This book draws on research into darknet cryptomarkets to examine themes of cybercrime, cybersecurity, illicit markets and drug use. Cybersecurity is increasingly seen as essential yet it is also a point of contention between citizens, states, non-governmental organisations and private corporations as each grapples with existing and developing technologies. The increased importance of privacy online has sparked concerns about the loss of confidentiality and autonomy in the face of state and corporate surveillance on one hand, and the creation of ungovernable spaces and the facilitation of terrorism and harassment on the other. These differences and disputes highlight the dual nature of the internet: allowing counter-publics to emerge and providing opportunities for state and corporate domination through control of the data infrastructure. The Darknet and Smarter Crime argues that, far from being a dangerous anarchist haven, the darknet and the technologies used within it could have benefits and significance for everyone online. This book engages with a number of debates about the internet and new communication technologies, including: surveillance and social control, anonymity and privacy, the uses and abuses of data encryption technologies and cyber-cultures and collective online identities

This book examines the current debate about UK street gangs termed the 'UK Gang Thesis' debate. It argues that policy formations in the UK aimed at addressing street gangs preceding and succeeding the English riots of 2011 have encompassed positions of both gang denial and gang blame. The policy pendulum of denial and blame raises questions about where UK gang-policy stands, and which ideas and influences have framed our responses to this issue. The book will explore the UK Gangs Thesis using an analysis of empirical evidence from three sites in three English regions which encompasses periods of both gang denial and gang blame. This book is an examination of the relationship between theory, policy and practice in the context of the current UK gangs-discourse, and one of the first to examine the country lines phenomena. There is a need to formulate a less partisan analysis of gangs in the UK, and to recapture the debate from analyses which understate or overstate the gang problem. In order to do so, Andell argues that a realist approach is needed which defines what constitutes social reality and overcomes theoretical and methodological difficulties in order to critique present formulations of gangs. This book provides this critique and makes suggestions for a more comprehensive and democratic approach to gang policy, in what can be termed a critical realist approach to gangs.

This book evaluates the impact of situational crime prevention measures implemented by social media platforms to identifying, blocking, and removing content linked to illegal traded medicines. It discusses the extent of social media usage in trafficking of medicines; the ease of access; visibility of the content; language of posts; products most traded; and types of posts. Research results support the hypothesis of the limited impact of these measures, due not to a lack of effectiveness but to asymmetrical implementation. This volume will be of interest to researchers, law enforcement, policy makers, social media groups, public health practitioners.

This book presents a study of street children's involvement as workers in Bangladeshi organised crime groups based on a three-year ethnographic study in Dhaka. The book argues that 'mastaans' are Bangladeshi mafia groups that operate in a market for crime, violence and social protection. It considers the crimes mastaans commit, the ways they divide labour, and how and why street children become involved in these groups. The book explores how street children are hired by 'mastaans', to carry weapons, sell drugs, collect extortion money, commit political violence and conduct contract killings. The book argues that these young people are neither victims nor offenders; they are instead 'illicit child labourers', doing what they can to survive on the streets. This book adds to the emerging fields of the sociology of crime and deviance in South Asia and 'Southern criminology'.

This Brief presents a social psychological approach to understanding the reaction of communities to organized crime and illegal groups. Based on a new theoretical framework and the latest empirical evidence, this book explores questions of how criminal organizations are able to gain power and exert governance over entire territories. This book draws on the prototypical example of Italian organized crime and analyzes the thesis that the power of criminal groups is grounded in dynamics of legitimization rather than fear or coercion. The compliance of a community is seen here as stemming from the endorsement of specific cultural values and norms. These cultural values are actively appropriated, mobilized and transmitted by criminal groups, a dynamic the authors have labeled Intracultural Appropriation Theory. The book emphasizes what can be learned from using this emerging theory in similar settings such as those of terrorist groups and violent gangs, and points the way to solutions for this social problem.

No one knows how many Chinese are being smuggled into the United States, but credible estimates put the number at 50,000 arrivals each year. Astonishing as this figure is, it represents only a portion of the Chinese illegally residing in the United States. Smuggled Chinese presents a detailed account of how this traffic is conducted and what happens to the people who risk their lives to reach Gold Mountain.

