The Concept of Organised Crime

Organised Crime
It is possible for a criminal to commit petty theft, robbery or murder in small scale.
But in these cases it is difficult to escape from the hands of law or society by
committing crime. This is why criminals organize their crimes. This reduces the
risk of their work and increases their chances of success.
Definition and Characteristics

According to INTERPOL, "Any group having a corporate structure whose primary
object is to obtain money through illegal activities often surviving on fear &
corruption".
Characteristics of Organised Crimes are as follows --
1) Planned and Systematic Criminal Behavior: Organized crime groups engage in

criminal activity with more specific goals, strategies and their operations are often
well thought out to maximize profit, minimize risk, and ensure continuity;
2) Coordination of Hundreds or Thousands: The scale of organized crime is often

massive. A single criminal organization may have hundreds or even thousands of
individuals involved in different aspects of the operation;
3) Diversification of Activity: Organized crime groups typically do not limit

themselves to one form of illegal activity. Instead, they engage in a broad area of
criminal enterprises, from drug trafficking and human trafficking to extortion,
illegal gambling, and cybercrime. This diversification reduces the risk;
4) This allows to exploit Regional, National, Transnational areas of crime;
5) Large Volume of Turnover: Criminal organizations are often responsible for

generating billions of dollars annually through various illicit activities. It helps
them to expand their influence;
6) Pursuit of Both Profit and Power: While financial gain is a primary motivator
for organized crime, these groups often also seek to accumulate power;
7) Usually an Identifiable Leadership: Organized crime groups typically have a

clear, structured hierarchy, with leaders at the top and lower-ranking members
who carry out the day-to-day operations.
Reasons for formation of Criminal Organizations

Criminals are organized mainly for the purpose of successfully carrying out their
criminal activities. There are three basic reasons behind the existence of
organized crime: Opportunity factors, Criminal environment, Special skills.
(A) Opportunity Factors:

Opportunities that contribute to commit an organized crime are briefly discussed
below ---
(1) Economic factor: Economic factors such as Low standard of living, high
demand for services, unemployment etc. act behind organized crime. Organized
illegal drug trade, running brothels, gambling thrive in such environment.
Economic poverty in Africa and Asia is responsible for the trafficking of women
and children there. From here they are taken to Western Europe, America, Middle
East. Offenses related to illicit services such as, Prostitution or gambling is more
organized in developed States as people can afford to spend money in these
illegal ways;
(2) Government Condition: Weak structure of central and local government

systems, corruption of political leaders, ineffective laws enhance the
development of organized crime. Another interesting fact is that, States where
governments have outlawed drugs, levelled additional taxes on cigarettes or legal
drugs, criminals are encouraged to be organized;
(3) Law enforcement factors: The police department is responsible for

maintaining law and order. How well the police force can maintain law and order
depends on their Training, Skill, Salary structure, Interference of Government,
Honestly towards duty. So if the police force or any other law enforcement force
lacks capacity and will, criminals will organize and commit major crimes. In many
cases, criminals bribe police officers to smuggle and distribute drug, to run
brothels or to set up gambling dens;
(4) Technological changes: With the growth of science and technology it is now
became easy to form a group from anywhere from the world. Software hacking,
various cards like ATM, VISA are being theft and a big amount of money are being
transferred from the account holder. E-banking, e-commerce and trade are giving
chance to the expert to be criminal.
(B) Criminal Environment and Geographical Factors:

Environment refers to the crime rate among people in a particular area. If an area
has a history of organized crime, criminals will be organized for other crimes
centered around that area. For example: border communities tend to be involved
in smuggling. Therefore, organized crimes such as drug trafficking, women and
children trafficking are spread around these areas. Geographical location affects
the degree on crime. For example, a State of costal area is on more risk than a dry
area to be pirate area.
(C) Special skills:

Many of the crimes discussed today require the criminal to show special skills.
Organized groups involved in cyber crime today are committing their crimes with
their technological skills.
Kinds of Criminal Organizations

Different types of Criminal Organisations that may operate in the Criminal world
can be categorized into following heads:
1) Organized predatory crime: Crimes which do not involve any kind of service to
the affected persons are called predatory crime. It is therefore a one way
transaction where only the criminals enjoy the benefit without giving any service
to the victims. Theft, extortion, kidnapping, pick-pocketing are some examples of
this type of crime;
2) Crime syndicate: It refers to a gang of criminals engaged in the business of

providing some forbidden services to the customers who are willing to pay for
that service. Gambling, drug transport, smuggling, running brothal are examples
of this crime. Crime syndicates exist because of the illegitimate public demands
which cannot otherwise be legally meet due to legal prohibition;
3) Criminal Racket: A racket is a service that is fraudulently offered to solve such a

problem that does not actually exist or that would not otherwise exist if the
racket did not exist. Conducting a racket is racketeering. Racketeering is the
practice of systemic exploitation under some kind of threat. Sometime In that
criminal racketeering the criminal is taking benefit from a business man or other
person who is running a business unlawfully;
4) Political Graft: It is a general belief that a person of high status has a

interrelation with politicians for the interest of his business. In order to win in poll
the political persons always seek support from the such persons. Ultimately,
afterwards the politician tries to pay his return by giving a chance and scope the
person to run his business illegally.
Notable Criminal Organizations

1) Cosa Nostra (Italian Mafia), 2) Yakuza (Mafia of Japan), 3) Bratva (Russian
Mafia), 4) Mexican Drug Cartels, 5) Colombian Cartels, 6) Triads (China), 7) The
Crips and Bloods (USA)
Activities of most of them are Arms trafficking, drug trafficking, human trafficking,
extortion, money laundering, cybercrime, prostitution, gambling, assassination,
influence over politicians and businessmen.

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Organised Crime

Definition and Characteristics

Characteristics of Organised Crimes are as follows --

1) Planned and Systematic Criminal Behavior: Organized crime groups engage in

2) Coordination of Hundreds or Thousands: The scale of organized crime is often

3) Diversification of Activity: Organized crime groups typically do not limit

4) This allows to exploit Regional, National, Transnational areas of crime;

5) Large Volume of Turnover: Criminal organizations are often responsible for

7) Usually an Identifiable Leadership: Organized crime groups typically have a

Reasons for formation of Criminal Organizations

(A) Opportunity Factors:

(2) Government Condition: Weak structure of central and local government

(3) Law enforcement factors: The police department is responsible for

(B) Criminal Environment and Geographical Factors:

(C) Special skills:

Kinds of Criminal Organizations

2) Crime syndicate: It refers to a gang of criminals engaged in the business of

3) Criminal Racket: A racket is a service that is fraudulently offered to solve such a

4) Political Graft: It is a general belief that a person of high status has a

Notable Criminal Organizations

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