Organized crime activities and Modern criminal organizations

This collection explores organized crime and terror networks and the points at which they intersect.

Organized Crime And Terrorist Networks

by Vincenzo Ruggiero

When in 1613 Cervantes wrote a delectable short story about a criminal organization operating in Seville, he was unaware that only a few centuries later would the debate on organized crime finally spark off and, currently still rampant, take numerous competing directions. His Rinconete and Cortadillo are independent thieves who, in Seville, realize that their independence is at risk.

In the town, Mr Monipodio requires the payment of a duty from all those operating in illegal activities and markets (Cervantes, 1952). Monipodio is fervidly religious and well connected with important people, including law enforcers, while his 'soldiers' deliver punishment against 'unregistered' lone criminals or on behalf of customers who intend to eliminate enemies or competitors. Rinconete and Cortadillo are astounded by the careless manner in which justice is administered in Seville, and fearful that the members of that 'infamous academy' would make their work more difficult and dangerous, they leave and seek elsewhere a more apposite environment for their professional development (Ruggiero, 2003).

Cervantes was also unaware that several of the characteristics he highlighted would provide as many angles for analyses of organized crime to come. Cultural aspects, for instance, have been addressed, among others, by Hess (1973), Hobsbawm (1971) and Sciascia (2002), entrepreneurship by Arlacchi (1983), Santino and La Fiura (1990) and Scalia (2016), flexibility and professionalism by Hobbs (1995, 2013), Albanese (2014) and Paoli (2014).

Organized crime as power syndicate features in the work of Block (1991), Antonopoulos and Papanicolaou (2018), von Lampe (2016), Dino and Pepino (2008), Abadinsky (1990), Einstein and Amir (1999). More general analyses are found in Holmes (2016), Sergi (2017) and most recently by Hall (2018).

Finally, organized crime as illegal governance has been dealt with by Gambetta (1992), Varese (2010), Campana and Varese (2018).

Readers are kindly asked not to put this book down straight away, because this brief introduction will not display yet another endless review of the literature that is normally reiterated in every work devoted to organized crime.

This collection explores organized crime and terror networks and the points at which they intersect. It analyses the close relationships between these criminalities, the prevalence and ambiguity of this nexus, the technological elements facilitating it, and the financial aspects embedded in this criminal partnership. Organized Crime and Terrorist Networks is the outcome of empirical research, seminars, workshops and interviews carried out by a multinational consortium of researchers within ‘TAKEDOWN', a Horizon 2020 project funded by the European Commission. The consortium's objective was to examine the perspectives, requirements and misgivings of front-line practitioners operating in the areas of organized crime and terrorism. The chapters collected in this volume are the outcome of such analytical efforts. The topics addressed include the role of Information and Communication Technology in contemporary criminal organizations, terrorism financing, online transnational criminality, identity crime, the crime-terror nexus and tackling the nexus at supranational level. This book offers a compelling contribution to scholarship on organized crime and terrorism, and considers possible directions for future research. It will be of much interest to students and researchers engaged in studies of criminology, criminal justice, crime control and prevention, organized crime, terrorism, political violence, and cybercrime.

Categories:

Society, Politics & Philosophy - Government & Politics

Year:

2020

Publisher:

Routledge/Taylaor & Francis Group

Language:

English

Pages:

221

ISBN 10:

1138351741

ISBN 13:

9781138351745

Series:

Routledge Studies In Crime And Society

File:

PDF, 2.94 MB