Introduction
The dawn of the century has seen the trend towards globalization having a significant influence on not only various business activities but also crime enterprises all over the world. Aguilar-Millan et al. argue that the key causes for that have been the “freeing of markets, the transportation revolution, and the Internet revolution” (2008, p. 42). This paper will revise the current trends in the globalization of crime with respect to five topics: drugs and Mexican border, heroin, gangs, human trafficking, cybercrime and counterfeiting.
Drugs and Mexican Border
To begin with, basic mechanisms of illegal trafficking over the U.S.-Mexico border have not significantly changed. Hernández (2021) argues that the border’s adjacent territories are occupied by criminal hubs that act as intermediaries between the criminal syndicates from both sides. The Mexican side of the border is mostly controlled by various drug cartels, whereas the U.S. is more guarded by American customs and DEA, thus the side is employed by small-scale operations. Currently, the most popular areas for smuggling include sections of the U.S.-Mexico border between El Paso-Juarez, Laredo-Nuevo Laredo and, arguably the busiest part of the border, San Diego-Tijuana (Hernández, 2021). One of the most popular smuggled items from Mexico to the U.S.A. is prescription drugs as control and sales of such drugs in Mexico is significantly weaker than in America. In turn, U.S. citizens often serve as small-scale cannabis traffickers considering the legal status of marijuana in the U.S.A. as opposed to Mexico. Hence, the major cause of the drugs smuggling routes over the U.S.-Mexico border is still the discrepancies between the U.S. and Mexican drug enforcing legislation as well as the lack of cross-border cooperation.
Heroin
First of all, America has seen an unprecedented rise in opioid overdose-related deaths in the last few years peaking at almost 50,000 in 2018. However, Fischer et al. (2020) suggest that despite the global expansion of heroin production in the countries of Asia and Latin America and the increased heroin supply in particular states of America, the overall demand for non-prescription opioids is in decline. One of the major factors contributing to that trend is the nation-wide rise in demand and consumption of prescription opioids. In particular, the relaxation of American drug control legislations with regards to medical opioids and the increased dispensing of such had resulted in the growth of instances of unregulated recreational, non-medical use of prescription opioids (Fischer et al., 2020). Consequently, the decrease in demand and usage of highly regulated and illegal opioids such as heroin in the U.S.A. largely owns to the increased accessibility of medical opioids which can be purchased with significantly lower risks and superior quality.
Gangs
Firstly, the studies have shown that in the last decade the number of crimes categorized by the U.S. police as gang-related has significantly decreased. According to the research, up to two-thirds of the crimes committed by gangs in the U.S.A. are non-violent offences; violent and drug-related crimes comprise the remaining majority (Valasik & Reid, 2021). Furthermore, the current gang intervention policies employed by the U.S. police resemble traditional good cop/bad cop tactics emphasizing the severe punishment following violent drug and gun-related offences and promoting various social programs helping to rehabilitate ex-gang members (Valasik & Reid, 2021). However, the particular results of such methods remain too vague to draw concrete conclusions on the most effective gang intervention policies. All in all, while the power structures and organizational strategies within gangs remain largely intact, the number of gang-related offences are in decline with mixed results from the gang intervention tactics employed by the police.
Human Trafficking
As far as human trafficking is concerned, there had been little progress achieved in the sphere of trafficking prevention over the last decade. Kiss and Zimmerman (2019) emphasize that while the first generation of research regarding human trafficking had significantly contributed to the “identification, definition, and description of the phenomena”, its prevention output was limited to the awareness-raising initiatives. Moreover, the authors argue that various forms of modern slavery and human trafficking are rooted in a number of socio-political factors such as class stratification, the diminishing power of trade unions and the ever-growing power of global corporations. In turn, Kiss and Zimmerman suggest that the trafficking prevention research should focus on “cash transfer schemes, transparent labor recruitment methods, worker-driven social responsibility reporting and fairer labor immigration legislation in destination locations” (2019, p. 2). Therefore, in order to propel actual human trafficking prevention programmes, rather than awareness campaigns, the legislators might consider focusing on the underlying socio-political and economic factors forcing people into trafficking in the first place.
Cybercrime and Counterfeiting
To begin with, modern counterfeiting schemes are intertwined with and depend on various types of cybercrimes. Albanese (2021) examines three counterfeiting conspiracies regarding the production, distribution and sales of counterfeit electronic devices, medicine and perfume. Through the research, the author points out multiple cases of cybercrime activities involved in multiples stages of each scheme. In particular, Albanese (2021) emphasizes the counterfeiters’ use of hardware and software for conspiratorial correspondence and high-quality forgery of labelling, logos and packaging. Furthermore, the increased popularity and usage of cryptocurrencies make it significantly harder to identify and trace funds involved in counterfeiting and other cybercrimes. In conclusion, being an essential element of most modern counterfeiting conspiracies, cybercrimes including forgery and money laundering can be targeted in order to successfully detect and prevent cases of counterfeiting and the global distribution of counterfire products.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the areas that were influenced most by the globalization strategies outlined by Aguilar-Millan et al. (2008) were human trafficking, U.S.-Mexican border and counterfeiting. In fact, these specific areas have continued to demonstrate criminal structures and systems of power largely due to the lack of homogeneity in the international policies regarding these areas.
References
Aguilar-Millan, S., Foltz, J. E., Jackson, J. and Oberg, A. (2008). The globalization of crime. The Futurist, 42(6), 41-50.
Albanese, J. (2021). Cybercrime as an essential element in transnational counterfeiting schemes. Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 3(2), 60–166. Web.
Fischer, B., Pang, M. and Jones, W. (2020). The opioid mortality epidemic in North America: Do we understand the supply side dynamics of this unprecedented crisis?Substance Abuse Treatment, Prevention, and Policy, 15(14), 1-8. Web.
Hernández, A. (2021). Hazy borders: Legality and illegality across the US-Mexico border.Journal of Illicit Economies and Development, 3(2), 285–297. Web.
Kiss, L. and Zimmerman, C. (2019). Human trafficking and labor exploitation: Toward identifying, implementing, and evaluating effective responses. PLOS Medicine, 16(1), 1-4. Web.
Valasik, M. & Reid, S. E. (Eds.). (2021). “The more things change, the more they stay the same”: Research on gang-related violence in the 21st century – Introduction to special issue. In Valasik, M. & Reid, S. E. (Eds.), Research on gang-related violence in the 21st century (pp. 1-7). MDPI.