Causes of Transnational Criminal Activities

Causes of Transnational Criminal Activities. In the past quarter century (namely, since the end of the Cold War), global governance has failed to keep pace with economic globalization. Therefore, as unprecedented openness in trade, finance, travel and communication has created economic growth and well-being, it has also given rise to massive opportunities for criminals to make their business prosper. Organized crime has diversified, gone global and reached macro-economic proportions: illicit goods are sourced from one continent, trafficked across another, and marketed in a third. Mafias are today truly a transnational problem: a threat to security, especially in poor and conflict-ridden countries. Crime is fuelling corruption, infiltrating business and politics, and hindering development. And it is undermining governance by empowering those who operate outside the law: s drug cartels are spreading violence in Central America, the Caribbean and West Africa; s collusion between insurgents and criminal groups (in Central Africa, the Sahel and SouthEast Asia) fuels terrorism and plunders natural resources; s smuggling of migrants and modern slavery have spread in Eastern Europe as much as South-East Asia and Latin America; s in so many urban centres authorities have lost control to organized gangs; s cybercrime threatens vital infrastructure and state security, steals identities and commits fraud; s pirates from the world’s poorest countries (the Horn of Africa) hold to ransom ships from the richest nations; s counterfeit goods undermine licit trade and endanger lives; s money-laundering in rogue jurisdictions and uncontrolled economic sectors corrupts the banking sector,

Causes of Transnational Criminal Activities

In a recent report of a workshop commissioned by NIJ, the National Research Council said that transnational crime was being affected by three related factors: ■ Globalization of the economy. ■ Increased numbers and heterogeneity of immigrants. ■ Improved communications technology. 2 These factors do not “cause” transnational crime. Rather, they facilitate crime, or in some cases, they are criminal opportunities in themselves. For example, immigration does not cause crime. The desire to immigrate, however, may cause people to violate immigration quotas and regulations and may lead to illegal immigration, which in turn is exploited by criminals. Most of the causes of transnational crime are not new; they are, in fact, quite similar to factors that drive crime in general: disparate socioeconomic conditions, which stimulate migration and its antecedent trafficking in persons; the desire for illegal goods and services, which moves crime into the transnational realm when the suppliers are in one country and the consumers are in another; and the universal greed for money and power.

What are some of the ways that organized crime impacts you and a community or city (of your choice) directly?
What are some of the ways that law enforcement agencies are working to reduce these types of organized crime in the area you chose? Have these efforts been successful? Why or why not?
Compare your findings to the effects of organized crime in China, Japan, Saudi Arabia, England, France, and Germany on their people. What similarities or differences exist? Explain.
Please provide APA citation and references where necessary.