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Fighting Organized Crime and Terrorism in the US

Kathy Posey

Colorado Technical University

Abstract

Fighting Organized Crime and Terrorism in the US

Organized crime and terrorism are some of the leading security threats for America and its people in the 21st century. The two types of criminal acts are so rampant that, besides national security, they also threaten multiple aspects of the United States including the economy, politics and other interests. Having assumed an increasingly transnational nature due to the expansion of the internet and more open borders, organized crime is perpetrated by local and foreign criminals who endanger the US both within and beyond its frontiers (Finklea, 2010). Motivated by profit, organized crime can potentially jeopardize the economy through illegal activities like tax evasion. Specifically, tax evasion culminates in a loss of tax revenue for federal as well as state governments. Terrorism, although motivated by ideology, has the same effects as organized crime. However, loss of lives and destruction of property is synonymous with it. It is also important to note that terrorists can partner with organized criminal networks to obtain financial support to conduct their terrorist operations across America ((Finklea, 2010). The need for America to use all that is within its capacity to deal with such threats is paramount. Using examples of a criminal organization currently operating in the US and an act of terrorism to have been perpetrated in America, this paper discusses why it is important for the US government to focus the bulk of its law enforcement resources on fighting organized crime, or counter-terrorism.

Discussion

1. Organized Crime in America

Organized crime can be defined as the illegitimate activities performed my members of a highly organized and meticulous gang or association that involves acts such as supplying illegal products, narcotics, racketeering, gambling, pornography, and loan sharking among others (Finklea, 2010). According to Finklea (2010), some of the characteristics of organized crime include restricted membership, a structure, illegal enterprises, threats of employing violence and using violence, continuity, penetrating legal businesses, and corruption among others. Indeed, with such attributes, limited law enforcement resources would not accomplish much in the fight against such criminal groups.

The origin of a group (s) of people working collaboratively to make profit through unlawful and often violent means can be traced the street gangs dominating the American urban centers in the late 1800s and early 1900s (History.com, 2019). Notorious gangs like the Italian Mafia and Forty Thieves in New York came into being as thousands of immigrants from Europe, specifically Ireland and Italy, united for their own financial gain and protection from other gangs and law enforcers. Most of these groups were made of poor and unemployed or lowly salaried youngsters living in the informal settlements or slums. These members would be assigned criminal tasks and receive allowances for each of the successfully committed illegal assignment.

In the 1920s, the notoriety of organized crime in America heightened when the American Mafia rose to power. This association was an American-Italian organized-criminal network operating in major cities such as Chicago and New York. During the Prohibition Era in the 1920s, the American Mafia succeeded in the illegal liquor trade but later shifted into other criminal undertakings such as gambling, drug trafficking, and infiltrating lawful businesses like the construction of garment industry in New York as well as the US labor movements and unions (History.com, 2019). Notorious Mafia characters such as Al Capone and the group’s secret rituals and violent acts have fascinated the general American public thus becoming part and parcel of the pop culture.

Despite the federal government enacting numerous laws that have enormously weakened organized crime groups, the American Mafia still operates in the US. Currently, the Mafia has more than 3,000 members and affiliates spread mostly throughout the main cities in the Southern, Midwestern, and Northeastern US as well as in California (FBI, n.d.). The largest concentration of Mafia is felt in New Jersey, and Philadelphia where they engage in trafficking hard drugs such as heroin and cocaine, money laundering, political corruption, extortion, illegal gambling, weapon smuggling, murders, extortion, counterfeiting and kidnapping among others (FBI, n.d.). As mentioned earlier, its leaders include individuals like Al Capone and John Gotti.

Meanwhile, besides the American Mafia, there are other organized criminal groups that commit criminal activities within the US. They include the La Cosa Nostra (LCN) and the Yakuza who are the main rivals of the American Mafia family. According to the FBI, the LCN evolved from the Sicilian Mafia and is a nationwide alliance of criminals connected through blood ties (n.d.). Largely active in New York, Chicago and Detroit among other parts, the LCN commits organized criminal acts such as murder, money laundering, gambling, theft, extortion, drug trafficking or smuggling, corrupting public officials, tax fraud, labor racketeering, and prostitution among others (FBI, n.d.). The Yakuza is a criminal group with its roots in Japan and is one of the most centralized organized crime groups in the world. Yakuza’s origins date back to the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 – 1868) from two separate groups of outcasts and criminals (Higgins, 2014). The Yakuza are identifiable by their full-body tattoos, missing fingertips, and their theory of “stealing from the rich to help the poor” (2014).

There is no doubt that the law enforcement agencies must concentrate their attention on these groups as they can smuggle contraband and traffic people into the US, offer logistical support and funds to terrorist networks, utilize violence or threats as the basis for power, and manipulate financial systems and conduct sophisticated frauds (Finklea, 2010). Moreover, they can penetrate the energy sector, gather intelligence for the US enemies and foreign governments, and use cyberspace to target American citizens and or infrastructure.

