The United Nations Convention on Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) does not possess a well-defined definition for "transnational organized crime" (TOC), neither a list with all the crimes related to it. This happens because there are constantly appearing new types of crime committed on a local, national, regional, international and global scale – it is not a satisfactory definition.
For UNTOC, "transnational organized crime" is a structured groups of three or more persons acting together, over a period of time, with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes in more than one state, or has significant effect on another state, or elements of planning, preparation, direction or control occur in another state (ppt, KRIM2952lecture4).
Deviant globalization show us that illicit activities (…) make part of the new dis(organized) world – drugs, terrorism, human trafficking, money laundering, corruption, cybercrime. The emerging world of global networks and flows is creating challenges for the national, local and international authorities trying to control them (AAs, Globalization & Crime,129)".
The reduced cost of traveling, the growth of global telecommunication, the growth in tourism and the movement of finances affect the globalization and consequently allows the appearance of transnational organized criminal groups and facilitate criminal collaborations. Naturally, the success of global criminal activity leads to a growth in transnational policing. We can thus conclude that transnational policing is a solution to the problem of organized crime, although organized crime has never been restricted by existing borders.
The globalization of crime and the growth of transnational crime requires a joint effort of forces from all relevant entities at the international level to enable a direct relationship between the agents on cases of mutual interest. In addition, there are many other problems that governments have to face but are unable to control, such as climate change, economic issues and population growth. Thus, if there is a global pooling of forces and adaptation by governments, criminal law enforcement will be stronger and more active. To produce this result, we have several political structures above the government that are working on the transformation of policing structures.
It also requires a police force with the skills able to resist the corrupting influence of organized crime groups, whose resources exceed those of law enforcement.
Transnational Organized Crime is constantly changing and adapting, not knowing any rules, limits or boundaries. As exemples of OC we can have drugs trafficking, money laundering, corruption, cybercrime, among many others.
Drug trafficking continues to be the profitable criminal business. Much of the concern about trans-border criminality and all the governmental efforts to control it, have been connected to the issue of trade in narcotics and to the so called war on drugs (Aas, Globalization & Crime, 130). Nowadays the main concern is that the profits of this activity will serve to finance terrorist groups.
Under the drug Conventions, States parties are obligated to send to UNODC details of specific seizures which are deemed important because they throw light on the sources from which drugs are obtained, the quantities involved, the methods employed by illicit traffickers or because they illustrate new trends – (…) these details are consolidated in the UNODC Database (…) .
Alcohol, tobacco and coffee are allowed and are currently legitimized because they have been integrated into the daily bases of societies. On the contrary, cannabis, coca, cocaine and most opiates were not integrated into the societies, having occurred an international mobilization of restriction regarding their distribution and use. This kind of drugs are prohibited because they can cause addiction, may lead to serious physical and mental health problems and also create psychological damages. With such ease of access to information that we now have, people should be able to realize the amount of crimes that are committed under the influence of these drugs and how they destroy lives.
In this case, it is not necessary to have any special skills for its production, distribution or sale. Unfortunately, there are not many victims of this crime who want to make a complaint or a notification to the authorities. All the work done to seize drugs and its producers, despite being able to disturb the activity, is not sufficient and that's why various agencies and criminal forces spread across the globe engage in the investigation and prosecution of drug law violations – hence the idea that the war on drugs has become universal. The only realistic and long-term solution to this is either the legalization of drugs and state-controlled drug market or informal negotiations with traffickers that could re-establish previously acquired-levels of informal control and peace (Aas, Globalization & Crime, 131).
Associated with drug trafficking we can find money laundering – this is a term used to describe the process by which criminals making it seem as if the money has been obtained as a result of a legal activity, converting the "dirty money" into profits. This is still a difficult process to detect, yet in 1989 the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) was established as an inter-governmental body with the objectives to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.
Another increasingly challenging crime in our society is related to cyberspace – Cybercrime is a relatively recent form of criminal activity that allows criminals to operate trans‐nationally, making huge profits without taking too many risks – studies say that is the most lucrative illegal global business. This is a criminal activity without any physical boundaries being only necessary a computer or a network to commit the crime.
Criminals are increasingly exploiting the Internet to steal private data or identities, to access bank accounts and fraudulently attain payment card details, to commit frauds, sexual abuse of children, sell illicit goods, espionage, among others.
Taking advantage of the end of the Cold War, which offered unrestricted access to technological innovations and financial and global market structures, organized criminal activities have become a profits source for terrorist groups after the end of state support for terrorist financing – organized crime and terrorism coexist in the same space, sometimes occurring points of contact between them.
The success of these illicit activities depends on their invisibility, their local connections and conditions of trust – trust is the more important thing in organized crime because they cannot go to the police present a charge.
Transnational crime resulted in a series of international conventions, mostly like the UN Conventions against TOC, despite their local origins. Although this is a global threat, the effects are felt on a local level, being able to destroy countries and entire regions.
The beginning of this transnational policing starts at home, at a more local level, so transnational crime depends on the co-operation of local officials and security forces. Examples include Drug Squad, Interpol National Central Bureau, Operation Trident (MPS) among others.
In order to coordinate the different teams and police forces working on the ground, it is necessary to create a number of national structures, such as MI6, FBI, DEA, Homeland Security, among others, to provide contact points and enable an international partnership.
According to Manuel Castell´s, national and local organized crime groups suffered a process of internationalization. The criminal groups has established international networks for the production, management, financing and distribution of their products and services (Aas, Globalization & Crime, 135). Crime goes beyond national borders and with it the inability of any police force to provide a good response individually.
The best solution is to create a number of regional structures that are not restricted by national borders, such as EUROPOL, Frontex, etc – EUROPOL its EU’s law enforcement agency with the mission to support its Member States in preventing and combatting all forms of serious international organized crime and terrorism; Frontex is the European Border and Coast Guard Agency that promotes, coordinates and develops European border management, by analyzing data related to the situation at and beyond EU’s external borders and helping border authorities to share information with Member States.
In a international level, we have liaison officers like FBI, DEA, US Treasury Department, US State Department Security Service, among others, with diplomatic missions.
The public concern about the increased levels of organized crime has stimulated cross-border police cooperation – we may call ‘glocal policing’ to these interlinked global structures. This cooperation result from sharing information, conduct investigations, gathering evidence, intelligence work, apprehension of criminals. The problem here is the state and their government powers because all states claim jurisdiction over a given territory for all purposes. In addition, the present legal framework for cross-border accountability is inadequate, resulting in a series of troubling gaps and lack of transparency – for exemple, who is in the command? What is their legal position? Who is responsible when things go wrong? What happens when cases fall between this jurisdiction gaps?
One of the most known policing entities that have a global reach is Interpol, whose function is to training national police forces, to provide a global communication system for police forces around the world and suspect databases and also offers an operational support. Among other entities we can also find International Criminal Court and Financial Action Task Force (FATF).
In a brief summary we can say that the presence of transnational organized crime has to do with the expansion of criminal networks worldwide and with the political, economic and social context in which the state is integrated. In addition to the damages directly caused by specific forms of crime, the development of criminal activities leads to the idea of "failed state", occurring a suppression of the state's power and control. The only purpose of these organized criminal groups is the enrichment of their community and not the development of society. In this type of state, there are territory control and safety problems, due to their incapacity to control crime.