerged in various cultures and states around the globe. The organized crimes have become ubiquitous (Karstedt and Bussmann, 2000). This is because it has now become global in size and in scale and is not exclusive to specific geographical regions, to one ethnic group or to specific social systems. The global structures have made terrorism to emerge as another common form of transnational organized crime (Strategy to combat transnational organized crime, 2011). The concept of wars on terror and other crimes has become intertwined and very rhetoric which has now become so much muddled. As a result, there is some overlap in the manner that terrorist and other criminal organization tend to raise funds.
Additionally, there is the presence of the anecdotal evidence that touches on the collaboration between that exists between the terrorist organizations and criminals (Broadhurst and Ganapathy, 2007). The difference between the terrorism and the transnational organized crime have become a fundamental and a crucial one. Essentially, terrorism is perceived to be the ideologically motivated crime that is designed to achieve some form of political goal. Terrorists have engaged in certain criminal activities like bombing, kidnapping, and hijacking for political reasons (Bassiouni, 2008). On the other hand, the transnational organized crime is focused to achieve some of the economic benefits rather than getting the political change.
The transnational organized crime has diversified and has gone global to a point where it has reached the macroeconomic proportions. For instance, the illicit goods have their sources from one continent, then trafficked across to another continent, and then marketed in a third continent. As such, mafia are currently perceived to be a transnational issue. This is because it is a threat to security, majorly in poorly and conflict-ridden nations. Crime has succeeded in fueling corruption, infiltrated politics and business and hindered development. The concept is undermining the governance by empowering the people operating outside the regulations and laws. There is spread of drug cartels that are really spreading violence in West Africa, Caribbean, and Central America (Glenny, 2008). There is also collusion that exists between the insurgents and the criminal groups like South East Asia, Central Africa, and Sahel who have succeeded in fueling terrorism and plundering natural resources.
There is also the presence of smuggling migrants and modern slavery which has really spread in Europe, Latin America, and South East Asia. The global structural conditions have resulted to many urban center authorities to lose their control to organized gangs. The cybercrime has also threatened vital infrastructure and the security of the state who have managed to steal identities at the same time committing fraud. Additionally, pirates from the Horn of Africa have been reported to hold to ransom ships coming from the richest nation (Madsen, 2010). In addition, a problem of counterfeit goods has undermined the licit trade and endangered lives for many years. Money laundering in uncontrolled economic sectors has corrupted the banking sector in the entire world.
Conclusion
From the discussion, the transnational organized crimes have evolved in ways that challenge the understanding that revolves around the criminal enterprise. The global structural conditions have encouraged regionally and ethnically transnational organized crimes to expand their activities to the international market (Fukumi, 2008). This has been made possible because the organized group has gotten a backing from the global structural conditions which has managed to provide them with the global transportations finances and modes. This has forced them to adopt a flexible organizational structure. The revolution in the telecommunications and computer technologies have accelerated the trend, opened new criminal markets, and offered greater options to collaborate the criminal groups (Madsen, 2010). Additionally, the criminal organization tends to adjust the operation methods in the effort to come up with global anti-crime. On the other hand, the liberalization of trade has highly increased the global commerce. Because of the border opening through liberalization, the criminal organization is in a position to access the transportation network for global interconnectedness. Criminals are in a position to hide their goods within the rising amount of the licit commerce.
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