By United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC)

This is a time for science and solidarity, as United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has said, highlighting the importance of trust in science and of working together to respond to the global COVID19 pandemic. The same holds true for our responses to the world drug problem. To be effective, balanced solutions to drug demand and supply must be rooted in evidence and shared responsibility. This is more important than ever, as illicit drug challenges become increasingly complex, and the COVID-19 crisis and economic downturn threaten to worsen their impacts, on the poor, marginalized and vulnerable most of all. Some 35.6 million people suffer from drug use disorders globally. While more people use drugs in developed countries than in developing countries, and wealthier segments of society have a higher prevalence of drug use, people who are socially and economically disadvantaged are more likely to develop drug use disorders. Only one out of eight people who need drug-related treatment receive it. While one out of three drug users is a woman, only one out of five people in treatment is a woman. People in prison settings, minorities, immigrants and displaced people also face barriers to treatment due to discrimination and stigma. Of the 11 million people who inject drugs, half of them are living with hepatitis C, and 1.4 million with HIV. Around 269 million people used drugs in 2018, up 30 per cent from 2009, with adolescents and young adults accounting for the largest share of users. More people are using drugs, and there are more drugs, and more types of drugs, than ever.

Vienna: UNODC, 2020. 64p.

By Erik Hornung, Eduardo Hidalgo, Pablo Selaya

We study how NAFTA changed the geography of violence in Mexico. We propose that open borders increased trafficking profits of Mexican cartels and resulted in violent competition among them. We test this hypothesis by comparing changes in drug-related homicides after NAFTA’s introduction in 1994 across municipalities with and without drug-trafficking routes. Routes are optimal paths connecting municipalities with a recent history of drug trafficking with U.S. ports of entry. On these routes, homicides increase by 27% relative to the pre-NAFTA mean. These results cannot be explained by changes in worker’s opportunity costs of using violence resulting from the trade shock.

CEPR Press Discussion Paper No. 17608. 2022. 46p.

By the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime

In general, there was high level agreement reported by Member States on the need for alternatives to conviction or punishment in the responses to the NVs. Many countries already have legal provision for these to be applied to people with drug use disorder in contact with the criminal justice system and in some cases they have them at all stages in the criminal justice process (and even a range of different types of measures available at each stage).

Nevertheless, despite the high level of policy commitments, the realities of implementing alternative options are striking; some countries reported having no alternatives available, and others have legal provision for alternatives that are never or rarely used. This may be a reflection of wider issues around the overall availability of treatment for drug use disorders. According to the 2021 UNODC World Drug Report, 49 only 1 in 8 persons with a drug use disorder has access to treatment. This is a challenge that needs to be addressed jointly with developing the legal framework and the implementation of alternatives to conviction or punishment for people with drug use disorders in contact with the criminal justice system.

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  Alternatives can be challenging to establish as it is essential to have the infrastructure and trained human resources for evidence-based assessment, treatment, supervision, and other health and social support available and they should be evaluated to demonstrate their effectiveness and positive health, social and justice outcomes. Alternative measures also need to be designed so that those who should benefit from them are legally eligible – making the criteria for who can qualify overly complex and prescriptive can make alternatives difficult to be applied in practice. Also, both professionals and the public need to be supportive of the approach if it is to be successful so programmes need to be developed to ensure they have the information and knowledge and see the benefits of providing health services and other effective alternatives to conviction or punishment for people who use drugs in contact with the criminal justice system.

Vienna: UNODC, 2022. 64p.

By INTERPOL and Enact (Africa)

The ‘Mobile money and organized crime in Africa’ report presents an overview of the criminal exploitation of mobile money services, including fraud, money laundering, extortion, human trafficking and people smuggling, the illegal wildlife trade and terrorism.

The African continent is the “world leader” in the mobile money industry, accounting for nearly half of all registered mobile money accounts globally.

The prominent role that mobile money plays in African societies and economies, and the rapid pace at which its infrastructure has been developed, has enabled criminals to “exploit weaknesses in regulations and identification systems” and commit mobile money-enabled crimes.

