Search

The article examines organised crime in agriculture and in the agri-food chain and the Italian approach to combating the so-called “agromafie”, whose activities cause devastating environmental and social harms. Among the best practices for countering this phenomenon, the specific focus here is on the economic and social regeneration of agricultural land confiscated from organised crime syndicates. To date, over 13,000 agricultural land assets have been confiscated throughout Italy: an impressive number that generates considerable management challenges. Nevertheless, when these rural spaces are freed from the yoke of criminal organizations and taken in hand by civil society, they are literally “reborn” and trigger cascades of virtuous and sustainable benefits for the environment, the local economy, and local communities, as illustrated by the case of the Libera Terra agricultural cooperatives. L’article examine la criminalité organisée dans l’agriculture et dans la chaîne agroalimentaire, ainsi que l’approche italienne de la lutte contre ce que l’on appelle « agromafie », dont les activités ont des effets catastrophiques sur l’environnement et la société. Parmi les meilleures pratiques de lutte contre ce phénomène, l’accent est mis sur la régénération économique et sociale des terres agricoles confisquées à la criminalité organisée. À ce jour, plus de 13 000 terres agricoles ont été confisquées dans toute l’Italie : un nombre impressionnant qui pose des problèmes de gestion considérables. Néanmoins, lorsque ces espaces ruraux sont libérés du joug des organisations criminelles et pris en charge par la société civile, ils « renaissent » littéralement et déclenchent des cascades de bénéfices vertueux et durables pour l’environnement, l’économie locale et les communautés locales, comme l’illustre le cas des coopératives agricoles Libera Terra.

I would like to tell you a word about what I think of the links between Organized Crime and terrorist networks. Because a lot of people pretend there are strong links between Organised Crime and terrorist networks, which is absolutely wrong. Both are professional, but they have not the same goals. Terrorist organizations can receive the help of petty delinquent groups, but not share their activities with organized criminal networks. First idea, for discussing about that, we have to come back ...

Among all the minorities in South East Asia, the Chinese Diaspora is by far the most influential. Its centuries-old presence, its demographic weight, the richness of its transnational network, its cultural, economical and political influence in some countries in the zone raise a series of question. The Diaspora role is essentially a political question. Who really are they? Who is Chinese and how integrated in their host country could they be? Does the multi dimensional influence of these grou...

Ethnic Chinese is considered one of so many minorities in Indonesia. The majority of Indonesians are Javanese and Sundanese making up to 50% of the total population of Indonesia which is about 220 million people. On the other hand, the fact shows the important role of the Chinese – Indonesians particularly in the economy and trade sector. Although the ethnic Chinese in Indonesia is the largest community among the other countries in South East Asia but they are still facing ongoing problem of ...

Summary This article seeks to portray a realistic picture of the current situation af the Chinese diaspora in this frontier region and perhaps defend the reputation of this community, the members of which are often systematically accused of being implicated in the flesh trade, in their capacity as the main people concerned as well as participants, for if some members of the Chinese community are indeed involved in prostitution and flesh trade, all are not necessarily concerned and there are r...

As an introduction to the second day, Alain Forest warns against the unfair association that can be made between the Chinese presence on the one hand, and illegal or underground activities on the other. That all the Chinese more or less belong to mafias is an old cliché, arising particularly from the existence of an organization (sometimes under colonial impulsion as in French Indochina) of congregations generally based on the origin of Chinese immigrants; a cliché that is obviously reinforce...

Antony, Robert James. (1988). Pirates, bandits, and brotherhoods: A study of crime and law in Kwangtung Province, 1796-1839. Thesis (Ph. D.) -- University of Hawaii. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii. Billingsley, Phil. (1988). Bandits in Republican China. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1988. Black, David. (1991). Triad Takeover: A Terrifying Account of the Spread of Triad Crime in the West. London, UK, UK: Sidgwick & Jackson. Bolton, Kingsley (ed.) (2000...