When the Golden Venture ran aground off New York's coast in 1993 and ten of the 260 Chinese on board drowned, the public outcry about human smuggling became front-page news. Probing into the causes and consequences of this clandestine traffic, Ko-lin Chin has interviewed more than 300 people -- smugglers, immigrants, government officials, and business owners -- in the United States, China, and Taiwan. Their poignant and chilling testimony describes a flourishing industry in which smugglers -- big and little snakeheads -- command fees as high as $30,000 to move desperate but hopeful men and women around the world. For many who survive the hunger, filthy and crowded conditions, physical and sexual abuse, and other perils of the arduous journey, life in the United States, specifically in New York's Chinatown, is a disappointment if not a curse. Few will return to China, though, because their families depend on the money and status gained by having a relative in the States.

In Smuggled Chinese, Ko-lin Chin puts a human face on this intractable international problem, showing how flaws in national policies and lax law enforcement perpetuate the cycle of desperation and suffering. He strongly believes, however, that the problem of human smuggling will continue as long as China'scitizens are deprived of fundamental human rights and economic security.

Smuggled Chinese will engage readers interested in human rights, Asian and Asian American studies, urban studies, and sociology.

This book comprehensively examines right-wing extremism (RWE) in Canada, discussing the lengthy history of violence and distribution, ideological bases, actions, organizational capacity and connectivity of these extremist groups. It explores the current landscape, the factors that give rise to and minimise these extremist groups, strategies for countering these groups, and the emergence of the 'Alt-Right'. It draws on interviews with law enforcement officials, community activists, and current and former right-wing activists to inform and offer practical advice, paired with analyses of open source intelligence on the state of the RWE movement in Canada. The historical and contemporary contours of right-wing extremism in Canada are situated within the social, political, and cultural landscape that has shaped the movement. It will be of particular interest to students and researchers of criminology, sociology, social justice, terrorism and political violence.

This book identifies and examines the novel ways in which money is laundered internationally through illegal activities on the internet, focusing on sales, payments, social media, online gaming, and tax misapplication. Technology-enhanced methods that enable money laundering are now a significant portion of malicious cyber activities and deterring its commission is a high order priority. Although powered by modern tools, investigators, prosecutors, judges and regulatory agencies in most countries are not equipped to accurately detect, investigate and prosecute this type of criminal activity. It makes a case for broader institutional and regulatory improvement, formulating a basis for detecting evolving money laundering schemes with multiple focuses on sales, payments, social media, online gaming, and tax misapplication. Revealing the newest techniques used by criminals, currently neglected by law enforcement in most countries, and discusses the best approaches to combat these crimes, this book will be useful as a guide for law enforcement, prosecutors, judges, and others involved in efforts to curb online crimes.

Amidst ongoing allegations of inappropriate behavior and trafficking during UN peacekeeping missions, this volume takes a step back to analyze the post-war and peacekeeping contexts in which prostitution flourishes. Using ethnographic research conducted in Kosovo from 2011 to 2015, this book offers an alternate understanding of the growth of the sex industry in the wake of war. It features in-depth interviews with the diverse women engaged in prostitution, with those facilitating it, and with police, prosecutors, and gynecologists. Drawing on the perspectives of women engaged in prostitution in the wake of war, this volume argues that the depiction of these women as victims of trafficking in the hegemonic discourse does more harm than good. Instead, it outlines the complex set of circumstances and choices that emerge in the context of a growing post-war sex economy. Extrapolating the conclusions from the study of Kosovo, this book is a valuable resources for researchers and practitioners studying the aftermath of war in the Balkans and beyond, and researchers engaged with the function of the UN and peacekeeping missions internationally.

