ABSTRACT
Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) is widely recognized as an issue of global concern, constituting ‘one of the world’s most sophisticated and profitable businesses’ with an estimated annual turnover of between $1.6 and $2.2 trillion and a ‘significant multi-national security threat’ with the potential for ‘explosive and destabilising effects’. Illegal drugs have emerged as a significant global commodity, one increasingly supplied by organized crime with amphetamines produced in Europe shipped all over the world, heroin from Afghanistan sold on the streets of London and cocaine from the Caribbean flooding into the United States. Advances in transport and communications have also had a pivotal impact on shaping TOC. Organized crime has responded to the evolving environment of the global village by becoming increasingly transnational in nature. As a result, presently all of the major criminal groups operate and are structured internationally and even essentially ‘domestic’ gangs are increasingly involved in cross-border traffic.