Overview With its 1.3 billion inhabitants and stable economic growth, China is becoming a very significant country. One might have heard of China being referred to as the Dragon, the Big Brother, or the World Market, the names reflecting on the country’s position. One thing is clear, though, even when considering the purchase of one item, the numbers become enormous when multiplied by 1.3 billion, which is why the name “China” works as an eye-opener. Not so long ago, when someone talked about...

Concerning these communities I would like to make two comparative remarks: one concerns Thailand and the other concerns Burma. 1) When we speak about the Chinese in this country there is a sort of taboo. As people in general do not like too much to speak about the Chinese during conversations with strangers some subjects concerning that community are never mentionned or are systematically concealed. The reason for such a discreet attitude is obvious. For most of the foreigners the inhabitants...

In most Southeast Asian countries, the members of the Chinese Diaspora have secured important position in the fields of administration, education and religion. Thanks to their capacity to work and to adapt as well as their frugality, their cultural influence continues to grow. Clans and factions form the essential structure of the ancient Chinese society. If Imperial China never developed a Civil Law, it's probably because the ancient Chinese society never really saw the need for it. This structure of relations could also explain why the Chinese civilisation didn't develop a real territorial reference. The Chinese Diaspora today covers different political and economical realities which could be conflicting. What primarily characterises the Diaspora is apparently its great capacity to organise itself in any economical, political, social or cultural environment. The capacity if its economic and administrative elites had been the determining factor of their development. However, the existence of informal and trans-national networks can also help the development of criminal activities. The presence of mafia groups and gangs of Chinese origin and their collusion with the world of finance and politics are historical facts in the region and could represent today a real threat for its stability. These criminal networks tend to forge business link with their Japanese, Russian, Korea, Italian or South American counterparts and sometimes could interfere with the process of political decision making.

From the neon-lit streets in the heart of triad territory in Hong Kong and China’s ganglands dominating the sex, extortion and drug trade; to counterfeiting luxury goods straight off the shelves of the Parisian fashion houses of Louis Vuitton, Pierre Cardin and Chanel; right down to hired assassins, the illegal shark fin trade and clandestine methamphetamine factories on the tropical island paradise of Fiji, they are everywhere. They run casino loansharking and operate multi-billion dollar bl...

Overview In its most common form, the collective term triad refers to underground criminal fraternities. These fraternities are almost exclusively made up of Chinese membership, and although having originated in Mainland China, these societies have followed the migratory movements of the Chinese across the globe. Originally the triads were formed with political aims in mind, but over time they degenerated into criminal societies driven by greed. Today they are both opportunist and organized c...

“Na thi dai mi chao chin apphayop na thi ni cha mi samakhom yu duai samoe.” M.R. Ayumongkol Sonakul, a newspaperman from royal ancestry translates this sentence as “They (the secret societies) existed everywhere there was a large Chinese community” (Sonakul 1985: 16; Leotphanitkun 2525: 1; 2528: 72). The word ang-yi (อั้งยี่) is quite familiar with the Thai people. However, all Thai dictionaries do not include it. One of the largest Thai-English dictionaries gives “Chinese secret society” a...

1. Hong Kong Triads Triad societies appeared in Hong Kong even before the Chinese ceded it to be a British colony in 1842. Although the triads in Hong Kong had some indirect links with those in China, the take-off of Hong Kong triads was a direct response to the conflicts between different migratory dialect groups for job opportunities in the labour market by the turn of the 20th century. According to the record of the Hong Kong police, there were more than 300 triad societies in the ...

