Money Laundering To Transnational Organized Crime: A Case Study

card fraud. In reference to money Laundering we will the complex process of how criminals

Human trafficking has been entwined into the structure of governments, arms trade, drug trade, and even spreads as far as terrorism. For many years it has been a fact that the money that has been made by selling other humans to the highest bidder. It is also known that the organized crime operations generate one of the most profitable resources to the organization. These organizations use this money for theirs or other’s crime and end up in the hands of drug lords. Drug lords, in order to promote their own business give money to support terrorist groups and activities. Security after September 11, 2001 has recognized human trafficking as a national and international security risk.

Trafficking in human beings is now the fastest-growing business of organized crime. Men, women and children are trafficked within their own countries and across international borders. More than one person is smuggled across a border every minute which is the equivalent to ten jumbo jets every single day. And the trade earns twice as much as the Coca Cola brand. (STOP THE TRAFFIK 2014)

Organized crime can be narrowed down to five unique areas of criminal activity. The first being racketeering, an umbrella term, meant to describe when any group or groups conduct one or more of the other criminal activities. One of the most successful ways the federal government has been able to hinder the actions of hardcore criminals is through the formation of the RICO Act (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations). The second area of major criminal activity is vice, or vice operations. This has to do with victim-less crimes such as drugs, gambling, and prostitution. Again, these crimes are highly problematic because it is the public that decides whether or not they prosper. It’s all too easy to build a case against someone breaking a law by importing huge quantities of controlled substances across a border, but it becomes much more difficult to stem the sale or need for such drugs once they have reached their intended destinations.

In order to successfully launder money three processes are needed: placement, layering, and integration. In the first state, placement, the illegal proceeding are disengaged from direct association with the crime or criminal. In the second stage, layering, the money is used in some legal financial transaction in order to “camouflage” the cash. In the third stage, integration, the apparently legal money is available to the money launder (Kelly, Maghan and Joseph). For better understanding, the fig 1 gives a real life example on how money laundering is done.

and their sentence. A criminal enterprise is “a group of individuals with an identified hierarchy, or comparable structure, engaged in significant criminal

The approach has resulted in countless arrests and sentencing among other types of castigation against crime suspects, although it has provided no hope in curbing the rate of syndicate crimes. Nevertheless, a highly promising and effective alternative to policing involves enhancing awareness on syndicate crimes by emphasizing the main aspects of illegal entities, with exceptional focus on undermining the influence and affluence of illegal investors. This merging objective might be realized by vigilantly monitoring the leading upperworld entities that, when infiltrated, permits criminals to gain and apply ample affluence by espousing legal alternatives in disguise of proceeds and the illicit power (JRank, 2013).

That is their criminal efforts, but the economic problem arises when the cartels must transfer the cash back to Mexico. The IRS requires that any deposit made over $10,000 has a bank receipt that goes along with the transaction (ICE). When cartels are depositing very large amounts of money, they must make inconspicuously, large amounts look believable. “Traffickers will send drug proceeds through various wire transfers to different accounts in different names in different countries, all the while varying the amount of their deposits and withdrawals to make the paper-trail harder to follow” (Woody).

High profits and low risks are the two primary factors that drive the spread of human trafficking. It is a market-driven criminal industry that is based on the principal of supply and demand. Traffickers generate billion of dollars in profits each year. Traffickers can be lone individuals or extensive criminal networks. Pimps, gangs, family members, labor brokers, employers of domestic servants, small business owners, and large factory owners have all been found

46. This strategy by and large includes the utilization of genuine organizations with high money turnover, as fronts for lawbreakers to launder the returns of wrongdoing. The sorts of organizations utilized are by and large eateries, bars, correspondence focuses and different sorts of retail shops. The unregulated casual part likewise gives culprits the chance to procure little organizations, for example, second-hand auto dealerships, bars, eateries, gaming houses or land organizations, all of which give secrecy or chances to cover unlawful increases from their criminal birthplace.

211). Since this is an issue on an international level, the government has been working with the United Nations in an attempt to combat drug and human trafficking. In recognition of the transitional organized crime industry, the conventions provide model laws, policy, prevention and enforcement techniques against money laundering and organized criminal groups. So far, 40 participating countries have signed the convention and must implement laws to prohibit the participation of organized crime (Albanese, 2010, p.

Organized crime groups are becoming more capable of staying ahead of law enforcement due to their increasing methodological upkeep. The propensity of organized crime groups to operate globally has been increasing due to some factors law enforcement agencies across the globe becoming unable of hinder such operations.

The topic of this paper is gangsters in organized crime can either work alone or work with other gangsters. When people commit crimes with other criminals, their personal ties to each other become strong when there is especially trust or there could be no trust, however, those ties can become strong at some point.

Money laundering is connected to drug trafficking because the individuals who are handling the drugs do not want to get caught, therefore attempt to move their funds into an actual business to seem legitimate (Abadinsky, 2014). Since the money drug traffickers generate through sales is technically illegal money, they turn to money laundering to protect the revenue (Abadinsky, 2014). “Money is laundered through currency exchange houses, stock brokerage houses, gold dealers, casinos, automobile dealerships, insurance companies, and trading companies” and much more (Abadinsky, 2014, p. 252). When money from drug trafficking is placed in

The economic impact of organized crime is staggering. “… a look at the economic impact alone gives a glimpse of the importance of this issue. The