GCJR1

A similar dynamic exists along the U.S.–Mexico border, which has large sections that are poorly policed (Andreas, 2000). This border has been the locus of smuggling for more than a century. The Mexican drug cartels have grown dramatically in the last two decades as their proximity to the loosely guarded U.S.–Mexican frontier has given them a competitive advantage over the Colombian cartels. The ever present demand for cheap labor in the United States and the huge economic imbalance between the U.S. and Mexican economies have fueled a huge illicit population flow across the U.S. border.

Globalization of Crime Groups

Crime groups on all continents try to globalize their activities for many of the same reasons as their legitimate counterparts. They seek to exploit valuable international markets, to run internationally integrated businesses, and to reduce risk. They obtain entrée into new markets outside their regions in different ways. When organized crime is closely linked with legitimate business, for example, in the Russian and Japanese cases, the global expansion of legitimate business provides the opportunity for the criminals to globalize. For example, as Japan’s large corporations globalized their business, the criminals moved with them, extorting from the corporations’ foreign affiliates (Kaplan & Dubro, 2003). Therefore, the illegitimate business follows the patterns of the legitimate business.

Colombian drug organizations have been the most successful in globalizing their business activities. They have far surpassed in profitability the traditional crime groups of Italy and Japan. Their success is based on many of the same principles found in the globalization of large legitimate corporations. They run network-based businesses, not top-down hierarchical structures. They integrate their businesses across continents. The drug cultivation and processing are done at low-cost production sites in Latin America, their products are marketed to the lucrative Western European and American markets, and the profits are laundered at home, in offshore locales such as the Caribbean, and in international financial70% of sample

You are viewing a sample of the Kindle version

International Crime and Justice Kindle Edition:

Buy now with 1-Click

By clicking "Buy now with 1-Click", you agree to Amazon's Kindle Store Terms of Use. Sold by Amazon.com Services LLC

25 ratings

$55 49

Close