An Overall Assessment of Transnational Organized Crime By
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108TH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS AN OVERALL ASSESSMENT OF TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED CRIME Muammer Yasar Özgül* I. INTRODUCTION same goal. Some factors such as technological ii) The aim of providing benefit: progress, easiness of crossing frontiers and Organized crime groups expect material transition of the economic policies in and social benefit as a result of their illegal countries have encouraged criminal activities. organization and added an international iii) Violence or pressure: An organized dimension to such crime. For instance, crime group beats, wounds and kills as a while an illicit drug organization uses violence element and uses threat and counterfeit passport and identity cards to blackmail as a pressure element, aimed at hide its members’ identity results in fraud ; providing benefit for itself or a third person. to legalize the proceeds derived from such crime (by founding screen companies), with B. Differences between “Mafia” and proceedings going to banks and foreign “Organized Crime” exchanges results in the crime of money Is the organization which is called laundering. Spending money to purchase “Mafia” in the press and public outside of weapon leads to gun smuggling and that organized crime? To most people the term also engenders terrorism. This causes more organized crime and Mafia are the same. familiarity and cooperation among crime This unfortunate mistake arose because so groups. many criminals who made great reputations in the 1920’s came from Italy A. Definition of Organized Crime and, in particular, Sicily. The Mafia has for Organized crime is, within an centuries been a notorious Sicilian organization which could be in any form, organization. But it is difficult to hold the to use violence or at least put pressure to Mafia outside of the terms organized crime. provide benefits. Therefore, the term of Because the Mafia also contains each of “organized crime” consists of some the three components mentioned above, it elements below: has some characteristics comparable to i) Existence of an association ( 2 or other crime organizations. For example the more persons) Mafia: ii) The aim of providing benefit • Infiltrates economic and social (money or power) structures. iii) Violence or pressure. • Gets the management of public services and contracts, economic i) Existence of an association: The main activities, privileges, and component that distinguishes organized authorizations; or takes control at crime from other crimes is that two or more least. people are participating in the crime and • Gets into, directly or indirectly, putting the desire directed towards the the management of commercial * Deputy General Director of Personnel, Ministry of and industrial organizations, or Interior, Turkey. companies. 181 RESOURCE MATERIAL SERIES No. 54 • Prevents the carrying out of the supplier countries and the demanding ones administration freely. causes illicit traffic in drugs. This feature • Unbalances social and economic life of drug criminality necessitates that drug as related to the aforementioned. enforcement focus basically on the supply In addition the Mafia has; and demand aspect of the phonemenon. • A hierarchical structure that Supply control should include reducing performs in solid manner. opium poppy and cannabis quantities used • Organization membership tied to to manufacture illicit narcotics; prevention defined rules. of traffic in synthetic drugs and carrying • A monopoly on their activities. out the related combat. Demand control on • The punishment of the treachery the other hand should include elimination to the organization as death. of the possible means leading to drug abuse, carrying out the related combat and As shown, the Mafia influences the treatment rehabilitation of abusers as economical and administrative decision well as addicts. Meanwhile, control of both processes. As a result, the Mafia is an supply and demand should be carried out organized crime group which threatens at operational, political, diplomatic and public security and affects the general socio-economic levels. economy and public administration. Any fight against drugs based solely on II. CURRENT SITUATION OF an individual nation’s effort will not lead TRANSNATIONAL ORGANIZED to absolute success because illicit drug CRIME criminality is linked to organized crime and terrorism. Effective international A. General Situation Of Illicit Drug cooperation is necessary in this regard. The Trafficking ever increasing work of nations on this The illicit drugs phonemenon has three issue and the direct actions they are taking elements which are different in essence, to combat drugs are well commended. but somehow intertwined. Therefore, the Turkey too is committed to the combat of illicit drugs problem may well be regarded drugs, both with national efforts and as a tri-fold menace which could be initiatives taken internationality. considered under the topics of illicit production, trafficking and consumption. B. Production Areas of the World It is not possible however to deny the Drugs and the various materials that are existence of some organic linkage which used in drug production are produced in enables us to move from one topic onto large amounts in each continent. another between these essentially separate elements. Essentially, if there was no illicit Cannabis is cultivated in a significant production, there would be no illicit amount of the major countries in Africa. trafficking, and if there was no trafficking According to Interpol reports, South Africa then there would naturally be no demand is becoming a main source of the illegal for illicit drugs. Therefore, non-existence cultivation of more than 175.000 tons of of the demand would not give rise to the cannabis. The enterprises founding the supply. clandestine laboratories for the production methaqualone or other psycotrophic Both supply and demand are materials have been detected in some maintaining their very presence to some eastern and southern African Countries great extent. The distance between the (South Africa, Mozambique). 182 108TH INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR PARTICIPANTS’ PAPERS In 1996, as in the past, hashish was in closed areas. Amphetamine has also raised for domestic consumption in Middle been produced in Holland. A major number America and the Caribbean. Jamaica of LSD seized in Europe was welded in the continued to be an important source of USA. In Australia and Oceania, illegal hashish for consumption in Europe and cannabis and legal poppy has been grown Northern America. Hashish is also and methamphetamyn has been produced. cultivated and produced in Mexico (Brasil and Colombia) for the USA. The illegal As shown above, drug materials arise production of metamphethamin and LSD naturally or are grown on purpose for the increased in the USA. In Colombia, poppy reason of high profit, to finance terrorism and opium poppy is also raised. Peru and or cold wars between countries. Drug Bolivia has remained the biggest producer trafficking has followed many various of coca. The coca that is the raw material routes in countries throughout the World of cocaine is smuggled from Peru and from east to west and south to north. Bolivia into Colombia, where it is transformed into cocaine and enters the C. Illicit Drugs Problem In Turkey world market 3. The production of synthetic and Related Policies and Fight drugs and acetic anhydride that is used in Against Drugs the production of heroin is realized in the We have tried to cover drug problems USA. and the global fight so far. In this context, Turkey is a transit point because of features Cannabis grows naturally in a number such as an adjacent geographical location of the countries in south-east Asia, such as which is in intersection with the continents Thailand. The illicit production of poppy of Asia and Europe. Having those and heroin and the cultivation of opium producing regions in the east while the poppy have continued to increase in consuming regions are in the west-coupled Burma. Acetic anhydride is produced in with the passing of the Balkan Route China, India and South Korea4. An through her-Turkey has, as the most important amount of ephedrine has been important problem, the illicit trade of produced in the Russian Federation. In narcotics. addition, cannabis has been grown in the Russian Federation, especially poppy in Fluctuations in this region have caused, Khazakistan. Pakistan also has an as mentioned above, the emergence of new important place in the production of resin routes. Enhanced criminal capabilities for hashish5. Opium poppy has been cultivated those drug syndicates which were new to in legal ways in India, Japan, China and the republics which gained independence Turkey. Heroin that is significant part of upon dissolution of the former Soviet, drug trafficking, is produced from poppy coupled with crises caused by such which has been grown in the Golden economical transition, have led to the Triangle (Burma, Laos, Thailand) and the emergence of new criminal groups with Golden Crescent (Pakistan, Iran, either involvement in or cooperation with Afghanistan) . Poppy has been grown in drug trafficking groups. legal ways in France, Spain, Hungry. Holland has become a producer of cannabis Turkey is facing traffic from east to west with the trafficking of synthetic tablets, (3) INCB Report for Precursors 1995 such as Captagon and Ecstasy (and facing (4) INCB Report for 1995 west-to-east traffic) of cocaine and it’s (5) INCB Report for 1995 precursors, mainly acetic anhydride,