Transnational organized crime in the Netherlands.

Résumé du document

This paper is about transnational organized crime in the Netherlands and the ways and means necessary to effectively combat it. Most people, when confronted with the question: "What is organized crime? often think of a mafia-like organization, much like the one portrayed in the Godfather-trilogy. As you can see by the criteria stated above, those people are not far off. Even though it is oversimplified and romanticized, it gives a pretty good "laymen's understanding" of what organized crime is. The dictionary defines organized crime as follows: Widespread criminal activities, such as prostitution, interstate theft, or illegal gambling, that occur within a centrally controlled formal structure and the people and the groups involved in such criminal activities. Criminal organizations earn a lot of money with the sale of drugs, firearms, stolen goods, prostitution and the trafficking in human beings. This money is therefore acquired illegally and cannot be spent or used. In order to make use of this money, the organizations need to launder the money. Because of the transnational nature of these criminal organizations, it is usually easier to try and launder the money in another country than the one the money is acquired in. This is easier because it obscures the money trail. If an organization tries to launder the money in the same country, it becomes easier for the authorities to follow the trace.

Extraits

[...] Hand-outs and books Levi p and Newburn p http://s.bebo.com/app- image/7925901049/5411656627/PROFILE/i.quizzaz.com/img/q/u/08/04/28/Marlon_Br ando_bilde_154157a.jpg Consulted on 16-03-2010. http://www.answers.com/topic/organized-crime Consulted on 20-02-2010. Levi p and Newburn p PVAGM: Project Strengthening Battling Organized Crime: http://www.justitie.nl/images/PVAGM brief DEF_tcm34-113255.pdf Consulted on 20-02-2010. http://www.nu.nl/economie/2199849/nederland-niet-langer-grootste-xtc- producent.html Consulted on 18-03-2010. http://www.justitie.nl/onderwerpen/criminaliteit/mensenhandel/ Consulted on 19-03-2010. [...]

[...] The trafficking of women and prostitution will be discussed in the next paragraph. Forced labour of course is prevented when the drug trade can be effectively combated. When drug labs are dismantled, the exploited people can be free” : Trafficking women and prostitution As mentioned above, criminal organizations often use trafficking of women (white slavery) and prostitution as a means of making money. A yearly estimate of between 700.000 and women and children are trafficked into Western-Europe from Central- and Eastern-Europe, but also from Africa. [...]

[...] That way, we can begin to battle and bring down the criminal organization that threaten our society. Begin with the little man and work your way up the chain. It might sound a bit Hollywood, but that doesn't make it less true. Chapter Trafficking in human beings 3.1 : Trafficking people Another area of organized crime that has an entire chain is the trafficking in human beings. In the Netherlands, the trafficking in human beings is defined as follows:[6] every form of exploitation of forced provision of (sexual) services and profiting of those circumstances made punishable in the penal code. [...]

[...] This has been fairly productive because less and less is produced in the Netherlands. The only way to truly minimize the production of these drugs is to limit the import of the ingredients needed to produce them. In the current state the European Union is in, this can only be done with close co-operation between the different member states. If the ingredients come into Europe, they can come to the producers relatively easy due to the Schengen-treaty : Drug trafficking Of course, after the drugs have been produced, they need to be transported to other areas in order to be sold. [...]

[...] If an organization commits a crime in one country, but can the flee to another country and be safe, there is no stopping them. Co-operation between different governing bodies and authorities, such as the police, customs, lawmakers and other authorities. Another major factor is the sharing of information. If different databases are linked, suspicious transactions and behaviour will be red flagged much sooner and the responsible people will be able to be caught much faster. The European Union is definitely on the right track, but there is always room for improvement. [...]