Organized Crime

Crime as a dictionary definition means an act which is against the law or bad or unlawful
activities or behaviour in general[1]. Organized crime on the other hand refers to criminal activities
organized and coordinated on a national scale, often with international connections (Encyclopedia.com.
Organized crime, around the world, is a critical concern of the law enforcement community as well as a
social problem that must be fought with. Organized crime appears in wea! states and wea!ens the state more
as an alternative source of power.
Our world has seen widespread and sudden political, economic, social, and technological changes in
the last few decades. Organized criminal organizations have been "uic! to ta!e advantage of the
opportunities created by these changes such as globalization to satisfy their greed and lust for power. #he
cost to communities and individuals, in terms of pain and suffering caused by the violence and e$ploitation
associated with these organizations, is incalculable. %lso the damage to society resulting from these criminal
organizations and their influence on labor unions, political institutions, financial mar!ets, and ma&or
industries is immeasurable. 'n fact, a loo! at the economic impact alone shows the importance of this issue.
#he Center for (trategic and 'nternational (tudies, )lobal Organized Crime *ro&ect, +inancial Crimes #as!
+orce estimates global organized crime reaps profits of close to ,- trillion per year[2]. #his assignment is
an attempt to show the seriousness of organized crime problem by e$plaining its nature and historical
development by providing e$amples from different countries. 't will be argued that organized crime must be
fought with active state interventionism and necessary restrictive laws. 'n order to arrive at that point, it will
be first started by the definition of organized crime and later it will be moved on to the e$planation of its
historical development. 't will be especially focused on the development of 'talian.%merican /afia as an
e$ample of organized crime organizations. 0astly, the ways of preventing organized crime problem would be
discussed in the light of important boo!s written on this issue.
%s it was mentioned earlier organized crime means criminal activities organized and coordinated on
a national scale, often with international connections[3]. Organized crime organizations engage in illegal
activities such as drug traffic!ing, money laundering, bootlegging, rac!etting, gambling, smuggling,
prostitution, theft. %lthough there is a huge discussion about the origin of the word /afia, it is generally
assumed that it was the abbreviation of the phrase /orte %lla +ranciese 'talia %nnella. #he /afia, also
referred to in 'talian as Cosa 1ostra, which is generally translated our thing in the 'talian language, is an
organized criminal secret society which evolved in mid.-2th century (icily[4]. 'n transition from
feudalism to capitalism, feudal landlords who are losing power steadily had to organize a group of armed
men consisting of (icilian peasants to protect themselves from +rench invasions and peasant revolts. (o,
/afia was established as an illegal organization controlled by landlords who are in danger because of the
state3s wea!ness and peasant revolts in (icily. 4uring time through this activity, the emerging /afia was
able to solidify more economic and political power than other societal groups and became, for a short
period, the only reliable source of law and order (Eitzen 5 #immer, pg 67-. /afia soon became an
independent association and began to wor! for itself. #he (icilian /afia which was the role model of other
organized crime associations was consisted of crime families and had a hierarchical structure. #he family
had a boss called the 4on, an underboss, a consigliere (advisor, a caporegime (person who is responsible
of lower staff and several soldiers, associates wor!ing for the family. 8ith the establishment of 9(% as the
land of dreams and the new world, a huge migration started from many countries including 'taly to %merica.
%s one immigrant and minority group after another found their new society wanting in terms of a &ust
system of law, order, power, and opportunity, the /afia became an attractive alternative (Eitzen 5 #immer,
pg 67-.
%lthough organized crime is not limited to 8estern countries (:apanese ;a!uza, <ussian mob,
#ur!ish ultra.nationalist groups etc., there is no doubt that its center was first (icily and then 1ew ;or!,
9(%. 'n the -26=3s there were some specific conditions that allowed 'talian.%merican /afia to gain huge
strength. +irst of all, due to huge migration wave ethnic based communities and neighborhoods were formed
in 1ew ;or! ('talian, 'rish, :ewish neighborhoods etc. (econdly, 9(% was in huge economic crisis and
there were serious socioeconomic problems directing people to illegal activities and /afia. #hirdly, the
efforts of federal officials to enforce the unpopular >olstead %ct (also !nown as *rohibition Era of -26=
generated the growth of highly organized bootlegging rings with nationwide and international contacts[5].
