Transnational Organized Crime and Gangs: Intervention, Prevention, and Suppression of Cybersecurity provides several first-person examples of the mind set and mentality present in today's transnational organized crime groups combined with a holistic approach towards prevention and intervention in the cybersecurity space. Transnational organized crime groups have tremendous power and money, which means they have the ability to pay hackers to defeat cybersecurity measures. The dangers posed by organized crime groups are nothing new. For decades, these groups have launched sophisticated attacks against individuals as well as major corporations. Billions of dollars have been stolen every year, and large, continuous hacks of our highly sensitive computer systems. What is new, is the acknowledgement that cybersecurity should be high priority for every individual, company, and government entity. While Department of Homeland Security's involvement in cybersecurity is a step in the right direction, more measures need to be put in place that facilitates collaboration across industries and government entities. Transnational organized criminal elements will continue to find creative and effective ways to use technology for illegal activity. They will continue doing so unless law enforcement works closer with policymakers to enact uniform laws, regulations, and policies beyond current practices. Transnational Organized Crime and Gangs explores effective programs, policies, technologies and builds a body of knowledge to guide future regulations and resources for our criminal justice leaders of tomorrow.

Sin City Gangsters: The Rise and Decline of the Mob in Las Vegas is a fast-paced account of how the mob created and controlled Las Vegas. It contains accounts of how the most powerful mobsters in the country built, bought, and controlled not only gambling casinos in Vegas, but also many important politicians, who did the mob's bidding. Some of the more notorious mobsters were Bugsy Siegel, Meyer Lansky, Moe Dalitz, Sam Giancana, Tony Accardo, and Nick Civella, as well as the men they chose to carry out their plans, such as Tony Spilotro, Lefty Rosenthal, and Donald Angelini. Sin City Gangsters devotes a chapter to Jimmy Hoffa, and how the Teamsters Pension Fund financed the mob's casinos. The book also offers fascinating accounts of the roles of Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley in Vegas. Another chapter is devoted to Howard Hughes, who arrived in the dead of night in a sealed, germ-free railroad car and did not leave his suite at the Desert Inn for years. During that time he bought one casino after another as if playing Monopoly. Following his exit and that of the mob, Vegas became the domain of Jay Sarno, Kirk Kerkorian, Steve Wynn, and Sheldon Adelson. They were visionaries who transformed Vegas into the entertainment capital of the world by building billion-dollars-plus resorts and hiring the most popular contemporary entertainers. Sin City Gangsters is the only book that charts Vegas from the first modest mob-owned casinos to the present billion-dollar-resorts; its cast of characters is an assembly of exceedingly ambitious risk takers who let nothing stand in their way of turning their dreams into stunning realities.

Fighting and preventing corruption requires therefore an understanding of the social, political and economic realities that prevail in particularly settings, viewed from an interdisciplinary, multidimensional, and a multi country perspective. It also requires scholars to distinguish between different types of corruption, ranging from petty bribery to system-wide state capture through networks of interconnected players. In this book we seek to address these challenges and contribute to an interdisciplinary and more pluralistic view of the corruption phenomena.

The book is divided in three parts. The first part presents a comprehensive, theoretical and empirical framework of corruption. Specifically, the first chapter overviews the literature on economic growth and corruption, presenting a bibliometric account of the main research contributions in the field. The second chapter, using a sample of 122 countries in the period 1990-2006 demonstrates, in a setting where the relation between globalization and corruption is non-linear, that Sub-Saharan African countries suffer more seriously from globalization.

Part II, encompasses the in depth analysis of several countries, ranging from middle corrupted contexts (Portugal Chapter 3), to highly corrupted countries such as Serbia (Chapter 4), Russia (Chapter 5), Thailand (Chapter 6) and China (Chapter 7), this latter viewed from the perspective of firms from a very low corruption country (Finland).

In Chapter 3, the authors demonstrated that grand corruption is associated with the organizational context, which enables specific practices and which elicits negative judgments, whereas petty corruption is associated with structural factors, above all, poverty, which also triggers specific practices. Generally, and adopting a more psychological and sociological perspective the authors show that in a middle corrupted context (Portugal), corruption is associated with cultural specificities (i.e. complacency), personality traits related to individualistic values, and criminal personalities.

