In recent years, black gold politics has become a major issue in Taiwan. The term black gold politics refers to the penetration of violent racketeers and self-serving businessmen into politics. According to Ko-lin Chin, this situation can be very threatening to a society since it undermines the integrity and legitimacy of public institutions. As members of the underworld transform their criminal identities into that of legitimate businessmen a society may experience changes in the institutional structure of the political economy. This book examines the structure and illegal activities of organized crime groups in Taiwan and explores the infiltration of crime groups into the business and political arenas. The author looks at the intricate relationship among government officials, elected deputies, businessmen, and underworld figures. He evaluates the impact of the purification of organized crime in Taiwan and includes data collected from first-hand interviews with underworld figures, government officials, law enforcement authorities, elected representatives, and other key informants. This timely study will help academics and policymakers to better understand the social and poli

Drug trafficking is the most visible part of the profits of organized crime, which have grown considerably since the end of the cold war. The mirror of history shows us the impact of the drug trade in the colonization of Asia. The post cold war geopolitical context reproduces elements of the past, with new opportunities for drug trafficking in the globalization process, as can be seen in the example of China, and the lasting impunity in terms of money laundering. With the growing role of offshore locations in the global financial system, criminal prosperity has even affected the economic stability of some countries. This book presents a new and heterodox interpretation of the post cold war financial crisis, by focusing on the unexplored dimension of illicit actors.
The Mexican crisis of 1994 and its 'tequila effect' is analyzed as a model of a 'cocaine effect' from the local laundering of profits from the sale of drugs in the US. The Japanese crisis of the 1990s is put in relation to the economic influence of the Yakuza on the real estate bubble, which had the effect of postponing necessary market adjustments. And the Thai crisis of 1997 is analyzed in the light of massive money laundering of institutional and criminal networks, whose undeclared profits represent about 10% of GDP.

In March 1972, four young black men were arrested by a specialist pickpocket squad at Oval Underground Station and charged with theft and assault of police officers. Sentenced to two years in prison, the case seemed straightforward and credible to the judge and jury who convicted them - but these young men were completely innocent, victims of endemic police corruption. The real criminal in this case was the notorious DS Derek Ridgewell, later proven to be heavily involved in organised crime. Graham Satchwell, at one time Britain's most senior railway detective, has worked with Oval Four victim Winston Trew to reveal the rotten culture that not only enabled Ridgewell to operate as he did, but also to subsequently organise major thefts of property worth in excess of GBP1 million. Winston Trew's case was finally overturned in December 2019, but the far-reaching ramifications of Ridgewell's shocking activities has irreparably damaged many lives and must never be forgotten.

Mott KTA Journalism and Mass Communication Research Award, Kappa Tau Alpha Tankard Book Award, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Knudson Latin America Prize, Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC) Since 2000, more than 150 journalists have been killed in Mexico. Today the country is one of the most dangerous in the world in which to be a reporter. In Surviving Mexico, Celeste Gonzalez de Bustamante and Jeannine E. Relly examine the networks of political power, business interests, and organized crime that threaten and attack Mexican journalists, who forge ahead despite the risks. Amid the crackdown on drug cartels, overall violence in Mexico has increased, and journalists covering the conflict have grown more vulnerable. But it is not just criminal groups that want reporters out of the way. Government forces also attack journalists in order to shield corrupt authorities and the very criminals they are supposed to be fighting. Meanwhile some news organizations, enriched by their ties to corrupt government officials and criminal groups, fail to support their employees. In some cases, journalists must wait for a "green light" to publish not from their editors but from organized crime groups. Despite seemingly insurmountable constraints, journalists have turned to one another and to their communities to resist pressures and create their own networks of resilience. Drawing on a decade of rigorous research in Mexico, Gonzalez de Bustamante and Relly explain how journalists have become their own activists and how they hold those in power accountable.

Started by Italian brothers from North Denver, the high-profile Smaldone crime syndicate began in the bootlegging days of the 1920s and flourished into the 1980s. Connected to notorious crime figures, politicians, and presidents, Clyde Smaldone was the crime family's leader. Through candid interviews and firsthand accounts, Dick Kreck reveals the true sense of what it meant to be a Smaldone, not only the corrupt but also the virtuous.

Dick Kreck retired from "The Denver Post" after thirty-eight years as a columnist. He is the author of four other books, including "Murder at the Brown Palace." He lives in Denver, Colorado.

