NCJ Number
190002
Journal
Security Journal Volume: 14 Issue: 3 Dated: 2001 Pages: 61-71
Date Published
2001
Length
11 pages
Annotation
This article examined the type, nature, and extent of Nigerian involvement in organized crime, especially drug-related crime within the new democracy of South Africa.
Abstract
States in transition towards a liberal democracy and market-orientated economy, like South Africa, are vulnerable because of their growth potential. The transition to democracy in South Africa not only ended the country’s isolation from the rest of the world but opened it to an influx of international organized crime groups. There are few arrests and fewer successful prosecutions of Nigerians involved in organized crime. This article reviewed the nature of transnational organized crime, Nigerian involvement in South African organized crime, the nature of Nigerian organized crime in South Africa, and the prevention and control of organized crime. Although the main purpose of transnational organized crime is profit, the inevitable is the challenge to state authority. By their very nature, transnational criminal organizations undermine civil society, add a degree of turbulence to domestic politics, and challenge the normal functioning of government and the law. Prevention and control of transnational organized crime requires the state devote far more resources, such as judicial assistance. A new combination of expertise is necessary to combine national security, intelligence and law enforcement, information, and methods. In addition, from a criminal justice perspective, an equal rise in awareness levels is needed to prevent and control transnational organized crime effectively.