A more institutional and legal perspective is adopted in Chapter 4 where the author describes various forms of political corruption related to political party funding and their particular features in post-transitional countries. Moreover, numerous cases from Serbian practice in the area of financing of political parties are illustrated, being uncovered the need of monitoring by free press and of having an informed civil society. Still in a post-transitional country context, Chapter 5 provides evidence of corruption in public procurement in Russia. The author treats the hypothesis of buyer's quasi-corruptive behavior: the bona fide contracting authority is trying to limit the competition in the favor of the selected supplier but for avoiding the risks which stems from the application of English auction for purchasing of the differentiated goods."

'Anti-hero Nick Belsey, a policeman so maverick as to make Rebus look like a jobsworth, has burnt his bridges and fled to Mexico in Harris's latest marvellous thriller' Telegraph, 50 Best Books of 2022 Praise for Oliver Harris: 'One of our finest thriller writers' Evening Standard 'Oliver Harris is always pure quality' Ian Rankin Nick Belsey's on the run. Touching down in Mexico City, he doesn't have much in the way of funds, but he has a new continent and surely that's enough to start afresh. But it's not as easy as that. An idyllic interlude in a coastal village is interrupted when men turn up who seem to know exactly who he is. And they have some very urgent questions. DI Kirsty Craik had also hoped she'd left Nick Belsey behind her, in the wilder days of her career. When a five am call instructs her to track him down or she'll be dead by Christmas, it seems he's walked back into her life with characteristic commotion. Craik is forced to break the rules once more to find out what her former lover is up to. She needs to save herself, and, just maybe, to save Belsey too.

In Gangs and Organized Crime, George W. Knox, Gregg W. Etter, and Carter F. Smith offer an informed and carefully investigated examination of gangs and organized crime groups, covering street gangs, prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, and organized crime groups from every continent. The authors have spent decades investigating gangs as well as researching their history and activities, and this dual professional-academic perspective informs their analysis of gangs and crime groups. They take a multidisciplinary approach that combines criminal justice, public policy and administration, law, organizational behavior, sociology, psychology, and urban planning perspectives to provide insight into the actions and interactions of a variety of groups and their members. This textbook is ideal for criminal justice and sociology courses on gangs as well as related course topics like gang behavior, gang crime and the inner city, organized crime families, and transnational criminal groups. Gangs and Organized Crime is also an excellent addition to the professional's reference library or primer for the general reader. More information is available at the supporting website - www.gangsandorganizedcrime.com

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 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 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 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.

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.

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.

The Mexican drug trade has inspired prejudiced narratives of a war between north and south, white and brown; between noble cops and vicious kingpins, corrupt politicians and powerful cartels. In this first comprehensive history of the trade, historian Benjamin T. Smith tells the real story of how and why this one-peaceful industry turned violent. He uncovers its origins and explains how this illicit business essentially built modern Mexico, affecting everything from agriculture to medicine to economics—and the country’s all-important relationship with the United States. Drawing on unprecedented archival research; leaked DEA, Mexican law enforcement, and cartel documents; and dozens of harrowing interviews, Smith tells a thrilling story brimming with vivid characters—from Ignacia “La Nacha” Jasso, “queen pin” of Ciudad Juárez, to Dr. Leopoldo Salazar Viniegra, the crusading physician who argued that marijuana was harmless and tried to decriminalize morphine, to Harry Anslinger, the Machiavellian founder of the American Federal Bureau of Narcotics, who drummed up racist drug panics to increase his budget. Smith also profiles everyday agricultural workers, whose stories reveal both the economic benefits and the human cost of the trade. The Dope contains many surprising conclusions about drug use and the failure of drug enforcement, all backed by new research and data. Smith explains the complicated dynamics that drive the current drug war violence, probes the U.S.-backed policies that have inflamed the carnage, and explores corruption on both sides of the border. A dark morality tale about the American hunger for intoxication and the necessities of human survival, The Dope is essential for understanding the violence in the drug war and how decades-old myths shape Mexico in the American imagination today.

