Did you know?

1. In 2009, organized crime was estimated to generate $870 billion

2.Cybercrime is mostly identity theft and it generates around $1 billion each year.

3.Drug trafficking continues to be the most lucrative form of business for criminals, with an estimated annual value of $320billion

4.Illicit trading in firearms brings in around $170 million to $320 million annually9 and puts handguns and assault rifles in the hands of criminals and gangs.

5.Trafficking in elephant ivory, rhino horn and tiger parts from Africa and South-East Asia to Asia produces $75 million in criminal profits each year and threatens the existence of some species

What can you do?

1.Coordination: integrated action at the international level is crucial in identifying, investigating and prosecuting the people and groups behind these crimes.

2.Education and awareness-raising: ordinary citizens should learn more about organized crime and how it affects everyday lives. Express your concerns to policy and decision makers so that this truly global threat is considered by politicians to be a top priority among the public’s major concerns. Consumers also have a key role to play: know what you are purchasing, do so ethically and make sure that you do not fuel organized crime.

3.Intelligence and technology: criminal justice systems and conventional law enforcement methods are often no match for powerful criminal networks. Better intelligence methods need to be developed through the training of more specialized law enforcement units, which should be equipped with state-of-the-art technology.

4. Assistance: developing countries need assistance in building their capacity to counter these threats. An important tool that can help with this is the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, which has been ratified by 170 parties and provides a universal legal framework to help identify, deter and dismantle organized criminal groups. In October 2012 the sixth session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime will be held in Vienna. That biennial series of meetings brings together Governments from across the world to promote and review the execution of the Convention in order to ensure better implementation in tackling this international issue. At a practical level, UNODC helps strengthen the capacity of States to track and prevent money-laundering with training and technical assistance for following the money trail. These measures can help cut off the profits of crime.

5. Join the FBI transnational organized crime program dedicated to eliminating the criminal enterprises that pose the greatest threat to America. Dismantling and disrupting major international and national organized criminal enterprises is a longstanding area of Bureau expertise. The goal of the FBI is to bring down entire organizations, not just arrest select individuals

Current Event

http://nypost.com/2017/02/14/organized-crime-is-taking-over-the-french-bulldog-puppy-trade/

Sources

http://www.unodc.org/documents/toc/factsheets/TOC12_fs_general_EN_HIRES.pdf

https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime

http://nypost.com/2017/02/14/organized-crime-is-taking-over-the-french-bulldog-puppy-trade/