Chapter 1Local Development and the Decision to Migrate : Evidence from Mexican Migration to the USMexican migration to the United States is one of the largest migration phenomena and subject to a wide range of studies having reached more than 11 million of Mexican immigrants in the US, which accounts for nearly a tenth of Mexico’s population and a third of all US foreign-born population. Despite having been widely studied, this paper contributes the scarce literature of the supply-side perspective. The paper is comprised by a simple game theoretic model which aims at illustrating the relationship between development outcomes and the decision to migrate and hence to motivate and provide a framework for the empiricalanalysis. Furthermore, the model incorporates a factor that has been recently shown to play a part on the migration decision : organized crime. Recent kidnapping of migrants suggest a new risk affecting trajectories, while a more violent environment may contribute to push migrants away from their homes. We test the model’s findings empirically using household survey data and propose different effects for legal and illegal migrants, as defined by the type of documents used to enter the US. The results from the illegal migrant subsample are in line with our theoretical framework and support the importance of local development variables as a determinant of migration.Chapter 2Foreign Aid, Illegal Migration and Organized CrimeThrough this chapter, the link between foreign aid, illegal migration and development is studied in a game-theoretic framework. We model a sequential game of a foreign government that decides its border control and foreign aid policies, which are known to source country government deciding on the level of investment in domestic development. In this particular framework, aid is used to fight crime organizations in the source country, as it represents a negative externality for the donor. Potential migrants then make their migration decisions after observing both government’s expenditure decisions, which have an impact on the probability of success. The model suggests migration flows are reduced by development expenditure and that the existence of organized crime, reduces the optimal level of aid allocated as crime works as an additional tool for reducing illegal migration. The model isthen tested empirically through a simultaneous equation model using cross-country data on migrant sending countries to eveloped donor countries. Most model predictions are supported by our empirical specification, suggesting indeed a reduction in aid allocation when migration and crime are high.Chapter 3The fall of mobility when moving : A study of social mobility of Mexican migrants to the US This chapter aims to study the impact of parental migration on their children. In concrete, we intend to infer the causal impact of US migration on the intergenerational transmission of education in Mexico. Social mobility and migration had only been analyzed comparingimmigrants and natives in the destination country. Thus, targeting the migrant population from the source-country perspective, our paper contributes the literature with a unique study of the effects of migration on the educational mobility of the left behinds. Using household survey data, we look at the educational attainment of individuals in Mexico and compare it to that of their parents and according to the parents migration status during their childhood. We exploit historical data to solve for the endogeneity of the decision to migrate through an instrumental variables approach, which allows us to draw causal inference of our results. Our results show that, although attractive on the short-term through the alleviation of current poverty, migration may be detrimental to the equality of opportunities on the long-run.; Chapitre 1Le développement local et la décision de migrer : migration mexicaine vers les Etats-Unis La migration mexicaine vers les Etats-Unis est l’un des plus grands phénomènes mi-gratoires et est soumise à un large éventail d’études sur plus de 11 millions d’immigrants mexicains aux Etats-Unis, ce qui représente près d’un dixième de la population du Mexique et un tiers de tous les personnes habitants aux Etats-Unis et nées à l’étranger. Le document se compose d’un modèle de théorie des jeux simple qui vise à illustrer la relation entre les résultats du développement et la décision de migrer et donc de motiver et de fournir un cadre pour l’analyse empirique. En outre, le modèle intègre un facteur qui a récemment été mis en lumière comme jouant un rôle dans la décision de migration : le crime organisé. Nous testons les résultats du modèle de façon empirique en utilisant les données de Mexique et nous proposons des effets différents pour les migrants légaux et illégaux. Les résultats pour les migrants illégaux sont conformes à notre cadre théorique et soutiennent l’importance des variables de développement locales en tant que déterminant de la migration.Chapitre 2Aide internationale, migration illégale et criminalité organiséeDans ce chapitre, le lien entre l’aide étrangère, la migration illégale et le développement est étudié dans un cadre théorique. Nous modélisons un jeu séquentiel d’un gouvernement étranger qui décide de ses politiques de contrôle aux frontières et d’aide étrangère, et du gouvernement du pays d’origine qui décide du niveau d’investissement dans le développement local. Dans ce cadre, l’aide est utilisée pour lutter contre les organisations criminelles dans le pays d’origine, car ils représentent une externalité négative pour le donateur. Les migrants potentiels prennent ensuite leurs décisions de migration après avoir observé les décisions des gouvernements. Le modèle suggère que les flux migratoires sont réduits par les dépenses de développement et que l’existence de la criminalité organisée réduit le niveau optimal d’aide allouée étant donné que le crime fonctionne comme un outil supplémentaire pour réduire la migration illégale. Le mod`èle est ensuite testé de manière empirique à l’aide d’un modèle d’équation simultané utilisant des données de plusieurs pays maillés, d’un côté, des pays qui reçoivent l’aide internationale et envoient des migrants, et de l’autre des pays qui accueillent des migrants et donne l’argent de l’aide internationale. La plupart des prédictions des modèles sont soutenues par notre spécification empirique, ce qui suggère en effet une réduction de l’allocation de l’aide lorsque la migration et le crime sont élevés.Chapitre 3La chute de la mobilité lors du d´eplacement : une étude sur la mobilité sociale des migrants mexicains vers les Etats-Unis Ce chapitre vise à étudier l’impact de la migration parentale sur leurs enfants. Concrètement, nous cherchons inférer l’impact causal de la migration américaine sur la transmission intergénérationnelle de l’éducation au Mexique. Ainsi, en ciblant la population migrante du point de vue de la source-pays, notre document contribue à la littérature avec une étude unique des effets de la migration sur la mobilité ´éducative. En utilisant les données des ménages mexicains, nous examinons les changements des niveaux de scolarité des individus par rapport à ceux de leurs parents et selon le statut de migration de leurs parents au cours de leur enfance. Nous exploitons les données historiques pour résoudre l’endogénéité de la décision de migrer à travers une approche des variables instrumentales, ce qui nous permet de tirer une conclusion causale de nos résultats. Nos résultats montrent que, bien que séduisant à court terme par l’atténuation de la pauvreté actuelle, la migration peut nuire à l’égalité des chances à long terme.