2. Terrorism in America

Terroristic acts date back to the early resistance and political movements in the first century AD (Roser, Nagdy, and Ritchie, 2019). The Sicarii (early Jewish terror organization) were motivated to overthrow the Romans in the Middle East with any measure deemed necessary (2019). The Sicarii targeted other Jews they felt were working against the movement and would kill them in public places and then cover their acts by crying out as if they were in sorrow or morning of the murder (2019). Another example of early terrorism is Guy Fawkes and his unsuccessful attempt to have a Catholic monarch put in place instead of King James I (2019). For the purpose of this paper, I will focus on the modern terrorist attacks.

Terrorism is another crime that requires more allocation of the law enforcement resources. After the September 11, 2001, also known as 9/11, terrorist attacks in key American facilities, more resources have been allotted to key agencies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) whose role in counterterrorism efforts has also been expanded tremendously. However, the 9/11 terror attacks did not mark the beginning of terror attacks or counterterrorism efforts in the US. As a matter of fact, the history of terrorism in America dates to 1978 when the recluse Ted Kaczynski sent a series of bombs through the mail to demonstrate his ideological opposition to technological progress (Resnick, 2013). Although, prior to 9/11 and afterwards, most Americans associated terrorism with the al-Qaida terrorist group, its leader Osama bin Laden and Islamic extremism from abroad, the US has also experienced homegrown terrorism in which numerous deadly acts of terrorism have been perpetrated by Americans themselves.

For instance, in 1993, Ramzi Yousef, an American member of al-Qaida detonated a bomb below Tower 1 of the World Trade Center in the first major terrorist attack on the US soil (Resnick, 2013). Done in response to the US’s economic, political and military support for Israel in the Middle East crisis, the attack killed six people and wounded over a 1000. The Oklahoma City Bombing of 1995 is another perfect case of domestic terrorism. According to Resnick (2013), Terry Nichols and Timothy McVeigh killed 168 people and injured more than 600 others after detonating a car bomb in the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in the Oklahoma City. The two were on a revenge mission over the US government’s handling of the Waco siege two years earlier.

The 1996 Centennial Olympic Park Bombing during the Summer Olympics in Atlanta Georgia was also an act of domestic terrorism. Eric Rudolph, the US national behind the occurrence had planted pipe bombs and shrapnel underneath the Olympic grounds to express his anger over the US abortion policy (Resnick, 2013). Although the 9/11 is America’ss deadliest terrorist attack in history in which almost 3000 people were killed, there are other smaller terror attacks such as the 2001 anthrax attacks, the 2006 SUV attack at the University of North Carolina, the 2009 New York City subway bomb plot and Fort Hood shooting, and the 2010 Times Square bombing (Resnick, 2013).

Conclusion

From its early days in the urban streets of the US to its current day sophisticated nature and global connections that typify organized crime, the illegal enterprise has grown and proven to be a forceful entity that threatens the existence of America. Similarly, terrorism has also had immense consequences on the US as local anti-government extremists and foreign Islamic extremists conduct fatal terrorist attacks on the US soil. In this regard, the federal government ought to channel most of its law enforcement resources to fight organized crime and conduct counterterrorism efforts. The cost of the battle against organized crime and terrorism can’t and won’t be easy. It can’t be taken too lightly and must be fought head on. Critics say that we don’t have the funds at hand to successfully fight and win this enormous battle, but it must be addressed. Over time, we all have seen what the enemy (domestic or foreign) are capable of. The looming enemy won’t be concerned about spending their funds to plan, develop, and carry out horrific attacks on our citizens. What is the choice for our nation? There is only one option and it’s to spend the needed funds to train, explore technical options, build a stronger relationship with our allies to ensure that our nation is ready and attain the ability to maintain its safety.

References

FBI. (n.d.). Transnational organized crime. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/investigate/organized-crime

Finklea, M. K. (2010). Organized crime in the United States: Trends and issues for congress. CRS Report for Congress: Congressional Research Service.

Higgins, Silke. (2014). “Yakuza Past, Present and Future: The Changing Face of Japan’s

Organized Crime Syndicates,” Themis: Research Journal of Justice Studies and

Forensic Science: Vol. 2, Articles 12. Available at

http://scholarworks.sjsu.edu/themis/vol2/iss1/12

History.com. (2019). Mafia in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/crime/mafia-in-the-united-states

Resnick, B. (2013). A brief history of terrorism in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/04/a-brief-history-of-terrorism-in-the- united-states/454713/

Roser, M., Nagdy, M., Ritchie, H. (2019). “Terrorism”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org

Retrieved from: https://ourworldindata.org/terrorism [Online Resource]