You here of human trafficking, drug trafficking, gambling, forced prostitution, fire arm dealings just to mention but a few. This is all the handy work of organized criminal groups.
Organized criminal groups have spread through the world in the recent past. These groups have used different ways but mostly illegitimate ways to do business in different countries for financial gain. This paper will look at organized groups in Japan, Russia, China, and Mexico and compare them to organized criminal groups in the united stases.
In definition, an organized criminal group is a planned group of three or more persons who have existed for a long period with the aim of committing offenses for financial or material gain (Abadinsky, 2000, p. 4).
Organized crime in labor have expanded their business beyond narcotics into kidnapping, migrant smuggling, and extortion. The trend at which it is growing is alarming. In Japan and China, the relevant authority is reluctant to crack down on commercial sex trade. This is because they don’t want to loose money from the tourists who visit.
In China the gravest organized crime problems are drug distribution that is characterized by the large number of heroin addicts. There is local and foreign based drug syndicate that does the distribution and purchases. The second is gambling and prostitution that is thriving. There is also an increase in violence.
The under world cartels are getting into legitimate business without recognition and armed groups engaging into political activities. Examples of such groups is Tong and triads also
Abadinsky (2000) argues that in Japan, there is a group called the Yakuza who are involved in gambling, prostitution, importation of drugs and victimization of legitimate businesses.
There is a large population of illegal immigrants involved in organized criminal activities and heavily armed and dangerous. This groups use their wealth to lure people into sex, drugs, human trafficking. The only problem is that there is no pressure from any one to catch up with them
Mexico has been known for their hard drug that gets all over the world. Drug trade is the major booster that causes the money laundering syndicate to flourish in Mexico. According to (Rios and Sabet, 2008), drug trafficking is the fifth largest employer in Mexico. The drug barons have organized criminal groups that will lure the young and unemployed who will want to become rich within a day. There are major cartels that are in the form of criminalized groups that control the market.
These groups deal in weapons, human trafficking, brothels, and control the labor. They offer little incentives and promise for better life but in real sense they gain more. The government is fighting to end the organized criminal groups but forces within it derail the process.
The organized criminal groups are motivated by money and will do anything to safe guard their interests. Organizations from Mexico, for instance, abduct, torment and put to death members from whom the United States border agents have confiscated the consignment of drugs.
In the Russian federation, the approximated number of groups that stick themselves to the Russian mafias is 200 that are said to undertake their operations in virtually sixty states in the entire globe. These groups are embodied to be postulated in racketeering, hoaxing, revenue enhancement, hazarding, trafficking in drugs, starting fires, looting as well as execution. These kinds of persons enhance their businesses with the capital acquired from amerceable trade. They take oil and also are funded by militants.
Women’s trafficking is also carried out in order to make them prostitutes. They are forced into this trade and are put in brothels under tight security. Another major activity which many of these criminals are drawn in is arms trafficking and the subsequent money laundering of the proceeds from that traffic.
These proceeds are used to set up business empires in other countries like African countries. The kinds of persons found in this group are responsible for activities such as extortion, execution, weapon looting and arms smuggling.
One might think of which organized crime groups are found in the United States. The answer is simple. These same groups found in China, Russia, Japan and Mexico are in full operation in the United States. They have set up bases without being noticed and undertake to do illegal business at the expense of anything so long as they get money and material gain. The change that is evident is only that they are thought to be the cause of terrorism to the people of America.
The other contrasting thing is that the groups in America are not protected by government machinery unlike the groups found in Japan, Mexico, China and Russia. In fact, the federal government is on the hunt to fight down all these groups that are perceived to be a strain in the economy and integrity of the American nation.
The groups in their respective countries are given some protection by some top government officials who in return are given lump sum money to ensure the smooth running of their business.
The above mentioned groups acting in their respective countries are all in full operation in the United States. These groups have an impact on the federal government by weakening the economy with its illegal activities. The cause is that they evade paying taxes.
Organized crime networks operating inside the United States include, the Italian Mafia, Russian Mafia, Japanese Yakuza, and Chinese Tongs not forgetting the Mexican cartels (Stoecker& Louise, 2005).
Some of the actions that this people take part in are hoaxing, bootlegging, harlotry, trafficking of drugs, extortion, hazarding and lend sharking. Some other additional spectacular actions which were performed by prepared offensive groups included burglary, assassination, making illegal capital and racketeering.
The Russian group operating in the United States operates more basing on skills needed for a particular crime. While they are outside America, they operate with force and brutality not basing on any skill acquired.
Russian organized criminals engage in long term organized crime actions such as extortion, kidnapping, human trafficking, prostitution, drug trafficking, and theft, as well as money laundering and fraudulent activities.
The Asian groups include the yakuza, tongs, big circle, triads and fuk ching. Asian organized crime groups get most of their profits from trafficking drugs and people around the world. However, while in America, they are involved in criminal activities like money laundering, fake goods, tax evasion and counterfeiting. These groups operate from the United States with bases around the world.
Most of the narcotics and drugs in general found in the United States are from Mexico. They generally dominate the market. The organized crime groups ensure that human smuggling occurs especially in women who are used as prostitutes. Moreover, the Mexicans have heavily been involved in money laundering and a series of killings and violence along the borders of the United States (Beare, 2004, p. 45).
The economy of the federal government has greatly been destabilized with the activities of these organized crime groups. Money got from illegal activities that have evaded taxation is smuggled back into those activities. Some of it is smuggled so as to look like clean money.
According to Marilyn (2002) says that the syndicates also involve themselves in cigarette trafficking. The products are usually contraband and so evade taxes causing a strain on America’s economy. Furthermore, pirated goods are increasingly becoming popular thanks to these groups. Many music gadgets and electronics are not genuine.
Counterfeit money is also on the rise. This emanates from the organized crime groups who send it into the public for circulation. Not only does it lead to loss of money but it damages the value of the u.s dollar.
In conclusion, these organized crime groups are becoming more and more powerful. Without proper policies to curb them, they are going to spread all over the world and have an impact on the economy. It is to this regard that a proper investigating unit by different governments must be put in place to solve the puzzle.
Interpol forces have been on the forefront together with the FBI to try and fight the cartels. What is impeding progress is the fact that many of these groups have protection from respective government officials. They are given immunity and fed with information of what is happening. So it becomes very difficult to arrest or implicate any suspect.
The time is now for action to take place lest the whole world becomes part of these gangs. All governments must join forces to ensure that any insider giving out vital information to the crime groups is thoroughly dealt with. Furthermore, protection should be given to any person offering to disclose the whereabouts of all those involved in these organized crime groups.
With this in place, it will be difficult for operations to be carried out.
Links to their bank accounts must also lead to the arrest of the masterminders. It is very possible to deal with these groups and catch up with them without getting noticed. The only question is will every country and government corparate? Once there is cooperation, then everything will work out. Without unity and transparency from different member states, then the task ahead in fighting these crime groups is far from over.
Reference List
Abadinsky, H. (2000). Organized Crime, 6th edition. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Beare, M (eds.). 2004. Critical Reflections on Transnational Organized Crime, Money Laundering, and Corruption. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Marilyn B. Peterson. (2002). Applications in Criminal Analysis. Westport, CT: Praeger
Rios and Sabet. (2008). Organized Crimes and The Perpetrators. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Stoecker, S & Louise, S (Eds.). 2005. Human Traffic and Transnational Crime: Eurasian and American Perspectives. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.