Essay Example on A Comparative Perspective in Organized Crime

Analyzing the similarities between different organized crimes in terms of their structure, hierarchy, and the activities they undertake is paramount in devising strategies for dealing with them. Therefore, the study of the Colombian, Italian, Russian, Mexican, and other organized crimes from central Europe is essential for law enforcement agents specializing in organized crimes.

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Explain how and why Colombian organized crime poses a more significant threat to the United States than traditional organized crime groups. Include how you would try to tackle this problem if put in a position to do so.

Understanding the history of Colombian organized crime groups is essential in determining why they pose a more significant challenge than other traditional organized crime groups in the United States of America. According to Florez and Boyce, Colombian organized groups have been a challenge not only to the United States government but also to their country (1990). The group's financial strength can be attributed to their involvement in narcotics as they are the major distributors in America. Colombian drug dealers have an advantage over their competitors, especially over cocaine distribution, as they control thousands of acres of coca plant farming in Colombia (Florez & Boyce, 1990).

“In 1988, the Attorney general of the United States of America described Colombian narcotics groups as sophisticated organizations that finance their operations with money generated by the enterprise, recruit operatives, provide for transportation and supply local traffickers who deliver to end-users" (Florez & Boyce, 1990, p.81). The description given by the united states Attorney general explains the complexity of dealing with the groups. The chain of command is sophisticated, and their financial power is complex. While dealing with local traffickers who supply the products to the users may be simple, utilizing them to snitch on their distributors is impossible.

In 1982, the drug trafficking network was worth $ 2 billion, the second-largest market after coffee (Florez & Boyce, 1990). In the same period, the Colombian drug cartels supplied more than 70 percent of the refined cocaine and 60 percent of marijuana in the USA (Florez & Boyce, 1990). Therefore, based on the dominance in the market, the Colombian drug lords had the power to control newspapers, political leaders, and finance their campaigns for elective offices. According to Florez and Boyce, when the drug lords attempt to buy the government using their massive financial power, they adopted other methods such as death threats, kidnapping, bombing, and even murder (1990). The authorities had to be extremely careful when dealing with crime groups to avoid the loss of civilian lives in the process.

Colombian organized crimes have proliferated from local recruitment of operatives to paramilitaries highly trained in weapon use (Crime, 2016). The operatives make the criminal enterprise a challenge not only to the local authorities but to the USA government. The complexity of the organization in terms of structure, hierarchy, the loyalty of the operative's brutality in their operations, and the massive financial strengths makes the groups a more significant threat to the USA than the traditional organized crime groups.

If I am tasked with dealing with Colombian organized crimes, I will change the approach common in other law enforcement agencies. Dealing with the roots of the problem yields more results than handling the outcomes. Penetrating criminal organizations and dealing with them as an insider is risky but effective. Therefore, I would ensure that I am recruited as an operative in the group and earn the trust of the leaders. After I am confident that I have successfully earned their trust, I will learn as much information about the production farms, the political leaders protecting them, and assess any weakness in the organization. I would then use the knowledge to destroy their production and facilitate the arrest of the politicians and other government officials working for the cartels.

Describe the similarities in the evolution of the Italian Mafia and Russian organized crime groups. Based on what you know, which do you think is better organized and more profitable, and why?

Italian Mafia's history can be dated back in the 18th century, when the group initially evolved in Sicily Island, which was ruled by foreign invaders until the 19th century (Abadinsky, 2012). According to Abadinsky, Sicily Island is in the Mediterranean Sea, and it is between North and mainland Italy (2012). The foreigners ruling the Island included the Romans, French, and Arabs, among others. Originally the mafias did not have any criminal links or intentions, and their formulation was to protect themselves. In the 19th century, the mafias emerged as clans in Sicily, which were formed to keep the communities safe from the regional groups by developing their form of justice or retribution (Abadinsky, 2012). The Sicilian Mafias emerged as families or clans, which comprised of small private armies known as "Mafie" who took advantage of the continuous chaos in Sicily to extort the landowners (Abadinsky, 2012). The name Mafia was made famous by inmates in an Italian prison who translated it in the Italian language. Based on the research, the Sicily mafia was formulated as an anti-government organized crime group.

