TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME: ITS

CONCEPT
 Introduction
• Transnational organized crime (TOC) is organized crime
coordinated across national borders, involving groups or
markets of individuals working in more than one
country to plan and execute illegal business ventures.
• In order to achieve their goals, these criminal groups use
systematic violence and corruption.
• Common transnational organized crimes include
conveying drugs, conveying arms, trafficking for sex,
toxic waste disposal, materials theft and poaching
 History
• Prior to World War I, several organizations were created to formalize international police cooperation, but
most quickly failed, primarily because public police institutions were not sufficiently detached from the
political centers of their respective states to function autonomously as expert bureaucracies. In 1914, the
First International Criminal Police Congress was held in Monaco, which saw police officers, lawyers and
magistrates from 24 countries meeting to discuss arrest procedures, identification techniques, centralized
international criminal records and extradition proceedings. This organization appeared poised to avoid the
political forces that ended earlier organizations, but the outbreak of World War I disorganized the
Congress.
• In 1923, a second International Criminal Police Congress was held in Vienna, on the initiative of Mr.
Hans Schober, President of the Austrian police. Schober, eager to avoid the politics that doomed previous
international police efforts, noted that "ours is not a political but a cultural goal. It only concerns the fight
against the common enemy of humankind: the ordinary criminal." This second Congress created the
International Criminal Police Commission (ICPC), which served as the direct forerunner of Interpol.
Founding members included police officials from Russia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China,
Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
In 1926, the ICPC's General Assembly, held in Berlin, proposed that each country establish a central point
of contact within its police structure: the forerunner of the National Central Bureau (NCB). In 1938, the
Nazis assumed control of the ICPC and most countries stop participating, effectively causing the ICPC to
cease to exist as an international organization .
• After World War II, Belgium led the rebuilding of the organization, with a new headquarters in
Paris and a new name - Interpol. The United Nations did not recognize Interpol as an
intergovernmental organization until 1971. On June 17, 1971, President Nixon declared
"America's public enemy number one in the United States is drug abuse. In order to fight and
defeat this enemy, it is necessary to wage a new, all-out offensive." With this declaration, the
United States began the War on Drugs. At the time, the flow of illicit narcotics into its borders
was deemed a major risk to the health and safety of Americans, and as a result, enormous
resources were spent in the effort to curtail both the supply of and demand for illegal drugs. In
the three decades that followed President Nixon's declaration, drug trafficking served as the
dominant form of what the United States and many of its allies viewed as transnational
organized crime.
• In recent years, that viewpoint has changed. The character of transnational organized crime has
changed in three major ways since the war on drugs began. Drug trafficking has become more
diversified, criminal networks have harnessed new methods of conducting business, and the
structure of criminal networks has changed. Organized crime has gone global, giving way to the
term transnational organized crime. Global governance has failed to keep pace with economic
globalization. Antonio Maria Costa, former Executive Director of the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime, effectively summarized the change in TOC over the last quarter century by
saying, "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 prospe
 Effects
• TOC is insufficiently understood, according to the Executive Director of the United
Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. In the most recent full-scale United Nations
assessment of TOC, conducted in 2010, the Executive Director states, "there is a
lack of information on transnational criminal markets and trends. The few studies
that exist have looked at sections of the problem, by sector or country, rather than
the big picture. Without a global perspective there cannot be evidence-based
policy."In response to the threat, law enforcement agencies have created a number
of effective approaches for combating this transnational organized crime.
• Louise I. Shelley (Director of the Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Corruption
Center at George Mason University) has said:
• Transnational crime will be a defining issue of the 21st century for policymakers -
as defining as the Cold War was for the 20th century and colonialism was for the
19th. Terrorists and transnational crime groups will proliferate because these crime
groups are major beneficiaries of globalization. They take advantage of increased
travel, trade, rapid money movements, telecommunications and computer links,
and are well positioned for growth.
• Most illicit trafficking begins or ends in the world's greatest economic powers, such
as the G8 (forum). In other words, the world's largest trading partners are also the
world's greatest markets for illicit goods and services. Many of these world powers
have recently taken steps to combat TOC in a large, collective, international effort
with partners and allies. Several organizations around the world have initiated
efforts to combat TOC whose success or failure have yet to be determined.
