Finnish Professional Criminals and Their Organisations in the 1990S Cross-Border Criminality
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European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, affiliated with the United Nations (HEUNI) P.O. Box 444 FIN-00531 Helsinki Finland Publication Series No. 47 Adventurers and Risk-Takers: Finnish professional criminals and their organisations in the 1990s cross-border criminality Mika Junninen Helsinki 2006 Copies can be purchased from: Academic Bookstore Criminal Justice Press P.O.Box 128 P.O.Box 249 FIN-000101 Helsinki Monsey, NY 10952 Finland USA Website: http://www.akateeminen.com Website: http://www.criminaljusticepress.com ISBN 952-5333-25-6 ISSN 1237-4741 Printed by Hakapaino Oy, Helsinki, Finland Acknowledgements This book was written during my stay in several institutes: National Research Institute of Legal Policy (Helsinki), Instituto di Criminologia (University of Teramo), TRANSCRIME (University of Trento), Australian Institute of Criminology (Canberra), Institute of Criminology (Sydney University), United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (Vienna) and European Institute for Crime Prevention and Control, Affiliated with the United Nations (Helsinki). I wish to express my gratitude to these institutes and the members of their staff. The main funding for this study is provided by the European Union, through the University of Teramo and University of Trento (International PhD in Criminology, XV cycle). Additional funding was received from the National Research Institute of Legal Policy, HEUNI, the Academy of Finland, the Ministry of Interior/Police Department, and the Scandinavian Research Council for Criminology. Thank you for believing in this project. Most of all, I wish to thank the interviewed offenders who were willing to talk about their lives. In Finland, I extend my gratitude to Kauko Aromaa who lent his criminological experience, personal support and language skills to my assistance whenever they were needed. Critical remarks which were of great service were given by Janne Kivivuori and Timo Kyntäjä. Mirja Kahri devoted evenings and weekends to the very hectic transcribing of the interview quotations, and for that I am grateful. The layout of the book is done by Aili Pääkkönen. Last but not least, I wish to thank all those authorities who contributed in any way to this project. In Italy, I wish to thank Professors Ernesto Savona, Maria Cristina Giannini, and David Nelken who taught, commented and guided me during the research project. I also wish to thank Annamaria, Anna and Alessandro who helped me to understand the Italian way of living. In Australia, I wish to thank Russell Smith and Mark Findlay who offered their support, comments and time, as well as the premises of the institutes at my disposal during my stay in Canberra and Sydney. I also wish to thank Joanne who showed me the beauty of the country. In UNODC (Vienna), I wish to thank Mohamed Abdul-Aziz and Melissa for their supportive and encouraging attitude towards my work. Last but not least, I wish to thank Anne who encouraged me to start the thesis and helped me with practical things in Finland when I was abroad. An enormous thanks goes to my parents who provided me with the inquisitiveness and courage to search answers, and economic means to gain knowledge. Marjo helped me to finish the study by bringing sunshine back to my life. I would also like to mention my grandparents who passed away during the study, and were not able to see the results of the long years of work. iii iv Contents Acknowledgements ...........................................................................................iii 1. Introduction....................................................................................................1 2. Definitions of professional criminals and organised crime ........................4 2.1 Criminological definitions of professional criminal............................5 2.1.1 Finnish legal definition of professional criminal..............................6 2.1.2 Occupation of a professional criminal as defined by the informants..................................................................................................6 2.1.3 Empirical studies on professional criminals in Finland, Great Britain and USA ........................................................................................7 2.1.4 Conclusions on the definitions of professional criminal ..................9 2.2 Definitions of organised crime ..........................................................10 2.2.1 Criminological definitions..............................................................11 2.2.2 Legal Definitions ............................................................................13 2.2.2.1 United Nations definition ............................................................14 2.2.2.2 European Union definition ..........................................................15 2.2.2.3 Finnish authorities on organised crime........................................16 2.2.2.4 Informant definitions of organised crime ....................................17 2.3 Conclusions on the definitions of organised crime............................18 3. Method and data collection of the study ....................................................21 3.1 Data collection procedures ................................................................23 3.1.1 Selecting interviewees ....................................................................23 3.1.2 Interviews .......................................................................................25 3.1.3 Analysis of the data ........................................................................26 3.2 Limited scope of the methods............................................................27 4. Participants of Finnish professional criminal groups - Adventurers and Risk-Takers ........................................................................30 4.1 Age, education, and social status.......................................................30 4.2 Criminal career ..................................................................................32 4.3 Parents and siblings ...........................................................................34 4.4 Times and years spent in prison.........................................................36 4.4.1 Men with a name, honourable criminals, and the prison hierarchy ..................................................................................................39 4.5 Time in freedom ................................................................................42 4.6 Family................................................................................................47 4.7 Friends ...............................................................................................50 4.8 Use of money.....................................................................................51 4.9 “Own” crimes and business transactions...........................................54 4.10 Plans for the future ..........................................................................56 4.11 Summary: “Adventurers and risk takers” ........................................58 5. Crimes...........................................................................................................62 5.1 Planning the Crimes...........................................................................62 5.2 Committing the Crimes......................................................................67 5.2.1 Weapons, violence directed at group members and outsiders ........67 5.2.2 Narcotics.........................................................................................71 5.2.3 Procuring ........................................................................................77 5.2.4 Alcohol and cigarettes ....................................................................83 5.2.5 Stolen goods ...................................................................................88 5.2.6 Investing the proceeds of crime......................................................92 5.3 Committing crimes: summary .........................................................102 v 6. Professional criminals and their organisations .......................................105 6.1.1 Sicilian hierarchically structured families ....................................106 6.1.2 Cosa Nostra of New York - a hierarchical network model...........107 6.1.3 Colombian cocaine cartel group formation based on business structures................................................................................................109 6.1.4 Transnational organised crime......................................................111 6.1.5 Chinese organised crime groups...................................................111 6.1.6 Japanese Yakuza...........................................................................112 6.1.7 Russian organised crime...............................................................113 6.1.8 Conclusions on the forms and models of organised crime ...........114 6.2 Finnish professional criminals and their organisations....................116 6.2.1 Number of participants .................................................................120 6.2.2 Drug, alcohol, and cigarette smuggling organisations..................121 6.2.3 Procuring organisations ................................................................124 6.2.4 Marketing organisations of stolen goods......................................125 6.3 Emergence of Finnish professional criminal groups .......................126 6.3.1 Gender of the members and the tasks of women..........................128