What is Organized Crime?

1

White-collar crimes differ from the field of organized crime. While the name

white collar connotes committing crimes without getting one’s hands dirty,

organized crime involves criminal activity of all sorts, including the dirtiest,

most gruesome street crimes. White-collar crimes generally do not involve

physical violence or narcotics trafficking. Organized crime thrives on both.

From the inception of the United States, organized crime has been the means

through which many immigrant groups have achieved success. But, organized

crime is not limited to the United States. In fact, many countries struggle with

the issue and organized crime is responsible for billions of dollars of criminal

activity throughout the world. Many criminal enterprises resemble multinational organizations because they have operations around the globe.

The term organized crime refers to criminal activity committed by a member or

members of a group that has an identifiable organizational structure and whose

objective is to obtain money, services, or property through the commission of

criminal activity. Organized crime groups ensure their continued existence and

profitability through the use of force and threats of force, bribery, and

extortion. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, organized crime

generally includes the following criminal activities (Organized Crime, n.d.):

Bribery

Sports bribery

Counterfeiting

Embezzlement of union funds

Mail fraud

Wire fraud

Money laundering

Obstruction of justice

Murder for hire

Drug trafficking

Prostitution

Sexual exploitation of children

Alien smuggling

Trafficking in counterfeit goods

Theft from interstate shipment

Interstate transportation of stolen property

Murder

Kidnapping

Gambling

Arson

Robbery

Extortion

What is Organized Crime?

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Drug offenses

When members of organized crime groups commit crimes, they are subject to

the criminal laws of the United States and the individual states, as well as their

subordinate jurisdictions such as counties and municipalities. Narcotics

trafficking, extortion, murder, illegal gambling, and prostitution are all illegal;

however, the criminal law itself has not been successful in thwarting organized

criminal activity. In the 1970s, Congress and most states enacted special laws

targeting racketeering to treat organized crime in a specific, focused, and more serious way than run-of-the-mill street crime.

At the federal level, the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO)

statute makes it a crime for a criminal organization to use the funds gained

through its illicit conduct for legitimate business purposes. Most states have

passed similar laws. Violation of the laws results in potential lengthy prison

terms, fines, and forfeiture of the proceeds from the criminal activities as well

as the legitimate businesses. An example would be an organized crime member

who launders money by purchasing a restaurant and running illegally obtained

funds through the restaurant business. If the government can obtain sufficient

evidence to convict the owner of a RICO violation, the consequences would

likely be a prison term, a fine, and forfeiture of the restaurant as well as any other property the gangster obtained with illegally obtained funds.

While the RICO statute and its state counterparts were originally intended to

break up the Mafia, the statutes have proven to be valuable tools in the fight

against organized crime at many levels. For example, in addition to using the

RICO laws against members of La Cosa Nostra, it has been employed against

other organized crime entities. RICO also provides a civil cause of action

against the organization, businesses, and individuals who engage in profiting

from unlawful criminal racketeering.

Reference

Organized crime. (n.d.). Retrieved from the Federal Bureau of Investigation Web site: http://www.fbi.gov/hq/cid/orgcrime/eocindex.htm