A US-Based Assessment of Transnational Organized Crime David A
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Threat of Harm: A US-Based Assessment of Transnational Organized Crime David A. Marvelli A Dissertation submitted to the Graduate School-Newark Rutgers, State University of New Jersey in partial fulfillment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Graduate Program in Criminal Justice Written under the direction of Dr. James O. Finckenauer and approved by: _________________________________ Dr. James O. Finckenauer, Chair _________________________________ Dr. Ko-lin Chin _________________________________ Dr. Jody Miller _________________________________ Dr. Klaus von Lampe, Outsider Reader Newark, New Jersey May 2013 Copyright ©2013 David A. Marvelli ALL RIGHTS RESERVED ABSTRACT Threat of Harm: A US-Based Assessment of Transnational Organized Crime David A. Marvelli Dissertation Chair: James O. Finckenauer, Ph.D. In April 2008 the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) developed a strategy to combat international organized crime. Within its strategies, the DOJ identified eight criminal activities, including—but not limited to—the trafficking of humans, contraband, and illicit narcotics, to be among the greatest threats emanating from transnational organized criminals. Besides identifying these threats, the DOJ sought an assessment of the criminal organizations engaged in these activities for resource allocation. To date, only a traditional organized crime threat assessment has been conducted by federal law enforcement agencies. This threat assessment focused exclusively on evaluating known criminal organizations believed to pose the greatest threat—defined by their characteristics. Few, if any, assessments have considered the actual or estimated harm caused by criminal organizations, yet an untested hypothesis in the organized crime literature suggests the degree of a criminal organization’s structure, sophistication, self- identification, stability, size, and reputation impacts the organization’s capacity for harm—the so-called “harm capacity thesis.” This exploratory study was the first known assessment of the harm capacity thesis. To assess the hypothesis, the content of 14 closed criminal cases, consisting of thousands of pages of interviews, surveillance logs, administrative updates and other investigative documents, derived from FBI criminal investigations of transnational crimes were analyzed. Through the content analysis, the harm capacity and harm variables were assigned values ranging from one (minimum) to ii three (maximum). These were used to calculate harm capacity and harm indices. A cross- comparison of these indices suggests criminal organizations commit a level of harm commensurate with their harm capacity. Nine of the fourteen criminal organizations were found to have committed a level of harm commensurate with its harm capacity. However, the research was limited on identifying which particular harm capacity characteristics contributed to an organizations overall level of harm. The findings from this study have implications for future research to include comparative studies of criminal organizations operating in the same criminal market to more accurately assess which characteristics are contributing to an organizations level of harm and longitudinal studies to evaluate the factors most important in the structural development of criminal organizations. iii Acknowledgements Any significant piece of academic work requires a tremendous level of support, mentoring, and insight from a large number of people, and this dissertation is no exception. First, I must thank the many faculty members at Rutgers University for the first-rate education they provided me throughout the years, studying the very complex topic of crime, crime prevention, and criminal behavior. In particular, Dr. James O. Finckenauer for his unwavering dedication to ensuring my work on the study of criminal organizations was complete. Without his mentoring, this work would never have come to fruition. Also, Drs. Ko-lin Chin, Jody Miller, and John Jay College’s Klaus von Lampe for their insightful suggestions on the methodology and substance of the work. Their comments certainly have made the dissertation a stronger piece of academic work. I would also like to thank my many colleagues at the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for the tremendous amount of support they demonstrated throughout the years: from senior executives, who approved my request to use closed FBI case files, to my more immediate supervisors, who permitted me to take the time I needed to focus on data collection and analysis. Besides these individuals, all of my colleagues who have provided support, friendship, and relief from the many stresses of