Ethnic organized crime is a phenomenon that has been largely ignored by social scientists and historians, and dismissed as a subject not to be taken too seriously by those researching the mobility patterns of their own ethnic ancestors or current minority newcomers. "The Crooked Ladder" represents a groundbreaking attempt to describe how some members of ethnic minorities have utilized organized crime as one vehicle of upward mobility, advancing from lower-class status to middle-class power and respectability.

O'Kane illustrates the criminal road to prosperity as a process of displacement and succession: each group competes with and eventually eliminates its more established predecessor from the upper echelons of organized crime. This historical criminal succession mirrors the upward mobility of the Irish, Jews, and Italians in the larger, conventional noncriminal realm. Arguing that African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics are pursuing similar criminal routes, O'Kane takes issue with contemporary social scientists who view the current plight of minorities as unique in American social life.

As a fundamental rethinking of the American ethnic experience with crime, "The Crooked Ladder" will be essential reading for social historians, sociologists, and criminologists. Now available in paperback, it will be useful in criminology courses and well as classes in ethnicity and social relations.

Sokaiya are extortionists who target Japanese corporations for payoffs. They threaten to reveal corporate secrets and scandals, usually at shareholder meetings. This book explores the curious but not unusual relationship that grows between executives and sokaiya, who also offer their services to protect the corporation from other sokaiya, thus becoming a necessary evil in the world of Japanese business. The book documents the history and development of sokaiya over the past 100 years since Japan first enacted a commercial code. It includes interviews with police, lawyers, corporate executives, as well as sokaiya and members of the yakuza (traditional Japanese gangsters).

Through an investigation of Cosa Nostra's activities, reveals the role of organized crime in the urban power structure Cosa Nostra. Organized crime. The Mob. Call it what you like, no other crime group has infiltrated labor unions and manipulated legitimate industries like Italian organized crime families. One cannot understand the history and political economy of New York City-or most other major American cities-in the 20th century without focusing on the role of organized crime in the urban power structure. Gotham Unbound demonstrates the remarkable range of Cosa Nostra's activities and influence and convincingly argues that 20th century organized crime has been no minor annoyance at the periphery of society but a major force in the core economy, acting as a power broker, even as an alternative government in many sectors of the urban economy. James B. Jacobs presents the first comprehensive account of the ways in which the Cosa Nostra infiltrated key sectors of New York City's legitimate economic life and how this came over the years to be accepted as inevitable, in some cases even beneficial. The first half of Gotham Unbound is devoted to the ways organized crime became entrenched in six economic sectors and institutions of the city-the garment district, Fulton Fish Market, freight at JFK airport, construction, the Jacob Javits Convention Center, and the waste-hauling industry. The second half compellingly documents the campaign to purge the mob from unions, industries, and economic sectors, focusing on the unrelenting law enforcement efforts and the central role of Rudolph Giuliani's mayoral administration in devising innovative regulatory strategies to combat the mob.

This book focuses on the enforcement aspect of tobacco control policy, and argues that the intense regulation of the tobacco market will never be successful as long as it can be circumvented by the availability of illicit tobacco products. Yet, current efforts to combat illicit tobacco trade are insufficient, suffering from several flaws and gaps at the regulatory and operational levels. The aim of this book is to provide an analysis of the legal framework and practice of enforcement with regard to illicit tobacco products. Combining criminological and legal perspectives, it presents and critically analyses the phenomenon of illicit tobacco trade, as well as the policies, legal frameworks and practices in six EU countries with regard to combatting this phenomenon, assessing the strengths and weaknesses of their approaches. Furthermore, it studies the relationship between the EU and third countries (e.g. Ukraine) in terms of how the EU can influence policy and enforcement in these countries in order to counter illicit tobacco trafficking. Not exclusively focusing on the EU, the book also includes an analysis of enforcement against illicit tobacco products in the US. The EU Member States analysed in the book (Belgium, Germany, Italy, Latvia, the Netherlands and Poland) reflect the range of currently available approaches. Some of them have ratified the WHO Protocol against tobacco smuggling; others have not. They belong to different legal traditions and face different challenges due to their respective border situations. While Belgium and the Netherlands are key entry ports to the EU, Poland and Latvia represent the Eastern land border of the EU, with various regional challenges. Italy has a long maritime border, where trafficking is possible from Northern Africa and from the Middle East. It also has significant experience in fighting organised crime. Lastly, Germany is the largest market in Europe and situated in the middle of these trafficking routes.

