ABSTRACT
The term ‘transnational organised crime’ (TOC) evokes images of a world without frontiers assaulted by the trans-border activities of criminal groups indigenous to states in transition or Third World countries. It is an attack on civilised states by the ‘forces of incivility’, the price we must pay for the benefits globalisation has bequeathed (or will bequeath) on those invited to participate in the free market and the development of democracy. The imminent enlargement of the European Union, to include ten former communist states in Eastern and Central Europe, brings these security fears into focus; that is, a vulnerability to the expanding presence of organised crime, particularly from Russia and other CIS countries. Full membership of the EU will entail the automatic ratification of the Schengen acquis, which guarantees the free movement of persons and goods within the EU, thereby providing plentiful opportunities for criminal networks to expand their business activities westwards.
