NCJ Number
212828
Editor(s)
Mark Galeotti
Date Published
2005
Length
170 pages
Annotation
This book presents a collection of articles on the evolution of organized crime.
Abstract
This collection of articles provides the current state of knowledge on transnational organized crime; much remains to be studied. The terrorist attacks of September 2001 resulted in worldwide attention to the problem of terrorism. This focus has illuminated the growing threat of organized and transnational crime, which in many ways both parallels and converges with terrorist agendas and activities. The introduction discusses the current state of the global criminal underworld, which has increased in complexity and power. One of the defining characteristics of modern transnational criminal syndicates is their loose organizational structure, which allows them to work flexibly across borders. The loose networks have effectively diffused the identities of organized criminal players, thwarting traditional law enforcement countermeasures. Chapters in this book focus on North American organized crime, Italian organized crime, and Latin American and Caribbean organized crime. One chapter focuses on the evolution of the Yakuza, an organized criminal group in Japan while another chapter outlines a crime-terror continuum in which the activities of transnational organized crime groups and terrorist groups converge to resemble one another. Chinese organized crime, the North Korean Drug Trade, and organized crime in East Central Europe are similarly examined. The final chapter explores the globalization of cybercrime, which involves three types of criminal activities: (1) conventional crimes committed with computers; (2) attacks on computer networks; and (3) criminal evidence in digital form. The borderless nature of digital technology will continue to make cybercrime one of the most salient crime problems of the 21st century. Notes, references, index