La frontière américano-canadienne a connu d’importantes mutations depuis les attentats de septembre 2001 qui ont vu les États-Unis chercher à sécuriser leurs frontières. Le 49e parallèle est ainsi le lieu d’importants investissements des autorités américaines pour en contrôler davantage le franchissement tout en veillant à ne pas obérer l’intensité des échanges économiques qui s’y déroulent quotidiennement. Néanmoins cette politique de contrôle accru se heurte localement à une spécificité territoriale, la réserve Akwesasne située entre les deux pays. Á la frontière du Québec, de l’Ontario et de l’État de New York, la réserve possède un statut spécifique qui interdit tout contrôle des autorités canadiennes et américaines en son sein. Cette situation fait de la réserve un territoire prisé des trafiquants. Des réseaux aux ramifications de plus en plus complexes s’y déploient occasionnant une réelle mutation de la vie locale tant des habitants de la réserve que de ceux des alentours. Á partir d’une analyse statistique des données des polices canadiennes et américaines et d’entretiens avec les autorités locales, cet article se propose de rendre compte de ces évolutions en mettant en évidence tant la nature des trafics que leur extension spatiale, tout en mettant en évidence les réactions des polices frontalières. The border between Canada and the United States of America has evolved dramatically after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. The 49th parallel is now more controlled since the US has undertaken a securitization of its borders. However, at the same time, Washington also tries to prevent the new policy from hindering the intensity of the economic exchanges which occur daily across the border. Nevertheless, this policy encounters a specific obstacle, the Mohawk reserve of Akwesasne located on the border of the two countries. Straddling Quebec, Ontario and the State of New York, the reserve has a specific status which forbids any controls of the border patrols inside and law enforcement operations. This situation accounts for the fact that the reserve is attractive for traffickers. New nation-wide networks operating there are creating changes in the local daily life of both the inhabitants of the reservation and those living around. Using datas collected from the police archives and interviews with local authorities, this paper aims to explain those evolutions and determine the nature and structure of the new traffics including their spatial extension, also describing the new policies implemented at the border to counter the traffics.

