What Is Organized Crime?
Organized crime is the name for illegal acts committed by a criminal organization or group, working together to achieve a common goal — usually to make money. For many people, organized crime stirs TV and movie images of gangsters from the Italian and Sicilian mafia in the five major crime families identified in New York City by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Real-life organized crime, however, also includes mobsters from Russia and Eastern Europe. Organized crime rings from African and Asian countries are involved in everything from prostitution and trafficking people and drugs to pornography, financial scams, computer crimes, genocide, and terrorism.
The FBI estimates these groups of organized criminals around the world annually earn $1 trillion US Dollars (USD) in profits. In some places, organized crime has infiltrated legitimate businesses and industries, such as construction and garbage disposal. The legitimate businesses are often used to launder money and help cover up illegal activities.
Organized criminals in Italy have been known as the mafia since the 1800s. These criminal organizations have been in the United States since the early 1900s. One of the most famous of the Italian mobsters in the US was Charles "Lucky" Luciano, who came from Sicily in 1907, when he was still a boy. He is credited with helping establish the modern mafia, or La Cosa Nostra, which is the organization of Italian and Sicilian crime families that operate mainly in US cities on the East Coast.
Since the early 1990s, organized criminals have been coming to the United States from countries that comprised the former Soviet Union. Their activities include human smuggling and prostitution, fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, auto theft, and extortion. In Russia, they have been regarded as the leading threat to national security because of the threat they pose to political institutions and the economy.
Asian groups of organized criminals have been active in the United States since the early 1900s. In addition to China and Japan, most of these gangsters have ties to Korea, Thailand, the Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. They have begun to participate in white-collar crime and use legitimate businesses to cover their criminal activity. They are involved in crimes ranging from gambling and prostitution, to smuggling aliens, and trafficking heroin and methamphetamine. They are also known to commit financial fraud and produce counterfeit computers and clothing.
Of the organized groups of criminals from African countries, those in Nigeria are considered the most significant threat. They operate in more than 80 countries, including the United States. Much of their criminal activity is centered around drug trafficking and financial fraud.
Written by Thomas Henry
