NCJ Number
151372
Date Published
1994
Length
465 pages
Annotation
Combining the perspectives of history, criticism, and research, this volume examines organized crime and emphasizes the need for broad perspectives to avoid distorted conclusions regarding the sources, impacts, and extent of organized crime.
Abstract
The volume describes the background of New York in the Progressive Era and then explores the changes in drug production and distribution in Europe from about 1925 to the mid-1930's. Issues considered include the ethnicity of drug traders, the structure of drug syndicates, and the impact of legislation that attempted to criminalize increasing aspects of the world's narcotics industry prior to the Second World War. The involvement of organized crime with transnational political movements, intelligence services, and political murders is next considered. The relationship between organized crime and toxic waste and the nature of fuel- related tax scams carried out by white-collar and organized criminals in local and regional markets in the United States and in certain regional ones in Europe are explored as well. The discussion also focuses on ambiguities in organized crime control, such as the Internal Revenue Service's protection of criminal off-shore financial interests and the contradictions in the war on drugs in the United States. Chapter reference notes and index