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Organized Narco-crime:
Typically, drug cartels and syndicates are highly organized. Present in the organizations are: strict and precise distribution of functions; very rigid hierarchies; internal discipline maintained by interest, authority and force; stringent conspiracy; ramified networks of groups bound by firm organizational ties; branches existing and functioning in various countries; contacts with other criminal groups (counterfeiters, smugglers, murderers etc.); the use of professional criminals; the internationalization of group members; and, the use of violence to meet the desired ends. To protect their huge profits and spheres of interest, the subjects of narco-criminals stop at nothing and employ violent means, such as the contract murders of their rivals and of law enforcement agents. The money brought by the trade in drugs is often used to finance dangerous crimes and acts of terrorism. It becomes a source, which finances subversive activities of all kinds. Profits obtained from the drug trade make it possible to finance large-scale armed operations against government forces (like in Columbia or Mexico). Profit gained from the drug trade is often compared with the profits earned by whole industries. The drug trade is regarded as the world's second largest economy. All this enables drug dealers not only to pay generously for the participation in crimes but also to set up a common financial fund, a common bank, so to speak. Narco-money is also used to exert influence on policy-making, particularly, by nominating the associates of drug dealers to key posts in the economy and politics or by bribing persons who already hold such posts and turning them into supporters of the drugs trade. These financial investments are reinforced by threats of violence against them or their close relatives (wives, children or parents). This proves convincingly that narco-crime is a well organized and well planned business incorporating the mutually inter-related criminal activities of individuals, groups, associations, syndicates and cartels with a division of mutually interrelated functions. This is the reason to regard this kind of crime as a variety of organized crime. Some researchers believe that drug profits are the economic foundation of organized crime. This can be seen in comparison of elements forming narco- and organized crimes. To get a clear understanding of the elements of the latter it is necessary to look in retrospect at the history of organized crime. While crime and drug addiction have been known to the world for at least several centuries, the existence of organized crime has been officially recognized quite recently, only in this century. Yet both national and foreign researchers date the origin of this phenomenon, in one way or another, to a much earlier period.
Various stable criminal organizations used to appear and operate on territories of almost all modern states. Gangs of brigands and smugglers were at work not only on land but also at sea (sea pirates). They had in their possession caches of weapons, stocks of gold and food and, sometimes, entire fleets of pirate boats furnished with everything necessary for an attack and ready to go into combat with regular troops or ships. They thereby challenged borders and laws. Already at that time members of such gangs observed their own internal rules and traditions strictly, contrary to the ones obligatory in society. Among them there was the principle of mutual help, the recognition of the leaders' authority, the distribution of duties and spoils, as well as a system of reward and punishment. Gangsters knew exactly the kind of work they were responsible for and also knew their zones of influence (slave trade, cattle stealing, smuggling arms, narcotics, gold, diamonds, etc). They talked their own language and stuck to other conspiratorial rules. Taking hostages and bribing officials were their usual practices, very much like the actions of the present day organized crime groups.
With the passing of time, of course, these organizations kept transforming and modernizing, adjusting to changes of state borders, governments and economies. They were turning more and more into organized criminal associations that posed a serious threat to public safety, to the supremacy of the law and to other state institutions. As researchers point out, a particular danger of organized crime is that it becomes more and more arrogant, aggressive, ingenious and diverse. In the 1980s, organized crime became increasingly apparent throughout the world.
Реферат опубликован: 14/12/2009