With a foreword by four-time Oscar nominated filmmaker Michael Mann. The story of Paul LeRoux, the twisted-genius entrepreneur and cold-blooded killer who brought revolutionary innovation to international crime, and the exclusive inside story of how the DEA's elite, secretive 960 Group brought him down. Paul LeRoux was born in Zimbabwe and raised in South Africa. After a first career as a pioneering cybersecurity entrepreneur, he plunged hellbent into the dark side, using his extraordinary talents to develop a disruptive new business model for transnational organized crime. Along the way he created a mercenary force of ex-U.S. and NATO sharpshooters to carry out contract murders for his own pleasure and profit. The criminal empire he built was Cartel 4.0, utilizing the gig economy and the tools of the Digital Age: encrypted mobile devices, cloud sharing and novel money-laundering techniques. LeRoux's businesses, cyber-linked by his own dark worldwide web, stretched from Southeast Asia across the Middle East and Africa to Brazil; they generated hundreds of millions of dollars in sales of arms, drugs, chemicals, bombs, missile technology and murder. He dealt with rogue nations-Iran and North Korea-as well as the Chinese Triads, Somali pirates, Serb mafia, outlaw bikers, militants, corrupt African and Asian officials and coup-plotters. Initially, LeRoux appeared as a ghost image on law enforcement and intelligence radar, an inexplicable presence in the middle of a variety of criminal endeavors. He was Netflix to Blockbuster, Spotify to Tower Records. A bold disruptor, his methods brought international crime into the age of innovation, making his operations barely detectable and LeRoux nearly invisible. But he gained the attention of a small band of bold, unorthodox DEA agents, whose brief was tracking down drugs-and-arms trafficking kingpins who contributed to war and global instability. The 960 Group, an element of the DEA's Special Operations Division, had launched some of the most complex, coordinated and dangerous operations in the agency's history. They used unorthodox methods and undercover informants to penetrate LeRoux's inner circle and bring him down. For five years Elaine Shannon immersed herself in LeRoux's shadowy world. She gained exclusive access to the agents and players, including undercover operatives who looked LeRoux in the eye on a daily basis. Shannon takes us on a shocking tour of this dark frontier, going deep into the operations and the mind of a singularly visionary and frightening figure-Escobar and Victor Bout along with the innovative vision of Steve Jobs rolled into one. She puts you in the room with these people and their moment-to-moment encounters, jeopardy, frustration, anger and small victories, creating a narrative with a breath-taking edge, immediacy and a stranger-than-fiction reality. Remarkable, disturbing, and utterly engrossing, Hunting LeRoux introduces a new breed of criminal spawned by the savage, greed-exalting underside of the Age of Innovation-and a new kind of true crime story. It is a look into the future-a future that is dark.

This book explores the complexities of drugs policy in Britain, contradicting the over simplified representation found in the public sphere. It focuses on developments in Britain since the Misuse of Drugs Act of 1971, covering debates at national level and local experiences set in international and European context, emphasizing the interconnectivity between people and countries in this global age. Several institutions and networks are examined to illustrate how they shape the policy process as vessels for ideas and interests and as spaces for individual action. MacGregor discusses arguments around drug policy reform, in particular the role of politicians, the media and advocacy organizations. Her aim is to encourage a more open and intelligent conversation on drugs policy and to question whether the institutional architecture in place is fit for purpose given the great increase of substances available and the underlying variety of conditions and interests currently competing for attention and resources. The is a must read for all scholars of Politics, Medicine and Social Science interested in the current debate raging around British Drug Policy.

This brief sheds light on evolving drug markets and the county lines phenomenon in the British context. Drawing upon empirical research gathered in the field between 2012-2019 across two sites, Scotland's West Coast and Merseyside in England, this book adopts a grounded approach to the drug supply model, detailing how drugs are purchased, sold and distributed at every level of the supply chain at both sites. The authors conducted interviews with practitioners, offenders, ex-offenders and those members of the general public most effected by organised crime. The research explores how drug markets have continued to evolve, accumulating in the phenomenon that is county lines. It explores how such behavior has gradually become ever more intertwined with other forms of organised criminal activity. Useful for researchers, policy makers, and law enforcement officials, this brief recommends a rethinking of current reactive policing strategies.

This book analyses the relationship between the Olympic Games, with its ethos of openness and collectivism, and the security concerns and surveillance technologies that are becoming increasingly prevalent in the organisation of public events.

According to the UNODC (2015), human trafficking (HT) is the fastest growing means by which people are enslaved, the fastest growing international crime, and one of the largest sources of income for organized criminal networks. It profoundly impacts the physical and mental health of victims, their families, and entire communities and is recognized as a crime against humanity. Despite burgeoning interest, education, research, and advocacy efforts, a pinnacle handbook devoted to human trafficking and modern-day slavery - with global focus and multidisciplinary scope - does not currently exist. The Routledge International Handbook of Human Trafficking was created to fill this resource gap. Divided into four sections, the Handbook offers the reader a comprehensive and fresh approach via: (a) in-depth analyses and opportunities for application (through case studies, critical thinking questions, and supplemental learning materials); (b) multidisciplinary linkages, with disciplinary overlap across each of the four sections acknowledged and highlighted; and (c) content experts representing multiple segments of society (academia, government, foundation, law enforcement, and practice) and global vantage points (Australia, Finland, Germany, Netherlands, South Africa, Thailand, and the United States). Written by expert scholars, service providers, policy analysts, and healthcare professionals, this Handbook is an invaluable resource for those already working in the field, as well as for students in any discipline who want to learn (or learn more) about HT and modern-day slavery.

