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The drug trade has garnered significant attention as a critical funding source for various terrorist organisations. This systematic review summarises the existing empirical knowledge about the Taliban and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia's (FARC) involvement, and profit from the drug trade, and methods of estimating drug trade revenue. Thirty-one studies were identified. Twenty-three about the Taliban, seven about the FARC, and one about both groups. Estimates of annual profit varied from US$19 to US$500 million for the Taliban and US$140 to US$3.5 billion for the FARC. Fourteen of the twenty-four studies about the Taliban provided an estimate and merely six studies discussed the methods used to generate those estimates. Among the eight studies about the FARC, four provided an estimate but one described the method employed. Studies used a variety of information sources. The review shows the need for caution regarding existing estimates and a more methodologically rigorous analysis of linkages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug trafficking is frequently argued to be the leading driver of other serious and organised crime, but the interrelationships between such activities remain poorly understood. This paper uses open source law enforcement data to explore interrelationships in Australia. A database was compiled of all reported criminal incidents of high-level drug trafficking between 2011 and 2017 and any concurrent charges for other serious and organised crime (SOC), sourced from official reports and press releases of Australian federal law enforcement and criminal intelligence agencies. Over the seven-years period 24.4% drug trafficking cases involved concurrent SOC charges. Logistic regressions showed characteristics associated with any concurrent SOC charge included the type of drug trafficked, network size, network nationality and OMCG ties. But characteristics differed according to which SOC was cited in connection with the drug trafficking offence e.g. firearms offences versus corruption/fraud. We discuss the implications for research, policy and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: On 30 January 2014, in efforts to reduce alcohol-related violence, the New South Wales Parliament adopted alcohol lockout legislation targeting a geographically defined area: the Sydney entertainment precinct. This study used qualitative methods to explore with stakeholders of two areas (Kings Cross/Potts Point and Newtown) whether there was any evidence of displacement of alcohol-related problems from inside to outside the lockout zone. Methods: Four focus groups were conducted in mid-2015 with residents and patrons: two in Kings Cross/Potts Point (where the measures were implemented) and two in Newtown (an alternative entertainment precinct exempt from the measures). Each explored experiences pre and post lockouts and any perceived changes in the number of people in the area, level of disorderly conduct, patterns of drug and alcohol consumption, public amenity and public safety. Findings: Stakeholders in Kings Cross/Potts Point reported many improvements since the reforms: including reduced patron numbers, less waste and improved public amenity. However, stakeholders from Newtown reported the opposite: increased patron numbers, reduced public amenity and reduced public safety. Conclusions: This provides tentative evidence that even if the Sydney lockouts have reduced alcohol-related violence there may have been a partial displacement of alcohol-related problems to outside the lockout zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Across the globe law enforcement agencies frequently link trafficking in illicit drugs to serious and organised crime such as terrorism and gun trafficking. However, there remain few systematic academic analyses of the extent and nature of links. This paper explored the extent of concordance between trends in high-level drug trafficking and seven other serious and organised crimes in Australia: and which crimes (and crime subtypes) most and least correlated with drug trafficking. Methods: Official crime data from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions was obtained on criminal prosecutions on drug trafficking, money laundering, fraud, weapons trafficking, people trafficking, sex trafficking, terrorism and corruption and trends examined over a decade: 2005-2006 to 2014-2015. Results: Analysis revealed a positive correlation between drug trafficking and money laundering and subcategories of corruption, fraud and people trafficking. No positive correlation was found between drug trafficking and sex trafficking, weapon trafficking or terrorism. Differences were found by type of drug-trafficking offence. Conclusions: These findings suggest that in Australia, high-level drug trafficking is most likely related to money laundering, fraud, corruption and people trafficking. It also suggests that drug trafficking and other serious and organised crime linkages may be more complex than often asserted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gaining accurate information on illicit drug use and policing in real-world settings is a challenge. This study examines the utility of a smartphone app ('Going Out In Sydney') to prospectively follow up illicit drug use and policing encounters at music festivals and licensed entertainment precincts in Sydney, Australia. In all, 38 regular festival and licensed entertainment venue attendees used the app to log nights out over a 3-month period, including (1) where they went (eg, festival, nightclub), (2) the prevalence of illicit drug use, and (3) the incidence and nature of police encounters. A survey and interview were then conducted about the utility of the app. The app enabled rich data collection (n = 353 entries) about illicit drug use and policing at both target settings. Follow-up surveys indicated that most participants were extremely satisfied with the ease of use of the app and privacy afforded, and compared with other data collection modes, such as paper-based logs and online surveys, rated the app the most desirable method of data collection. This suggests smartphone apps may be a viable option for future studies on illicit drug use and policing of drugs., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article., (© The Author(s) 2017.)