• According to the UN Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI), combating
transnational organized crime relies first and foremost on effective investigative
techniques and prosecutorial tools. Three techniques in particular stand out as the
most important in combating transnational organized crime: electronic surveillance,
undercover operations, and the use of confidential informants (CIs), with electronic
surveillance being the single most important and effective law enforcement tool
against TOC. Electronic surveillance provides reliable, often irrefutable evidence of
crimes through a participant's own words or image. This form allows law
enforcement to learn of conspirators' plans before they are carried out and is
particularly helpful in combating TOC because it enables law enforcement in any
country to obtain evidence of co-conspirators in other countries. Obtaining
evidence of conspiratorial planning internationally would otherwise be very
difficult.
• After electronic surveillance, the second most important tool is
undercover operations, Through undercover operations, law enforcement
agents can infiltrate the highest levels of organized crime by posing as
criminals themselves when real criminals discuss their plans and seek
assistance in committing crimes. Over time, agents can gain the
confidence of criminals and induce them to reveal information on past or
ongoing criminal activities.[citation needed] followed by CIs refers to
individuals who are not willing to testify but who provide information or
assistance to law enforcement in exchange for money or lenient treatment
for their own crimes and with the promise of confidentiality. In many
cases,[which?] CIs are engaged in criminal activity themselves and can
therefore provide valuable direct evidence regarding the criminal activities
being conducted by their criminal associates. Such evidence frequently
enables law enforcement officers to obtain warrants authorizing electronic
surveillance. In rare cases, the court may order the disclosure of a CIs
identity to a defendant, such as when the informant can provide evidence
that may exculpate the defendant
 NEGATIVE EFFECTS
• Transnational organized crime is widely opposed on the basis
of a number of negative effects. It can undermine democracy,
disrupt free markets, drain national assets, and inhibit the
development of stable societies. In doing so, it has been
argued, national and international criminal groups threaten
the security of all nations. The victims of these transnational
crime networks are governments that are unstable or not
powerful enough to prevent them, with the networks
conducting illegal activities that provide them with profits.
Transnational organized crimes interrupt peace and stability of
nations worldwide, often using bribery, violence, or terror to
meet their needs.
 International Enforcement Agencies
Interpol
• The idea of the organization known today as Interpol was born at the first International Criminal Police
Congress, held in Monaco in 1914. It was officially created in 1923 with the name, International Criminal
Police Commission, and renamed in 1956 with the name, Interpol. Today, it is the largest international
police organization in the world and is made up of 190 member nations. Each member nation staffs a
national central bureau that communicates and cooperates with other member nations. Its mission is
""Preventing and fighting crime through enhanced cooperation and innovation on police and security
matters".
• Although the organization Interpol exists to coordinate intelligence efforts between national law
enforcement agencies, it is not an international police force, and indeed no such international law
enforcement body with universal jurisdiction exists.
• The agency's number one priority is to maintain a secure global police information system between the
National Central Bureaus of each member nation. In addition to this priority, Interpol provides round-the-
clock support to police and law enforcement agencies of all member nations. It also continuously attempts
to innovate and enhance the tools used to fight crime and it assists in the identification of crimes and
criminals. Finally, it delivers high-level training, certification and accreditation to law enforcement
personnel.
• Like most international CTOC organizations, Interpol suffers from continuously high levels of underfunding.
In 2010, it operated on roughly $75 million budget. Since it holds no authority to conduct independent
investigations or to arrest suspects, it is only as strong as the host country's police force
World Bank
• With a membership of 188 nations, the World Bank is nearly the same size as Interpol (190)
and although CTOC is not its primary mission, the World Bank does attempt to combat TOC
by conducting assessments of anti-money laundering provisions and carrying out anti-
corruption efforts. Its efforts are hindered, however, by the lack of concrete mandates and
authorities. In a 2009 World Bank paper entitled, "Slavery and Human Trafficking
International Law and the Role of the World Bank", the author states that "the World Bank’s
mandate appears to permit preventive action", thereby lending doubt whether or not the
World Bank is even permitted by UN mandate to involve itself in the fight against human
trafficking.