On 6th September 1949, twenty-eight-year-old Howard Barton Unruh shot thirteen people in less than twelve minutes on his block in East Camden, New Jersey. The shocking true story of the first recorded mass shooting in America has never been told, until now. The sky was cloudless that morning when twelve-year-old Raymond Havens left his home on River Road. His grandmother had sent him to get a haircut at the barbershop across the street - where he was about to witness his neighbour and friend Howard open fire on the customers inside. Told through the eyes of young Raymond, who had visited Howard regularly to listen to his war stories, and the mother trying to piece together the disturbing inner workings of her son's mind, Murder in the Neighbourhood uncovers the chilling true story of Howard Unruh, the quiet loner who meticulously plotted his revenge on the neighbours who shunned him and became one of America's first mass killers. With Ellen's access to Howard's diaries, newly released police reports and psychiatric records alongside interviews with surviving family members, Murder in the Neighbourhood is a compulsive page-turner that will have you asking - how well do we ever really know those around us? Are we ever really safe? A gripping untold true story that will leave your heart pounding. Perfect for fans of In Cold Blood, If You Tell and American Predator. Read what everyone is saying about Murder in the Neighbourhood: 'An engrossing and utterly fascinating insight into a chilling and untold part of American history... impossible to put down.' Gregg Olsen, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of If You Tell 'A phenomenal read... incredible insight to human behavior and the brain. Green did a remarkable job bringing this tragedy to life through a haunting and encapsulating narration. I will recommend this piece of work over and over.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'God! I can't get enough of it! I wish I could read the book for the first time again!... fantastic.' Chubby girl with a page-a-vu, 5 stars 'An absolute cracker of an account... Brilliant.' Nigel Adams Bookworm, 5 stars 'I really enjoyed... very cleverly written... a fascinating and detailed account... I would recommend it to true crime aficionados.' NetGalley reviewer, 5 stars 'An arresting, exciting, compelling tale of true crime. Meticulously researched and pieced together into a narrative that is difficult to tear away from.' Goodreads reviewer 'Remarkable... A must for true crime fans.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'If you like true crime then I 100% recommend you read this book.' Goodreads reviewer 'An excellent read.' Goodreads reviewer, 5 stars 'Well-crafted true crime that's been wonderfully researched.' Book Zone

How do mafias work? How do they recruit people, control members, conduct legal and illegal business, and use violence? Why do they establish such a complex mix of rituals, rules, and codes of conduct? And how do they differ? Why do some mafias commit many more murders than others? This book makes sense of mafias as organizations, via a collative analysis of historical accounts, official data, investigative sources, and interviews. Catino presents a comparative study of seven mafias around the world, from three Italian mafias to the American Cosa Nostra, Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, and Russian mafia. He identifies the organizational architecture that characterizes these criminal groups, and relates different organizational models to the use of violence. Furthermore, he advances a theory on the specific functionality of mafia rules and discusses the major organizational dilemmas that mafias face. This book shows that understanding the organizational logic of mafias is an indispensable step in confronting them.

This book describes the main patterns and trends of drug trafficking in Latin America and analyzes its political, economic and social effects on several countries over the last twenty years. Its aim is to provide readers an introductory yet elaborate text on the illegal drug problem in the region. It first seeks to define and measure the problem, and then discusses some of the implications that the growth of production, trafficking, and consumption of illegal drugs had in the economies, in the social fabrics, and in the domestic and international policies of Latin American countries. This book analyzes the illegal drugs problem from a Latin American perspective. Although there is a large literature and research on drug use and trade in the USA, Canada, Europe and the Far East, little is understood on the impact of narcotics in countries that have supplied a large share of the drugs used worldwide. This work explores how routes into Europe and the USA are developed, why the so-called drug cartels exist in the region, what level of profits illegal drugs generate, how such gains are distributed among producers, traffickers, and dealers and how much they make, why violence spread in certain places but not in others, and which alternative policies were taken to address the growing challenges posed by illegal drugs. With a strong empirical foundation based on the best available data, Illegal Drugs, Drug Trafficking and Violence in Latin America explains how rackets in the region built highly profitable enterprises transshipping and smuggling drugs northbound and why the large circulation of drugs also produced the emergence of vibrant domestic markets, which doubled the number of drug users in the region the last 10 years. It presents the best available information for 18 countries, and the final two chapters analyze in depth two rather different case studies: Mexico and Argentina.

