Organized crime
Centralized enterprises profiting from illegal activities and racketeering.
Last updated
Centralized enterprises that aim to profit from illegal activities, sometimes meeting demand for banned goods or forcing business through extortion, are what is meant by organized crime.[1][2]
Quick Facts
- Nationality
- Transnational; prominent groups from the United States
- Russia
- China
- Italy
- Nigeria
- Japan
- and Mexico
Facts from the source article.
Key facts and history
Since the end of the Cold War, groups from Russia, China, Italy, Nigeria, and Japan have increased their international presence.[3] The US Drug Enforcement Administration's 2017 assessment identified Mexican transnational criminal organizations as the greatest criminal drug threat to the United States.[4] Organized crime groups seek corrupt public officials in executive, law enforcement, and judicial roles to avoid investigation.[5] Money laundering is a three-stage process: placement, layering, and integration.[6]
Al Capone was sentenced in 1931 to 11 years in federal prison for tax evasion.[7] Cosa Nostra, the Italian-American Mafia, has historically been the dominant organized crime force within the United States.[3]
What the cited sources add
The International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition states that counterfeiting is a fraudulent imitation of a trusted brand and a serious crime.[8] Actively purchasing counterfeit items can contribute to human rights abuses and organized crime across the globe.[8] The profits from counterfeiting sales have been linked to funding organized crime, drug trafficking, and even terrorist activity.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lampe, "Organized Crime: Analyzing Illegal Activities, Criminal Structures, and Extra-legal Governance", SAGE Publications, 16 July 2015; Paoli, "The paradoxes of organized crime", Crime, Law and Social Change, 2002, p. 51–97 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: , Gerber, Linda (2010). Sociology 7th Canadian Ed. Toronto, Ontario: Pearson Canada Inc. p. 206. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Casciani, "Organised crime strategy promises 'tougher approach'", BBC News, 28 July 2011; Thomas P. Ott, "Responding to the Threat of International Organized Crime: A Primer on Programs, Profiles, and Practice Points", United States Attorneys' Bulletin, November 2012, p. 2–3 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Thomas P. Ott, "Responding to the Threat of International Organized Crime: A Primer on Programs, Profiles, and Practice Points", United States Attorneys' Bulletin, November 2012, p. 2–3; "National Drug Threat Assessment", Drug Enforcement Administration, October 2017, p. vi, 2; Doss, "Sustainable Development Goal 16", United Nations and the Rule of Law (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: fromiti, "Organized Crime Module 4 Key Issues: Links to Corruption", www.unodc.org; Albanese, "Corruption as the cause, not the effect, of organized crime?: A review and assessment of cases across the world", Journal of Economic Criminology, 2025-03-01 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Three Stages of Money Laundering: An In-depth Guide & Prevention", www.lexisnexis.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Organized crime" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Al Capone", Federal Bureau of Investigation (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "What is Counterfeiting", International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition. facts only, no text reused. iacc.org
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Organized crime (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Organized crime (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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