• Recognizing the detrimental impact on its mission, the World Bank made a $1.5 billion pledge
in 2011 to help combat TOC in the coming years.
• In another CTOC initiative, the World Bank is partnered with the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime in the Stolen Asset Recovery Initiative (StAR). This initiative helps to recover
corruption related proceeds by creating an effective and collaborative environment for global
law enforcement policy development.
International Monetary Fund
• The International Monetary Fund also conducts assessments of anti-money laundering
provisions in countries.
Europol
• Europol is the law enforcement agency of the European Union (EU) whose main goal is to help achieve a
safer Europe for the benefit of all EU citizens. The organization does so by assisting the EU Member States
in their fight against serious international crime and terrorism.
• Europol officers hold no authority to conduct arrests but they support EU law enforcement colleagues by
gathering, analyzing and disseminating information and coordinating operations. Europol uses the
information to prevent, detect and investigate offenses, and to track down and prosecute those who
commit them. Europol experts and analysts take part in Joint Investigation Teams which help solve criminal
cases on the spot in EU countries.
Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering
• The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), an initiative of the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and Development (OECD), is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the
Ministers of its Member jurisdictions. The objectives of the FATF are to "set standards and promote
effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering,
terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system." To this
end, the FATF developed a number of recommendations that have been recognized by law enforcement
agencies around the world as the standard in the combating of TOC; specifically in the fight against money
laundering, terror financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
• To help combat CTOC, the FATF maintains a policy that has proven successful thus far, in which it "names
and shames" that jurisdictions that choose to not cooperate with FATF. It also enlists the help of
cooperating countries in the crafting of legislative frameworks used in the effort to combat money
laundering
Role of United Nations
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
• On November 15, 2000, the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) was adopted by the
United Nations General Assembly and is appointed to serve as the most significant mechanism for fighting TOC internationally. The
first of its kind, the convention identified TOC as criminal actions that cannot be sufficiently combated by pacts tailored to a single
commercial enterprise. The Ad Hoc Committee was established by the United Nations General Assembly to deal with this problem
by taking a series of measures against transnational organized crime. These include the creation of domestic criminal offences to
combat the problem, and the adoption of new, sweeping frameworks for mutual legal assistance, extradition, law-enforcement
cooperation, and technical assistance and training.
• A recent report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime highlighted that Southeast Asia produced an estimated 48 tons
of heroin in 2011. The vast majority of this cultivation – roughly twice that of Afghanistan, which arguably receives much greater
attention – has occurred in the fragile state of Myanmar. The UN report estimated that the revenue generated from this trade to
be worth $16.3 billion during the same period
• The revenues generated from such trafficking often lie at the root of instability and violence in the region. Additionally, the same
routes used to smuggle drugs will likely be used to transport weapons and militants in the event that the current conflict expands.
Reconciling the numerous armed ethnic groups that exist within Myanmar continues to be a challenge for the nascent
government. A strong drug trade will only complicate negotiations between government officials and these groups.
• Combating TOC internationally proves difficult because so many governments and economies benefit enormously from TOC. For
example, the Russia government benefits from money gained through cybercrime and through ties between TOC and it energy
exporters. China's economy also benefits from cybercrime as well as from counterfeiting. West African and Latin American
politicians are either coerced by or maintain financially beneficial relationships with drug traffickers.
• UNTOC ability to help combat CTOC is compounded by its inability to directly assist countries that are incapable of adhering to the
convention's guidelines. Most countries agreed for a necessary, innovative, and more strategic approach at the 2010 conference of
parties, yet to date no significant employment of tactics or policy has been determined. Voluntary contributions account for nearly
all of UNODC's funding and the organization suffers from chronic funding and staffing shortages. This limits UNODC's overall
effectiveness.
• The UN General Assembly has also issued many resolutions to combat TOC; however, most have been ineffective because of their
vagueness and irrelevancy