Lyon, France, INTERPOL, 2020. 53p.

By ENACT

As COVID-19 dominates the world’s stage, nearly every aspect of society has been affected by the deadly pandemic. While the impact of the contagion on countries’ economies, social cohesion, health and security has been widely reported on, less is known about its influence on criminal dynamics. The pandemic has not only become a central component of the everyday lives of Africans, but has also revealed the important role the continent plays in the global economy – both licit and illicit. COVID-19 measures have posed a double burden on African countries by heavily challenging people’s economic livelihood and restricting the freedom of movement of Africans, while also challenging governments in how they balance the need to address the health crisis with the provision of services and security amid declining economies. In this context, organised crime in Africa has evolved and taken advantage of the confusion and frustration wrought by the pandemic; it has filled in the gaps left by state institutions, by both adapting its illicit activities in order to circumvent COVID restrictions and providing new sources of livelihoods and parallel services. Institutional responses to stop the spread of the virus have had a profound impact on movement, trade and business, including in black markets and shadow economies. In Africa, COVID-19 was slower to take effect than in other parts of the world, and even though the continent has had experience in handling other major viral epidemics, the health, economic and security systems of many countries on the continent have found themselves ill-equipped to face the particular challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. As legitimate businesses suffered extensive losses across the continent, people increasingly turned to the informal and illicit economies for alternative sources of livelihood. Meanwhile, those already vulnerable to exploitation become even more at risk due to the paucity of economic opportunities available to them and the isolating restrictions put in place in the interest of public health. While the closure of borders may have restricted illicit flows within and across countries in the short term, over the course of the pandemic, it has become clear that organised crime has found ways to adapt and bypass controls throughout Africa, with illicit activities continuing, often more covertly than ever before. As states diverted their attention and resources to curbing viral spread, new opportunities emerged for criminal groups to exploit gaps in service delivery and communities’ economic vulnerability, enabling them to expand their activities unchecked. For example, with limits on in-person interactions, illicit activities have increasingly shifted online, while cases of counterfeit, substandard and illegally diverted pharmaceuticals have been on the rise, marketed as ‘cures’ for COVID-19.

ENACT (Africa), 2021. 160p.

By Romi Sigsworth

Women play a range of roles in the grey economy on the fringes of organised criminal activities in East Africa. Using studies of illegal coltan mining in the Democratic Republic of Congo, sand trafficking in Kenya and wildlife crime in Uganda, this paper sets out the conundrum they face – the roles that give them agency and economic empowerment are those that law enforcement and social development interventions seek to dismantle. Can current responses be adapted to improve their lives?

EMACT (Africa), 22p.

By ENACT

In the last two decades the percentage of imprisoned women offenders is growing globally, at a faster rate than imprisoned male offenders. Such global increase raises the question as to whether the same can be observed on the African continent . Information suggests that transnational organized crime (TOC) affects African women and girls differently than African men and boys. It is crucial to learn how and if men and women behave differently in TOC in Africa in order to uncover the main drivers of these differences and adapt policing methodology accordingly. While gendered data continues to be insufficiently reported upon by law enforcement authorities in Africa, the assessment suggests that African law enforcement authorities are possibly under -investigating and under -estimating the involvement of African women in TOC. African law enforcement authorities likely continue to perceive them as victims or accomplices only. They are possibly rarely seen as the criminals themselves and less so as being the organizers, leaders, traffickers or recruiters. This gap in police investigations is indeed known to be exploited to the benefit of organized crime as women are more likely to go under the radar. The assessment draws attention to the common features of African female offenders based on available data to share insights and encourage police forces to reconsider their approach.

ENACT (Africa), 2021. 32p.