This work has its origin in the International Conference on Preventing and Controlling Money Laundering and the Use of Proceeds of Crime: A Global Approach organised by ISPAC, the International Scientific and Advisory Board of the United Nations in co-operation with the Crime and Justice Branch of the United Nations under the auspices of the Italian Government. Some of the main papers presented are substantially revised and collected in this book, which is divided into "Trends and Implications" and "Tuning the Instruments". The chapters develop an analysis of the different aspects of the money laundering problem and attempt to tune the instruments for combating them. Globalization of the problem calls for globalization of the responses. By presenting a wide range of different approaches and experiences, this book explores the threads of the global web that is international money laundering. While offering no simple solutions, it reinforces the need for action, positing strategies that address all aspects of the problem.

This book tackles the challenging topic of corruption. It explores the evolution of a global prohibition regime against corrupt activity (the global anti-corruption regime). It analyses the structure of the transnational legal framework against corruption, evaluating the impact of global anti-corruption efforts at a national level. The book focuses on the United Nations Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) as the primary tool of the global anti-corruption regime. It provides new and engaging material gathered in the field, including first-hand accounts from actors at international, regional, and domestic levels. By documenting the experiences of diverse actors, the book makes a substantial contribution to literature on corruption and anti-corruption efforts. Synthesising empirical research with an exploration of theoretical literature on corruption and regime evolution results in novel suggestions for improvement of the global anti-corruption regime and its legal tools. The Global Anti-Corruption Regime is a well-rounded text with a wealth of new information that will be valuable to both academic and policy audiences. It clarifies the factors that prevent current anti-corruption efforts from successfully eliminating corrupt activity and applies the five-stage model of global prohibition regime evolution to the global anti-corruption regime. It will be of interest to researchers, academics, policymakers, and students interested in anti-corruption law, comparative law, transnational criminal law, international law, international relations, politics, economics, and trade.

The threat of terrorism, if not adequately managed, is likely to increase exponentially. As terrorist groups' influence and networks spread globally, a concerted effort in counterterrorism strategy is critical to mitigating the threat they present. Governments facing the threat of terrorism are typically strengthening their law enforcement, military and intelligence capabilities, but more complex initiatives such as deradicalisation and terrorist rehabilitation are more time-consuming and less attention-grabbing and so tend to be neglected. It is all too easy to 'do' rehabilitation ineffectively or to simply ignore it altogether. This is unfortunate, as an effective rehabilitation strategy can yield dividends over the longer term. Every committed terrorist is a potential recruiter, whether in prison or at liberty, for more terrorists. Even in death, they can potentially be presented as martyrs. Conversely, successfully rehabilitated terrorists can be valuable assets in the public relations theatre of battle. There is no single, simple solution to the challenges of deradicalisation and rehabilitation, but this book places examples of best practice within a robust, but flexible, conceptual framework. It gives guidelines for establishing and implementing a successful deradicalisation or rehabilitation programme, derived from a series of empirical case studies of successful projects around the world. It sets out both the necessary and desirable facets of such a programme, identifying which areas to prioritise and where budgets can be best spent if resources are tight. The authors provide detailed case studies of each step to illustrate an approach that has worked and how best to replicate this success.

Contents:
Forward. Preface. 1.Triads, Business and Market. Part I: The Triads 2.The Origins. 3.The Organisation. Part II: Legal Markets 4.Protection Against Extortionists. 5.Protection Against Competitors: Traditional Operations. 6.Protection Against Competitors: Recent Operations. 7.Dispute Settlement. Part III: Illegal Markets 8.Drug Dealing. 9.Gambling. 10.Prostitution. Part IV: International Markets 11.Drug Trafficking. 12.Human Smuggling. Part V: Implications and Reflections 13.Are Triads Extortionists, Entrepreneurs, or Protectors? 14.International Triad Movement: Emigration or Reversion? 15.New Directions in the study of Triads.

The most destructive force in the Americas today is not El NiNo-it is the criminal enterprises that recognize no geographic, legal or moral boundaries. This book exposes the main characteristics and effects of criminal enterprises in the Americas and considers realistic strategies for combating them. Looking at how crime penetrates private business, government, and the everyday lives of the people, this collection examines the impact of criminal enterprises on the legitimate economy and the ability of states to promote the rule of law. It compares criminal enterprises in the Americas with other regions, and considers the foreign policy concerns of the US. With a recent upsurge in the scope, sophistication and cooperation among groups, this book is essential tool for understanding one of the greatest challenges to security, peace and democracy in the Americas.

