ABSTRACT
The Criminals are just like the Profiteers, driven by self-interest and material gain, but unlike the latter, they were not law-abiding citizens before the period of mass violence. They were already involved in criminal activities and continue to do so during a period of mass violence. In recent decades the nature of wars has changed and more criminal gangs are now involved: sometimes on their own initiative, sometimes they are hired by government officials to do the dirty work while establishing plausible deniability. The war in former Yugoslavia was a prime example thereof. A period of war offers many opportunities for criminal enterprises to flourish, like illegal markets, human trafficking and hostage taking but also the sex and slave markets which were established in the Islamic State. Arkan, who was a hard-core criminal, played an important role in the war in former Yugoslavia but became a war hero and role model despite the many crimes he committed. Criminals also become progressively involved in terrorism and there are more and more links and synergies between organized crime and terrorism which in literature is called the crime–terror nexus.