#he >olstead %ct ordered the implementation of -?
th
amendment to the 9.(. Constitution and for all intents
and purposes, wine, beer and li"uor were outlawed (Eitzen 5 #immer, pg 676. (ince alcoholic drin!s were
very popular in the country, the /afia had a chance to legitimize itself and earn billions of dollars through
bootlegging[6]. (o, starting from the -26=3s /afia gained huge money and found sympathy among the
people. 1ew mob bosses li!e %l Capone, Charlie 0uc!y 0uciano, +ran!ie ;ale, :ohn #orrio emerged in
big cities li!e 1ew ;or!, Chicago and mafia organizations became very powerful[7]. 9ntil -2@=3s when
due in part to laws such as the <'CO %ct, which made it a crime to belong to an organization that
performed illegal acts, and to programs such as the witness protection program, the /afia stayed very
powerful in 9(%. #his <'CO act for the first time achieved to beat /afia3s famous silence code !nown as
Omerta[8]. 'n the mid.6=th century, the /afia was claimed to have infiltrated into many labor unions in the
9nited (tates, notably the #eamsters, whose president :immy Aoffa strangely disappeared. 't is widely
believed that the /afia planned the death of :immy Aoffa. #here are also some rumours about the /afia3s
involvement in the assassination of liberal %merican president :ohn +itzgerald Bennedy. %lthough they were
not proved, these e$amples show how mafia became a state within the state because of the lac! of
legitimacy and sanctioning power of the state. %ccording to :ames /. O3Bane, the 'talian mafia was later
replaced by other organized crime groups starting from the -2@=3s. %ccording to O3Bane there are some
reasons for this development such as the migration from other countries and the emergence of new ethnic
organized crime groups and the rivalry and competition between 'talian gangs (O3Bane, pg ?-.
Organized crime is one of the most popular crime types in most of the countries around the world
and it can give enormous damage to societies and individuals. 'n +ebruary of -22C, Doris ;eltsin, the first
elected president of the +ederation of <ussian (tates, said, EOrganized crime has become the number one
threat to <ussiaFs strategic interests and to national security... Corrupted structures on the highest level have
no interest in reformE[9]. /oreover, these organizations3 profits are illegal and out of record by which they
stole government3s money which can be used to find solutions to different social problems li!e poverty,
unemployment, social security etc. #herefore, it is vital to fight against the organized crime to provide peace
and stability in society. Organized crime harms society severely. 4ue to organized crime the legitimacy of
states decreases enormously in the eyes of the citizens. #hese organizations earn illegal money without
paying any ta$es that which can be used to find solutions to different social problems li!e poverty,
unemployment, social security etc. 4ue to /afia, young people become addicted to harmful things li!e drug
and violence.
#here are many !inds of organized crime such as drug traffic!ing, money laundering, bootlegging,
rac!etting, gambling, smuggling, prostitution, theft etc. Especially drug traffic!ing is one of the most
profitable &ob for the mob. 8hile it is often assumed that the drugs industry is dominated by highly
organized criminal syndicates, these are relatively few, and the industry largely consists of smaller
enterprises organized around different functions (4rugs and Crime, pg --G. #here are also many different
groups of organized crime such as %frican.%merican gangs, mafia ('talian.%merican mob etc. #hese types
of crimes and organizations are great threats to democratic states because they wea!en the legitimacy and
the power of the state and earn millions dollars of dirty money. +or instance, the ma&or threat to %merican
society posed around drug traffic!ing and money laundering. 'n addition to this, another ma&or threat to
%merican society posed by 'talian organized crime ('OC groups which have been very influential starting
from the >olstead 0aw. 'OC groups have been involved in heroin traffic!ing for many decades. #wo ma&or
investigations which targeted 'OC drug traffic!ing in the -2?=3s are !nown as the E+rench ConnectionE and
E*izza ConnectionE. *izza connection for instance mar!ed the entry of the +D' into the war on drugs and
received media attention, perhaps more than it deserved relative to other ongoing and previous cases
(#ripodi 5 4esario, pg 6HG. #hese and other investigations have documented their cooperation in drug
traffic!ing with other ma&or drug traffic!ing organizations. 'OC groups are also involved in illegal gambling,
political corruption, e$tortion, !idnapping, frauds, counterfeiting, infiltration of legitimate businesses,
murders, bombings, and weapons traffic!ing. 'ndustry e$perts in 'taly estimate that their worldwide criminal
activity is worth more than ,-== billion annually. 'n some countries organized crime associations can also
have ideological bac!ground which can increase the support for their activies (*BB and ultra.nationalist
groups in #ur!ey. +or instance, e$.members of e$treme rightist militants in #ur!ey later established mafia
groups and engaged in e$tortion activities. /oreover, *BB still earns huge money from drug traffic and uses
this money in its illegal politic and terrorist activities. Organized crime is still a very important problem for
countries where the state3s authority is not well settled and there is not enough sensitivity, determination for
fighting against these groups.
