What is organized crime?
Organized crime was characterised by the United Nations,
in 1994, as: “group organization to commit crime; hierarchical
links or personal relationships which permit leaders to control
the group: violence, intimidation and corruption used to earn
profits or control territories or markets; laundering of illicit
proceeds both in furtherance of criminal activity and to infiltrate
the legitimate economy; the potential for expansion into any new
activities and beyond national borders; and cooperation with
other organized transnational criminal groups.”
It is increasingly global. Although links between, for
example, mafia groups in Italy and the USA have existed for
decades, new and rapid means of communication have facilitated
the development of international networks. Some build on shared
linguistic or cultural ties, such as a network trafficking drugs
and human organs, which links criminal gangs in Mozambique,
Portugal, Brazil, Pakistan, Dubai and South Africa. Others bring
together much less likely groups, such as those trafficking arms,
drugs and people between South Africa, Nigeria, Pakistan and
Russia, or those linking the Russian mafia with Colombian
cocaine cartels or North American criminal gangs with the
Japanese Yakuza. Trafficked commodities may pass from group
to group along the supply chain; for instance heroin in Italy
has traditionally been produced in Afghanistan, transported by
Turks, distributed by Albanians, and sold by Italians.
Organized crime exploits profit opportunities wherever
they arise. Globalization of financial markets, with free
movement of goods and capital, has facilitated smuggling of
counterfeit goods (in part a reflection of the creation of global
brands), internet fraud, and money-laundering. On the other
hand, organized crime also takes advantage of the barriers to
free movement of people across national borders and the laws
against non-medicinal use of narcotics: accordingly it earns vast
profits in smuggling migrants and psychoactive drugs. Briquet
and Favarel have identified deregulation and the “rolling back
of the state” in some countries as creating lacunae that have
been occupied by profiteers. The political changes in Europe
in the late 1980s fuelled the growth in criminal networks, often
involving former law enforcement officers. Failed states, such
as the Democratic Republic of Congo or Sierra Leone, have
provided further opportunities as criminal gangs smuggle arms
in and commodities out, for example diamonds, gold, and rare
earth metals, often generating violence against those involved
in the trade and in the surrounding communities. Finally, there
are a few states, such as the Democratic Republic of Korea and
Burma and Guinea-Bissau (once described as a narco-state)
where politicians have been alleged to have played an active role
in international crime.
Organized criminal gangs have strong incentives. Compared
with legitimate producers, they have lower costs of production
due to the ability to disregard quality and safety standards,
tax obligations, minimum wages or employee benefits. Once
established, they may threaten or use violence to eliminate
competitors, and can obtain favourable treatment by regulatory
authorities either through bribes or threats.
(www.globalizationandhealth.com. Adaptado)
No trecho do segundo parágrafo – Trafficked commodities may pass from group to group along the supply chain; for instance heroin in Italy has traditionally been produced in Afghanistan, transported by Turks, distributed by Albanians, and sold by Italians. – a expressão for instance pode ser substituída, sem alteração de sentido, por