This book examines the role of religion and spirituality in desistance from crime and disengagement from gangs. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with male gang members and offenders as well as insights gathered from pastors, chaplains, coaches and personal mentors, the testimonials span three continents, focusing on the USA, Scotland, Denmark and Hong Kong. This volume offers unique empirical findings about the role that religion and spirituality can play in enabling some male gang members and offenders to transition into a new social sphere characterised by the presence of substitute forms of brotherhood and trust, and alternative forms of masculine status. The author presents critical insights into the potential relationship between religious and spiritual participation and the emergence of coping strategies to deal with the 'stigmata' that gang masculinity leaves behind. With its wide-ranging and multi-perspective approach, this book will be essential reading for students and scholars of gang culture, masculinity and spirituality, as well as policy makers and practitioners.

Amsterdam, 2001. A shoot-out in the city's docklands leaves one man grievously injured and a rival drug dealer killed outright. The injured man is Tony Spencer from Coventry. Aka The Old Man. Once a prolific businessman, he is now considered Public Enemy No. 1 by the National Crime Squad and the head of several smuggling rings operating between the UK, Holland, Morocco, and Spain. At the age of 50, with bank robberies, counterfeiting, and several fortunes gained and lost behind him, he is on the run and living abroad. As Spencer's life hangs in the balance, his son Jason arrives in Amsterdam. While he prays for a miraculous recovery, he ponders who his father really is. He has raced anxiously to be by his bedside and yet he is somebody he doesn't know well at all. Jason begins digging in earnest. He begins to piece together the story of The Old Man's life. It's a story that is riddled with contradictions: a man who makes millions but saves nothing, prizes freedom but spends years inside, works in a violent world but who - seemingly - avoids violence. Spencer was absent, often in prison, for much of his upbringing but now, as his father recovers from the shooting, Jason begins to wonder. Maybe, if he can come to understand his father's life, he can begin to understand his own...

This book explains the existence of illicit markets throughout human history and provides recommendations to governments. Organized criminal networks increased in strength after the enforcement of prohibition, eventually challenging the authority of the state and its institutions through corruption and violence. Criminal networks now organize under cyber-infrastructure, what we call the Deep or Dark Web. The authors analyze how illicit markets come together, issues of destabilization and international security, the effect of legitimate enterprises crowded out of developing countries, and ultimately, illicit markets' cost to human life.

*** THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER *** 'A brilliant historical crime read' Bella 'This thrilling and twisty crime novel is perfect for fans of Martina Cole' My Weekly 'A rollercoaster of crime, revenge and murder' The Sun BEHIND EVERY STRONG WOMAN IS AN EPIC STORY... In the early years of the last century, a desperate young girl changes her name and flees the confines of her brutal, dominating gangland family in London. Now calling herself 'Diamond Dupree', she goes to Paris to become an artist's model but the world there is different to what she had supposed it would be and she soon falls on hard times. When she manages to escape at the end of the First World War, she leaves behind her a mystery - and a dead man. Back home in London, she reluctantly re-joins the Soho family 'firm' she'd once been glad to leave behind. Having grown tougher during her time in Paris, she soon becomes a force to be reckoned with, a feared and respected gangland queen. But then she meets Richard Beaumont, the youngest son of a wealthy aristocratic family, and sparks fly. But can she escape the long arm of the law and the hangman's noose, when the crimes of her past finally catch up with her? For fans of Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers, as well as viewers of Peaky Blinders, this is historical crime fiction at its most compelling. 'No one delves into the underworld like Keane!' Woman's Weekly 'A gritty and enlightening read' Yours 'Authentically gritty' Crime Monthly