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.

Unregulated or lesser regulated maritime spaces are ideal theatres of operation and mediums of transportation for terrorists, insurgents and pirates. For more than a decade, the Indian Ocean waters adjoining Somalia have been a particular locus of such activities, with pirates hijacking vessels, and Al Qaeda and Al Shabab elements travelling between Africa and the Arabian Peninsula, operating lucrative businesses and even staging deadly operations at sea. However, these operations and threats remain, by and large, understudied. Responses to the two threats have varied, highlighting the lack of cohesive regional and global institutions with the mandate and the capacity to address them. Those scholarly deliberations on Indian Ocean maritime security focus on piracy and armed robbery at sea, while their terrorist/insurgent counterparts have eluded sustained scrutiny. This volume will help close that gap by looking at both from the field in Somalia and Yemen, within broader frameworks of regional maritime security and port-state control, international maritime law and the ongoing search for maritime resources. The European, African and Middle Eastern case studies add salience to the regional and international complexity surrounding maritime security off the Horn of Africa. This book was originally published as a special issue of the Journal of the Indian Ocean Region.

This book estimates the proceeds of crime and mafia revenues for different criminal markets such as sexual exploitation, drugs, illicit cigarettes, loan sharking, extortion racketeering, counterfeiting, illicit firearms, illegal gambling and illicit waste management. It is the first time that scholars have adopted detailed methodologies to ensure the highest reliability and validity of the estimation. Overall, estimated proceeds of crime amount to EURO 22.8 billion: 1.5% of the Italian GDP. Of this, up to EURO 10.7 billion (0.7 of the GDP) may be attributable to the Italian mafias. These figures are considerably lower than the ones most frequently circulated on the news, without any details about their methodology, which were defined by a UN study as "gross overestimates". Far from underestimating criminal revenues, the results of this study bring the issue of the proceeds of crime to an empirically-based debate, providing support for improved future estimates and more effective policies. The volume's contributions were inspired by a project awarded by the Italian Ministry of Interior to Transcrime, which produced the first report on mafia investments (www.investimentioc.it). This book was originally published as a special issue of Global Crime.

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

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.

*** 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

Ultras are often compared to punks, Hell's Angels, hooligans or the South American Barras Bravas. But in truth, they are a thoroughly Italian phenomenon... From the author of The Dark Heart of Italy, Blood on the Altar and A Place of Refuge. Italy's ultras are the most organised and violent fans in European football. Many groups have evolved into criminal gangs, involved in ticket-touting, drug-dealing and murder. A cross between the Hell's Angels and hooligans, they're often the foot-soldiers of the Mafia and have been instrumental in the rise of the far-right. But the purist ultras say that they are are insurgents fighting against a police state and modern football. Only amongst the ultras, they say, can you find belonging, community and a sacred concept of sport. They champion not just their teams, they say, but their forgotten suburbs and the dispossessed. Through the prism of the ultras, Jones crafts a compelling investigation into Italian society and its favourite sport. He writes about not just the ultras of some of Italy's biggest clubs - Juventus, Torino, Lazio, Roma and Genoa - but also about its lesser-known ones from Cosenza and Catania. He examines the sinister side of football fandom, with its violence and political extremism, but also admires the passion, wit, solidarity and style of a fascinating and contradictory subculture.

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 handbook brings together cutting-edge research from key contributors on the rapidly expanding and fast-changing field of UK youth gangs. It examines the contours of the academic debates, describes and explains the origins and evolution of violent street gangs in the UK against a backdrop of globalization, and discusses the factors surrounding the emergence of these gangs in each of the four UK nations and some English regions. It also examines the relationship between gangs and wider issues relating to gender, ethnicity, drug distribution and organised crime. It critically assesses the potential and limitations of 'Public Health' approaches to gang violence reduction and the government's policy responses to violent street gangs in the UK. Providing a broad examination of the latest UK gangs research, with international comparisons, it is essential reading for undergraduate and post-graduate students, in criminology, sociology, social policy and law, policy makers at local and central government level, and practitioners in the fields of law, policing, youth work, social work, housing and workers in dedicated voluntary sector organizations.