At a time when Latin America is experiencing societal unrest from human rights violations, corruption and weak institutions Government and Governance of Security offers an insightful understanding for the modern steering of crime policies. Using Chile as a case study, the book delivers an untold account of the trade-offs between political, judicial and policing institutions put in practice to confront organised crime since the country's redemocratisation. In an effort to encompass the academic fields of political science, public policy and criminology, Carlos Solar challenges the current orthodoxies for understanding security and the promotion of the rule of law in developing states. His research aptly illuminates the practicalities of present-day governance and investigates how networks of institutions are formed and sustained across time and, subsequently, how these actors deal with issues of policy consensus and cooperation. To unveil the uniqueness of this on-the-ground action, the analysis is based on an extensive revision of public documents, legislation, media accounts and interviews conducted by the author with the key policy makers and officials dealing with crimes including drug-trafficking, money laundering and human smuggling. Government and Governance of Security will be of interest to scholars of Latin American studies, security and governance and development.

Challenging Organized Crime in the Western Hemisphere: A Game of Moves and Countermoves takes the unusual approach of exploring and describing how organized crime groups develop their capacities in response to heightened powers of law enforcement; and how law enforcement in turn responds, creating an ongoing dynamic interaction. The book shows how a state, such as the United States, has and can develop new laws and practices in ways that enable them to deal with relatively large violent groups-and yet preserve the rule of law and civil liberties. While most texts describe organized crime groups and the challenges to government they impose from a static perspective, the authors dissect the interaction over time of organized crime and democratic governance that has created the present structure and balance of advantages in the United States. Readers learn about the markets for contraband and extortionate protection that form the bulk of organized criminal enterprise, the vulnerabilities of the traditional practices and rules of law enforcement, the effects of globalization of criminal enterprises on their contest with the state, the effectiveness of various practices of law enforcement, and the continuing forces of change, often technological, in the businesses of organized crime and law enforcement that play important roles in the contest between them. This thought- provoking book is ideal for students of organized and transnational crime in university programs and law schools, as well as researchers and legal practitioners, who seek to look beyond the simple traditional history of organized crime and develop a strategy to confront organized crime in the future.

Throughout the world, vulnerable people are being deceived into entering abusive journeys. Whether in the organ trade, exploitative labour businesses or forced criminality, their lives will never be the same. This book traces the journey of victims/survivors of modern slavery and human trafficking into and within the UK, from recruitment to representation to (re)integration. Using global comparative case studies, it discusses recruitment tactics and demand, prevention in supply chains, issues with effective legal protection and care services and vulnerability to re-trafficking. It also examines the ideological misrepresentation of vulnerable migrants and victims/survivors in media, the film industry, legislation and more. Rooted in diverse practitioner experience, disciplines and empirical research, this book bridges the experience-research-practice-policy gap by bringing to the fore survivors' voices. In doing so, it offers crucial suggestions for better public awareness, policies and practices that will impact interventions in the UK and beyond.

First published in 1981, this book examines the life of Arthur Harding, a well-known figure in the East End underworld during the first half of the twentieth century. The first five chapters survey his life in the 'Jago' slum between 1887 and 1896, offering a different view of an often vilified district. The subsequent phases of his life as a cabinet-maker, street trader and wardrobe dealer reflect the changing fortunes of the East End from hand-to-mouth conditions in the late-nineteenth century to comparative security in the 1930s. The reader is introduced to some of the major features of East End life - back-street enterprise, neighbourhood solidarity, politics and popular culture. Among the many themes that can be traced are the relationship between the underworld and the local working-class community; the collusive understanding established between villains and the police; the effects of the criminalisation of street betting; and the relationship between Jews, non-Jews and what the author terms 'half-jews' in a district of high immigration. Drawn from transcripts of recorded reminiscences, this book provides an important text for understanding the political economy of crime - extended by the authors extensive footnotes and a preface discussing the peculiar moral complexion of south-west Bethnal Green.