%nother problem related to the /afia is the use of organized crimes figures in movies, tv series and
novels which leads to the increasing popularity and legitimacy of organized crime. 'n -2@6, many
%mericans were reading and watching #he )odfather, which was soon followed by a flood of boo!s and
movies devoted to describing the ritual ceremonies and criminal behaviors of the /afioso (Eitzen 5
#immer, pg 6H?.6H2. )angster movies and novels became a genre in arts and people li!e <obert 4e 1iro,
%l *acino, /artin (corsese became the stars of this genre. %lthough restriction in art is not something
ethical, it is not suprising that this !ind of wor!s has a stimulating affect on young people3s sympathy for
/afia groups and the legitimacy of organized crime. 'n #ur!ey now there are similar discussions because
some tv series li!e Burtlar >adisi and increasing high school violence in the country. 't has also been
argued that young people3s activities may be more sub&ect to criminalization as there is inevitable lin!
between youthfulness and crime and many styles of youth subculture especially when there are popular
culture elements li!e mafia movies (%ge and Crime, pg H2.
+inally, in my opinion organized crime is the most serious type of crime because it has a lot of power
which affects a country3s political decisions, economic policies, social structuring etc. 'talian.%merican
mafia e$ample teaches us that in order to fight against organized crime, governments should ma!e necessary
laws and should solve social problems. Organized crime became powerful especially in failed states as an
alternative source of power center and &ustice mechanism. 'n addition, organized crime is strengthened by
socioeconomic problems. *oor young people raising in ghettos have more tendency to engage in organized
crime circles. 'f the state and the private sector are not able to respond to the employment need, then in order
not to live people would have to engage in illegal activies and organized crime. /oreover, concerning the
cultural areaI films, tv series encouraging people to establish mafia organizations, showing criminals li!e
heroes must be banned. /ost importantly, people must be teached in a democratic way and must be taught
that mafia is not an alternative source of &ustice but rather a very big thief and murderer that harms the
society. % peaceful democratic social life can only be provided by the elimination of organized crime and
crime in general. #hat is why, states and civil societal organizations should wor! together to destroy
organized crime and create a democratic society.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
. :ames /. O3Bane, #he Croo!ed 0adder ()angsters, Ethnicity, and the %merican 4ream, -226, 1ew
Drunswic!J #ransaction *ublishers
. #om #ripodi 5 :oseph *. 4esario, Crusade (9ndercover %gainst #he /afia and B)D, -22C, 1ew
:erseyJ /acmillan *ublishing Company
. 4. (tanley Eitzen 5 4oug %. #immer, Criminology, -2?H, 1ew ;or!J /acmillan *ublishing Company
. /irable 0earner3s English 4ictionary, 6==7, KstanbulJ /ira ;ayLncLlL!
. Crime 0ibrary web site, httpJMMwww.crimelibrary.comM
. Encyclopedia.com web site, httpJMMwww.encylopedia.comMhtmlMoMorgcrim.asp
. +D' web site, httpJMMwww.fbi.govM
. 8i!ipedia web site, httpJMMwww.wi!ipedia.orgM
[1] /irable 0earner3s English 4ictionary
[2] +D' website, httpJMMwww.fbi.govMh"McidMorgcrimeMocshome.htm
[3] Encyclopedia.com
[4] 8i!ipedia, httpJMMwww.wi!ipedia.orgM
[5] Encyclopedia.com, httpJMMwww.encylopedia.comMhtmlMoMorgcrim.asp
[6] Dootlegging is a slang term to describe smuggling. /ost commonly, the word refers to the illegal
transport and sale of alcoholic beverages on which e$cise ta$es have not been paid (8i!ipedia.
[7] Crime 0ibrary, httpJMMwww.crimelibrary.comMgangstersNoutlawsMmobNbossesMinde$.html
[8] #he omertO is a popular attitude, common in areas of 'taly where the /afia is strong, that implies never collaborating with
the police. 't can be intended also as a vow of silence among mafiosi (8i!ipedia.
[9] +D' web site, httpJMMwww.fbi.govMh"McidMorgcrimeMeocMeochistory.htm