O tráfico de seres humanos em geral, e de mulheres em particular, vem suscitando um interesse crescente por parte dos Estados, das instâncias internacionais, das organizações não‑governamentais, dos meios de comunicação social e, também, por parte da academia. A maior visibilidade conferida a este fenómeno tem‑se traduzido, a nível nacional e internacional, em políticas de combate e prevenção cuja eficácia é discutível. Para tal contribui não apenas um desconhecimento das especificidades que o tráfico de mulheres assume, como também objectivos outros que podem estar na base da construção de tais políticas e que dificilmente vão ao encontro daquilo que são as subjectividades e expectativas das mulheres traficadas. Neste artigo reflectimos sobre algumas das questões emergentes e ausentes no enquadramento legal do tráfico sexual de mulheres, recorrendo à realidade empírica do tráfico sexual em Portugal analisada no estudo Tráfico de mulheres em Portugal para fins de exploração sexual. Human trafficking in general and the trafficking of women in particular has been attracting increasing interest from states, international bodies, non-governmental organisations, the media and academia. The greater visibility conferred on this phenomenon has translated, on a national and international level, into policies designed to combat and prevent it, whose efficiency is debateable. This is the result not only of a lack of understanding of the specific features of the trafficking of women, but also of the fact that other objectives underlying the construction of these policies hardly meet the subjective needs and expectations of trafficked women. This article discusses some of the issues both emerging and absent from the legal framework for the sexual trafficking of women, with reference to the empirical situation of sexual trafficking in Portugal as analysed in the study Tráfico de mulheres em Portugal para fins de exploração sexual (”The Trafficking of Women in Portugal for the Purposes of Sexual Exploitation”). Le trafic d’êtres humains en général, et de femmes en particulier, est objet d’un intérêt croissant de la part des États, des instances internationales, des organisations non gouvernementales, des moyens de communication sociale et, aussi, du milieu académique. La visibilité de plus en plus importante conférée à ce phénomène s’est traduite, au niveau national et international, par des politiques de lutte et de prévention dont l’efficacité reste discutable. Ce n’est pas seulement une méconnaissance des spécificités que le trafic de femmes assume qui y contribue, mais aussi d’autres objectifs qui peuvent se trouver à la base de l’élaboration de telles politiques qui vont difficilement à la rencontre de ce que sont les subjectivités et les attentes des femmes soumises au trafic. Dans cet article, nous nous penchons sur quelques‑unes des questions émergentes et absentes de l’encadrement légal du trafic sexuel de femmes, en faisant appel à la réalité empirique du trafic sexuel au Portugal analysé dans l’étude Tráfico de mulheres em Portugal para fins de exploração sexual (Trafic de femmes au Portugal à des fins d’exploitation sexuelle).