According to Abadisnsky, in 1861, Sicily became a province in unified Italy (2012). The government utilized the mafias groups in overcoming other crime groups that had established themselves in Italy. The Italian government attempted to subdue the mafias in the 1920s, but after the end of the Second World War, the groups became even more powerful. The controlled narcotics business and other organized crimes in Italy and beyond. The mafias divided into American Mafia, who emerged after the prohibition of liquor. The groups were divided into bootleggers and moonshiners who produced and supplied alcohol in the USA. The Italian mafias became very rich through the narcotics business, and they controlled major government officials both in Italy and America (Abadinsky, 2012). However, in the 21st century, both the Italian and American governments have unified in the fight against the Mafias and thereby weakening their power. The Italian organized crime has a hierarchical structure, which makes their leadership more effective and loyalty upheld.

The Italian mafias and the Russian organized crime groups have very little in common. According to Abadinsky, the Russian organized crime groups emerged in the 20th century, and their formulation was based in the Russian prisons (2012). The groups emerged with their set of codes known as the thieves' rules, and the elites of the criminal underworld controlled them. The Russian organized crime groups collaborated with corrupt political leaders, and the leaders facilitated their operations. The most outstanding similarity between the Italian Mafias and Russian organized crimes is the political forces in their formulation. However, unlike the Russians who thrilled as a result of the soviet economic and political corruption, the Italian mafias operated outside the political world.

The Italian Mafias have a hierarchical form of leadership, which makes the gangs more organized. The Italian mafia leaders command many soldiers who are loyal to the enterprise and undertakes only specified operations. The Mafias, leaderships, ensure that they do no engage in activities that may jeopardize their operations. However, the Russian organized groups do not have a unified command structure, which makes them disorganized and disoriented in their activities. Based on the scope of control and the organization of the two crime groups, the Italian mafias is more profitable than the Russians organized groups. The reason for the profitability of the Italian mafias is the organization structure, which ensures that the enterprise has many members who facilitate the activities of the groups, unlike in the Russian organized crime groups.

Write about the emergence of eastern and Central European organized crime groups. Include how they have influenced American society and domestic organized crime groups.

The Eastern and Central European organized crime groups emerged in the 19th century after the fall of the communist regime, which led to the opening of the borders (Siegel, 2017). The opening of the borders led to easy migration from one country to another and the establishment of organized crimes. Eastern and Central European countries included Hungary, Romania, Poland, and Bulgaria, among others. The strategic positioning of these countries contributed to the emergence of criminal groups from Russia and the Asian continent. The countries facilitated the penetration of Western European and American borders.

The Eastern and Central European organized crimes majored in the smuggling of goods in and out of Russia and the United States of America and Western Europe. According to Siegel, the black market operations in the 19th century facilitated the growth of organized crime groups. The Russian organized crimes utilized the strategic positioning of these countries to smuggle tobacco and alcohol. Criminal organizations in Eastern and Central Europe too advantage of the increased economic activities in the region to expand their territories to Western Europe and the USA.

Narcotics businesses have flourished in the region, making it the largest source of income for organized crime groups. Illegal trafficking of cocaine, marijuana, heroin, and other hard drugs has been extended to other countries, including North America. The Eastern and Central European organized crimes have a centralized structure with a hierarchical form of leadership, which ensures the smooth running of their activities. The prices of alcohol in Russia create the need for smuggling of this commodity from the United States of America and Western Europe.

According to Siegel, human trafficking is a common business in Eastern and Central Europe organized crime groups (2017). The majority of the women and children sold in the United States of America and Western Europe are obtained from these groups. Human trafficking is a major criminal operation for the criminal underworld, and they disguise their transportation by shipping them together with other merchandise.

Organized crimes control a significant portion of the economy in Eastern and Central Europe. Despite the illegality of their operations, some of the activities are disguised in legal business operations to hide the nature of the enterprises to the authority. The economic strength of the groups hinders local authorities from eradicating their operations due to their political connections. Therefore, the leadership of the groups ensures that they are untouchable by the authorities by corrupting the political leaders.

Eastern and Central European organized rimes have facilitated the emergence and growth of domestic crime groups. Most of the drugs and smuggled items in the black market in the United States of America can be attributed to these groups. The leaders of organized crime have flocked the USA population with drugs such as cocaine, marijuana, and heroin. Illegal firearms smuggled to the USA from the organized groups in Eastern and Central Europe have contributed majorly to the rise in crime levels in the country. Therefore, if the USA authorities are to minimize the criminal undertakings in the country, it is crucial to help the European government eradicate the groups in their home country and close the US borders.