Organised Crime: Combating an Elusive Transnational Threat

Abstract

Since the end of the Cold War; wide spread political, economic, social and technological changes have enabled organised criminal groups to develop transnational activities. Encouraged by the United States, the world has conceived transnational organised crime as a 'new' and serious security threat. The international community has acknowledged the inherent incapability of national strategies, alone, to combat transnational organised crime. Therefore, concerted efforts have been taken to develop a global and uniformed response.

Efforts to combat transnational organised crime have been underpinned by a perceived necessity to protect national borders. This reaction is based on traditional, inaccurate, conceptions of organised crime, which focuses on structured, ethnically defined 'outsider' groups as a serious threat to security and the very fabric of society. This concept of organised crime is overly simplistic and fails to grasp the complexity of modern organised crime and its interaction with legal and illegal markets. Organise crime is a multifaceted phenomenon, characterised by loose networks of criminals, who are primarily motivated by profit and operate based on particular 'opportunities'.

Strategies to combat organised crime have been preoccupied with traditional, repressive, criminal justice measures; at the expense of developing a comprehensive understanding of the root problems that allow illicit markets and organised crime to flourish, in communities and society in general. It is essential that the international community, through the United Nations, realistically assess the effectiveness of its current approach, to aid the development of comprehensive strategies for the future.

New Zealand has taken promising steps to combat transnational organised crime. Although in its infancy, NZ has developed a comprehensive strategy which not only utilises traditional criminal justice tools, but also seeks to engage with communities to develop effective prevention measures.