By ENACT

Across the globe, the proliferation of new armed groups (including rebels, militias, criminal groups and gangs) has made conflict prevention and resolution even more complex. Armed groups are diversifying their revenues, which are increasingly based on organized crime activities. Organized Crime Groups (OCGs) often benefit from the turmoil of armed conflicts and violence. They can engage in violence to protect their illicit business, undermining national economic development and security. Furthermore, OCGs can team up with armed groups to access and control natural resources, competing with the state to provide public goods or even protection to their community. Different situations of violent conflict affect countries in the Eastern African region. Crime dynamics that emerge from instability in one country of the region can spill over into a neighbouring country, posing a threat to regional peace and security. The emergence of hybrid criminal groups engaged in transnational organized crime and in armed conflict most likely represents a relevant dimension of contemporary conflict in Eastern Africa. Yet, the knowledge on the multiple ways in which OCGs prey, or even amplify, local conflicts for their own benefit remains limited. Organized violence for profit continues to affect Eastern Africa. Kidnapping for ransom, looting, threats and sexual gender-based violence are among the most reported incidents in the region. The driving factors for those crimes are sometimes difficult to discern and involve a combination of reasons such as economic gain, firearms sourcing (notably for cases of looting security forces), intention to control a community or territory. Illicit financial flows, and particularly, illicit taxation, allow OCGs and armed groups to generate revenue through commodity taxes, by imposing taxes on the community to move through certain areas or to run their business.

Lyon, France: Interpol and ENACT, 2022. 32p.

By The United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime

The purpose of Digest of Organized Crime Cases is to illustrate good practices in dealing with organized crime cases and in doing so, to, promote the practical implementation of the Organized Crime Convention and its Protocols. The Digest presents a compilation of illustrative cases and related good practices in criminalization, investigations, prosecution and legal experiences in dealing with organized crime and its various forms and manifestations. By providing relevant policy-makers, criminal justice officials, and investigative police with practical perspectives and insights based on expert practitioners' experience, and associated good practices, it is hoped that the Digest could serve those involved in complicated investigations and prosecutions of organized crime cases on how best to address the many pitfalls and challenges in order to conduct an efficient investigation and prosecution. Moreover, the Digest will help contribute to identifying good practice and common standards related to the investigation and prosecution of organized crime cases, while improving judicial understanding and strengthening international cooperation in criminal matters. The target reader group will be policymakers, judicial officials, central authorities and judicial/investigative police. Three Meetings of experts have been held in the course of 2011-2012: the first meeting was held in Rome, Italy, from 23-26 May 2011, the second one took place in Cartagena, Colombia, from the 28 November to the 02 December 2011, and the last one was held in Palermo, Italy, from 11-14 June 2012. The meetings were held in English, French, and Spanish and gathered approximately 30-40 experts from different countries and regions (at least three per region) with expertise in different legal systems and in specific aspects related to transnational organized crime, to present and comment relevant organized crime cases.

Vienna: UNODC, 2012. 154p.

By The U.S. National Institute of Justice

The National Institute of Justice, as part of its effort to build an international research agenda that will help the United States better understand potential threats from transnational crime, supported this project to— ■ Determine high priority areas for research on Asian transnational organized crime. ■ Assess the impact of Asian transnational organized crime on the United States. ■ Identify relevant data and information sources in Asia. ■ Identify potential collaborative research partners and institutions in Asia. This report focuses on the first two project goals.

Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, 2007. 40p.

By Virginia Comolli and Natasha Rose

China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is Beijing’s flagship programme for expanding its international trade opportunities and promoting infrastructure development. The New Silk Road, as it is often referred to, now encompasses 138 countries, and its unprecedented reach attracts the attention of policymakers and businesses worldwide – and criminals alike. BRI-related projects bring (or will do so once completed) investments, services, employment opportunities and prosperity to countries across Asia, Africa and beyond. However, like all development projects, they are also likely to have unintended consequences – including corruption, criminal exploitation and infiltration. Specifically, increases in licit trade prompted by the building or expansion of road and railway networks, ports and special economic zones provide openings for illicit trade, which ever-entrepreneurial criminal networks are quick to exploit. Indeed, the main pathways and means of illicit trade are usually also the main pathways of licit trade. Failing to acknowledge that development and trade create vulnerabilities in contexts where governance and regulatory capacity is weak, crime levels are high and illicit markets are well established opens up the risk of systematic criminal exploitation of the BRI, either through boosting existing illicit routes or facilitating the emergence of new ones. In other words, these risks call for the need to ‘crimeproof’ development initiatives. The regions at the core of this study – South East Asia and central and East Africa – present a number of vulnerabilities pertaining to the quality of governance, the socioeconomic landscape, the security sphere and the environment. As such, they are already the target of criminal enterprises and are home to some of the largest narcotics, human trafficking and illicit environmental markets in the world. From the perspective of criminal actors, increased connectivity brought about by the BRI equates to easier access to source regions and consumer markets. Larger trade volumes also provide more opportunities to conceal illicit goods among cargoes and to avoid detection at borders, ports and airports. Evidence suggests that the maritime sector in these regions is particularly susceptible to criminal activities as a result of BRI-linked ports and route expansions. Yet the BRI’s reach is much further still, with supply chains extending all the way into Europe and BRI-related projects reaching Latin America and the Caribbean, which may form the focus of a future study.