This book asks a critical question for our times: why do an increasing number of people support, admire and aspire to be outlaws? Outlaw motorcycle clubs have grown, spread and matured. Popular culture glamorizes them; law enforcement agencies fight them and the media vilify them. Meanwhile, the outlaw bikers exploit the current cultural and economic climate to attract new members. How Outlaws Win Friends and Influence People argues that the growth of these anti-establishment groups under neoliberalism is not coincidental, but inevitable. The book asks a critical question for our times: why do people today, in increasing numbers, support, admire and aspire to be outlaws? What needs and desires do the clubs satisfy? How do they win support and influence? Answering this is crucial if we are to successfully fight the social harms caused by these groups, as well as the harms that underlie their proliferation. Unless we understand the cultural dynamic at play here, our fight against these organizations will always take the form of a battle against the mythological Hydra: when one head is cut off, two more grow. "Tereza Kuldova is a rebel with a cause - her new book is a razor-sharp critique of stereotypical conceptions of the 'outlaw biker' and provides refreshing insights into their subjective life-worlds" - Daniel Briggs, author of the award-winning Dead-End Lives.

This book focuses on the displacement and convergence of transnational crimes in North Africa and in the area of the Mediterranean Sea, providing empirical analysis of human smuggling and of drug trafficking. It discusses the displacement of crime due to the exploitation of asymmetries in legislation, law enforcement, and other vulnerabilities. Using an innovative multimethodology, this volume describes the evolution of illicit flows related to human smuggling and trafficking of illicit goods. This approach helps to provide critical information such as traffickers' modi operandi, most exploited paths, and trafficked goods, that would not be achievable through more traditional methods. The Evolution of Illicit Flows will be a valuable resource for scholars and researchers of criminology and migration studies, as well as for policymakers and law enforcement working in transnational crimes and trafficking.

The infiltration of organised crime in the legitimate economy has emerged as a transnational phenomenon. This book constitutes an unprecedented study of the involvement of criminal groups in the legitimate economy and their infiltration in legal businesses, and is the first to bridge the research gap between money laundering and organised crime. It analyses the main drivers of this process, explaining why, how and where infiltration happens. Building on empirical evidence from the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Ireland, Italy, France and Finland, Organised Crime in European Businesses is divided into four parts. Part I explores the infiltration of legitimate businesses to conceal and facilitate illicit trafficking. Part II examines the infiltration of legitimate businesses to develop fraud schemes. Part III focuses on the infiltration of legitimate businesses to control the territory and influence policy makers. Part IV concludes by considering the research and policy implications in light of these findings. Bringing together leading experts and detailed case studies, this book considers the infiltration of organised crime in legitimate business around Europe. It is an ideal resource for students and academics in the fields of criminology, economics and sociology, as well as private sector practitioners, public officials and policy makers.

Russian criminal organizations have become a major force in Russia's evolution towards democracy and a free market, although the exact nature of their impact is still poorly understood. For all the concern and publicity it has generated, Russian organized crime is not well understood, which makes this volume all the more useful.

Reporting the findings of a comprehensive study of human trafficking in Cambodia, this book focuses on the characteristics and operations of the traffickers. It provides a theoretical framework that explains the emergence of the phenomenon, and the role of moral panic and western hegemony in the war on human trafficking. Using a multi-method and multi-source research design, which includes an examination of police and prison records as well as interviews with 91 incarcerated human traffickers, police and prison officers, court officials, and members of NGOs, this book investigates five major themes about human traffickers in Cambodia: who are they, how do they operate, how much profit do they make, why are they involved in human trafficking, and how does the Cambodian Criminal Justice System (CJS) control their activities? A novel and unique analysis, this book is of interest to a wide academic audience in the fields of Asian Studies, Human Trafficking, Sociology, Anthropology, Political Science, Human Geography and Critical Legal Studies.

Transnational Organized Crime in Latin America and the Caribbean: From Evolving Threats and Responses to Integrated, Adaptive Solutions provides a comprehensive overview of and introduction to transnational organized crime in Latin America for the student and practitioner. It addresses the geography of illicit activities, including relationships between source, transit, and consumption zones, as well as illicit activities beyond narcotrafficking, such as illegal mining, contraband, human smuggling, and money laundering. It applies a typology of cartels, intermediate groups, gangs, and ideological groups to examine specific criminal organizations and the relationships between them. It makes a comparative assessment of government approaches to combatting transnational organized crime in the region, including discussions of interagency coordination, interdiction, targeting of criminal group leaders, the use of the military in law enforcement, law enforcement reform efforts, prison control, and international cooperation. It concludes by applying these thorough analyses to make concrete recommendations for both Latin American and United States policymakers.

This book is devoted to building up the case that the drug industry has systematically corrupted science to play up the benefits and play down the harms of their drugs. It describes the activities of the drug industry to organised crime.