completing a PhD program while working full-time. Also, all of the field case agents who were willing to discuss their cases with me. Most of these individuals must remain anonymous but they deserve a special thanks for their support to me and their dedication to the American people. I would like to extend a special thanks to my former supervisor at the FBI—a current “farmer”—Jonathan Vandergrift for his unwavering dedication and support of my professional growth at the FBI and my pursuit of higher education. He is greatly missed. iv My point of contact and legal assistant within the FBI’s Record Management Division also deserves a special thanks for going above and beyond his responsibilities to review all of my notes and chapter drafts, so I could work on parts of my dissertation from the comfort of my home. This spared me from spending even longer days and weekends in the office. For that, I am truly grateful. Lastly, the completion of this dissertation would not have been possible without the emotional support of my wife, Kelly Schnell-Marvelli, and my children, Nathaniel, Anina, and Elijah Marvelli. They have had to endure the absence of their husband and father for significant periods of time while I researched, analyzed, and drafted the dissertation. I am forever indebted to my wife for her commitment and unwavering support throughout the years. She has had the extraordinary task of raising our three lovely children while her husband pursued the completion of the PhD program. This is not an easy task, yet she did it with commitment and endurance. She is truly my dearest friend. The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Federal Bureau of Investigation or the United States government. v Table of Contents Abstract ………………………………………………………………………………….ii Acknowledgment ……………………………………………………………………….iv Figures and Tables ……………………………………………………………………..vii Chapter 1: Introduction……………………………………………………………...…1 Chapter 2: Literature Review…………………...….………………………………….16 Chapter 3: Methodology and Research Design……………………………………….45 Chapter 4: Drug Trafficking…………………………………………………………...74 Chapter 5: Contraband Trafficking…………………………………………………..90 Chapter 6: Human Trafficking……………………………………………………….113 Chapter 7: Money Laundering…………………………………………….…………141 Chapter 8: Sophisticated Fraud……………………………………………………...165 Chapter 9: Cyber Crime……………………………………………………………...182 Chapter 10: Use of Violence…………………………………………………………..203 Chapter 11: Discussion………………………………………………………………..221 Chapter 12: Conclusion……………………………………………………………….236 Appendix A: Addendum……………………………………………………………...243 Appendix B: Questionnaire………………………………..………………………….248 Bibliography……………………………………………………………..…………….253 vi List of Figures and Tables Hagan’s Organized Crime Continuum…………………………………………………...20 Sleipnir – Threat Measurement Technique………………………………………………36 Conceptual Frameworks for Assessing Organized Crime……………………………….43 Harm Capacity Model……………………………………………………………………61 General Coding Schematic for Harm Capacity and Harms……………………………...62 Organizational Structure of the FARC’s First Front……………………………………..76 Controlled Narcotic Purchases, 24 April – 17 September 2009…………………………89 Financial Transactions between Mantilla and Cabrera, April to June 2008……………..98 Number of Cartons Containing Counterfeit Cigarettes Imported to the United States from China, 2001 – 2004……………………………….108 Giant Labor Solutions’ (GLS’) Organizational Structure………………………………114 Number of Individuals Self-Identified with Organizations Involved with Labor Trafficking……………………………………………………….118 Estimated Transportation Costs/Profits per Victim………………………………….…126 Organizational Structure of the Roman Criminal Organization………………………..144 Number of Stolen Vehicles Exported to China by the Ma Organization, 1994-1996…………………………………………………………...211 Number of TCOs Exhibiting Various Levels of the Harm Capacity Characteristics…………………………………………………………221 Frequency of Criminal Organizations Causing the Various Levels of Harm for Each Dimension of Harm………………………………………….225 Relationship between Harm Capacity and Harm Indices………………………………228 Harm Capacity Measures for TCOs Ranked by Harm Index…………………………..231 vii 1 Chapter 1: Introduction Background Since the end of the cold war and fuelled in large part by globalization, transnational organized crime groups have become a formidable threat to the United States—bilking hundreds of millions, if not billions, of dollars per year.1 Some of these groups have rapidly expanded their criminal markets either through migration to the United States and/or collaboration with other criminal groups.2 And because the United States is the world’s richest country, as Finckenauer observes, “it represents the most opportune target for transnational organized crime” (2000, p.3). As a result of the potential (and real) threat posed by these criminal