This article analyses the evolution of illegal drug economy in the Americas over the past two decades. It identifies eight key trends that have characterized illicit drug trafficking and organized crime as of mid-2011. They are: (1) the increasing globalization of drug consumption; (2) the limited victories and unintended consequences of the U.S.-led ‘War on Drugs’; (3) the proliferation of cultivation areas and of drug smuggling routes; (4) the dispersion and fragmentation of organized criminal groups; (5) the failure of political reform and state-building efforts; (6) the inadequacies U.S. domestic drug and crime control policies; (7) the ineffectiveness of regional and international drug control policies; (8) the growing support for legalization debate. Este artigo analisa a evolução da economia ilegal de drogas nas Américas ao longo das últimas duas décadas. Identifica oito tendências principais que caracterizaram o tráfico ilícito de drogas e o crime organizado a partir de meados de 2011. São estas: (1) a crescente liberalização do consumo de drogas; (2) as vitórias limitadas e as consequências não intencionais da “guerra às drogas” liderada pelos Estados Unidos; (3) a proliferação de áreas de cultivo e de rotas de tráfico de droga; (4) a dispersão e fragmentação dos grupos criminosos organizados; (5) o fracasso da reforma política e dos esforços de construção do Estado; (6) a insuficiência das políticas domésticas dos EUA de controlo da droga e da criminalidade; (7) a ineficácia das políticas regionais e internacionais de controlo das drogas; (8) o crescente apoio ao debate sobre a legalização. Cet article analyse l’évolution de l’économie illégale de la drogue sur le continent américain au long des vingt dernières années. Il distingue huit tendances principales qui caractérisent le trafic de drogue et le crime organisé à partir du milieu de l’année 2011, à savoir: (1) la libéralisation croissante de la consommation de drogue; (2) les victoires limitées et les conséquences indésirables de la guerre contre la drogue menée par les États-Unis; (3) la prolifération de zones de culture et de routes de trafic de la drogue; (4) la dispersion et l’éclatement des groupes criminels organisés; (5) l’échec de la réforme politique et des efforts de construction de l’État; (6) l’insuffisance des politiques internes des États-Unis de contrôle de la drogue et de la criminalité; (7) l’inefficacité des politiques régionales et internationales de contrôle de la drogue; (8) le soutien croissant au débat sur la légalisation. Este artículo analiza la evolución de la economía ilegal de drogas nas Américas a lo largo de las dos últimas décadas. Identifica ocho tendencias principales que caracterizaron el tráfico ilícito de drogas y el crimen organizado desde mediados de 2011. Son éstas: (1) la creciente liberalización del consumo de drogas; (2) las victorias limitadas y las consecuencias no intencionadas de la “guerra contra las drogas” liderada por los Estados Unidos; (3) la proliferación de áreas de cultivo y de rutas de tráfico de drogas; (4) la dispersión y fragmentación de los grupos criminales organizados; (5) el fracaso de la reforma política y de los esfuerzos de construcción del Estado; (6) la insuficiencia de las políticas internas de los EUA en relción al control de la droga y de la criminalidad; (7) la ineficacia de las políticas regionales e internacionales de control de las drogas; (8) el creciente apoyo al debate sobre la legalización.

In contrast to a globalizing approach to "transnational organized crime," this edited volume studies socio-historical environments in which mafia-esque violence has found a fertile ground for growth and development within the political arena. The various chapters explore empirical data showing how politico-criminal configurations emerge, are formed and allow for interactions between powerful official stakeholders and "professionals of the use of force". Links between military know-how and political power in Indonesia, Pakistan and Turkey; the conversion of "violent entrepreneurs" into the Russian or Bulgarian political arena; the political racketeering activities of leaders of armed nationalist movements in Corsica; interactions between the Calabrese mafia and business; investment by the Belizean government in illegal activities; or else, monetary illegalism in the Somalia conflict... The various chapters of this book encourage a comparative approach to the study of mafia violence in the making and running of State power. (Résumé de l'éditeur) 1. Introduction: Crime and State, J.L.Briquet and G.Favarel-Garrigues 2. Pakistan Rangers: From Border Control to "Protection" of the Interior, L.Gayer 3. The Political Articulation of the Criminal Milieu in Security Institutions: the case of "gangs in uniform"' in Turkey, E.Massicard 4. Governor Sutiyoso "Wars of Vice" (1997-2007): Criminal Enterprises, Islamist Militias and Politics in Djakarta, R.Bertrand 5. "Shadow State": Globalization, Criminalization and Environmental Change in Belize, R.Duffy 6. The Entrepreneurial Path of Multigroup in the Making of Bulgarian Capitalism, N.Ragaru 7. Mafia Violence and Politics in Russia, G.Favarel-Garrigues 8. The Mafia and Civil Society: Control of Territory and Criminal-Economic Collusion in Calabria, R.Sciarrone 9. Political Violence and Criminal Affairism in Corsica: Is the Nationalist Movement Drifting towards the Mafia?, J.L.Briquet 10. Monetary Illegalism and Civil War: The Case of Somalia, R.Marchal.