Geneva: Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2021. 75p.

By Thomas Grisaffi

Bolivia is a drug production and trafficking center and yet it exhibits far less violence than other countries that form part of cocaine’s commodity chain across Latin America. With reference to a case study from the Chapare, a coca-growing and drug processing zone in central Bolivia, this article considers why this is the case. Building from the literature on embedded economies and the ‘subsistence ethic’ of peasant communities, it shows how the drug trade is part of a local moral order that prioritizes kinship, reciprocal relations and community well-being and in doing so restricts the possibilities for violence. In addition, the agricultural unions act as a parallel form of governance, providing a framework for enforcing illicit contracts and the peaceful resolution of disputes. It is argued that illicit crop and drug production can be understood as a form of autonomous grassroots development. This article draws on more than three years of ethnographic fieldwork carried out between 2005 and 2019.

Paper presented at the Latin American Studies Association (LASA) annual congress (virtual congress). 28th May 2021. 23p.

By Joseph F. O'Brien , Andris Kurins

Paul Castellano headed New York's immensely powerful Gambino crime family for more than ten years. On December 16, 1985, he was gunned down in a spectacular shooting on Manhattan's fashionable East Side. At the time of his death, Paul Castellano was under indictment. So were most of the major Mafia figures in New York. Why? Because in 1983 the FBI had hidden a microphone in the kitchen of Castellano's Staten Island mansion. The 600 hours of recordings led to eight criminal trials. Agents Joe O'Brien and Andris Kurins planted that mike. They listened to the voices. Now they bring you the most revealing look inside the Mafia ever ... in the Mafia's own words.

New York: Island Books, 1992. 382p.

Edited by Karen Bullock, Ronald V. Clarke and Nick Tilley

Situational crime prevention is the art and science of reducing opportunities for crime. Despite accumulating evidence of its value in reducing many different kinds of crime – such as burglary, fraud, robbery, car theft, child sexual abuse and even terrorism – little has previously been published about its role in reducing organised crimes. This collection of case studies, by a distinguished international group of researchers, fills this gap by documenting the application of a situational prevention approach to a variety of organised crimes. These include sex trafficking, cigarette and drug smuggling, timber theft, mortgage fraud, corruption of private professionals and public officials, and subversion of tendering procedures for construction projects. By moving the focus away from the nature of criminal organisations to the analysis of the crimes committed by these organisations, the book opens up a fresh agenda for policy and research. The book will be of interest to those tasked with tackling organised crime problems as well as those interested in understanding the ways that organised crime problems have manifested themselves globally and how law enforcement and other agencies might seek to tackle them in the future.

Cullompton, Devon, UKWillan Publishing,

By Federica Varese

Running a business in Russia is every bit as unsavory as you might imagine, according to Federico Varese's thoroughly researched look at that nation's organized (but not very organized) criminals. Even the lowliest shopkeeper faces shakedowns from drug addicts and teenage thugs, as well as bribe demands from tax collectors and police. In this chaotic climate, the protection racket thrives. Pay the right person, and not only will the shakedowns end - you might even gain a business partner and a fishing buddy. But the penalties for making the wrong move can be severe. One shopkeeper who refused to pay up was burned to death in his store. Varese offers an intricately detailed look at the realities of the Russian Mafia. His excellent reporting is undermined only by his frequent academic writing style.

Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2001. 305p.

By Federico Varese

We see mafias as vast, powerful organizations, harvesting billions of dollars across the globe and wrapping their tentacles around everything from governance to finance. But is this the truth? Traveling from mafia initiation ceremonies in far-flung Russian cities to elite gambling clubs in downtown Macau, Federico Varese sets off in search of answers. Using wiretapped conversations, interviews, and previously unpublished police records, he builds up a picture of the real men and women caught up in mafia life, showing their loves and fears, ambitions and disappointments, as well as their crimes. Mafia Life takes us into the real world of organized crime, where henchmen worry about bad managers and have high blood pressure, assassinations are bungled as often as they come off, and increasing pressure from law enforcement means that a life of crime is no longer lived in the lap of luxury. As our world changes, so must mafias. Globalization, migration, and technology are disrupting their traditions and threatening their revenue streams, and the Mafiosi must evolve or die. Mafia Life is an intense and totally compelling look at these organizations and the daily life of their members, as they get to grips with the modern world.

New York; London: Oxford University Press, 2018. 288p.

Edited by Jude McCulloch and Sharon Pickering

Considers the growing importance of the border as a prime site for criminal justice activity and explores the impact of border policing on human rights and global justice. It covers a range of subjects from e-trafficking, child soldiers, the 'global war on terror' in Africa and police activities that generate crime.

Houndmills, Basingstoke. UK: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. 214p.

By Ulrik Boesen

The crafting of tax policy can never be divorced from an understanding of the law of unintended consequences, but it is too often disregarded or misunderstood in political debate, and sometimes policies, however well-intentioned, have unintended consequences that outweigh their benefits. One notable example of this is the ever increasing tax rates on tobacco products. A consequence of high state cigarette excise tax rates has been increased smuggling as people procure discounted packs from low-tax states and sell them in high-tax states. Growing cigarette tax differentials have made cigarette smuggling both a national problem and, in some cases, a lucrative criminal enterprise. Each year, scholars at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan think tank, use a statistical analysis of available data to estimate smuggling rates for each state.1 Their most recent report uses 2019 data and finds that smuggling rates generally rise in states after they adopt cigarette tax increases. Smuggling rates have dropped in some states, often where neighboring states have higher cigarette tax rates. T

Washington, DC: Tax Foundation, 2021. 8p.

Ulrik Boesen

The crafting of tax policy can never be divorced from an understanding of the law of unintended consequences, but it is too often disregarded or misunderstood in political debate, and sometimes policies, however well-intentioned, have unintended consequences that outweigh their benefits.

One notable consequence of high state cigarette excise tax rates has been increased smuggling as people procure discounted packs from low-tax states and sell them in high-tax states. Growing cigarette tax differentials have made cigarette smuggling both a national problem and, in some cases, a lucrative criminal enterprise.

Each year, scholars at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a Michigan think tank, use a statistical analysis of available data to estimate smuggling rates for each state.[1] Their most recent report uses 2018 data and finds that smuggling rates generally rise in states after they adopt cigarette tax increases. Smuggling rates have dropped in some states, often where neighboring states have higher cigarette tax rates.

Washington, DC: Tax Foundation, 2020. 7p.

By Hana Ross

The tobacco market, like many other markets, is subject to illegal activities, primarily related to tax evasion and counterfeiting of legal products. Since a sizable illicit tobacco market can both deprive governments of much needed revenue and undermine the effectiveness of tobacco control efforts, governments dealing with the issue have developed a set of strategies and measures for curbing tobacco tax avoidance and evasion. Many of these measures are called for in the Protocol to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, the first and, to date, only protocol to the World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) (WHO 2012). This paper provides a brief review of the key measures, including the rationale for each, their strengths and weaknesses in addressing particular aspect of illicit tobacco trade, and the best way to implement them.

Prepared for the Economics of Tobacco Control Project¸ School of Economics, University of Cape Town and Tobacconomics, Health Policy Center, Institute for Health Research and Policy, University of Illinois at Chicago, 2015. 28p.