Trends in Organized Crime最新文献

This study examines ethnic disparities in the rates of criminal charges, in-out decisions, and sentence length, for persons originating from middle eastern countries, Pakistan, and Turkey (MENAP+T) (n = 24), and all other countries (n = 239), using Danish registry data from 2013-2019. Data consist of a sample of charges (n = 718,775), and a subsample of convictions (n = 286,832) for violence, property offences, and four types of drug offences: trafficking; wholesale; possession; and sale. There are large ethnic disparities in criminal justice outcomes in Denmark. Persons originating from MENAP+T countries had a 6.6 times higher rate of charges for violence, 5.1 for property offences, 5.4 for drug trafficking, 17.1 for drug wholesale, 5.4 for possession, and 7.9 higher rate for sale. Between the drug offence categories, disparities between the country groups are in a similar range for the lower-level offences, possession and sale, as the higher-level offences of trafficking and wholesale. The largest disparity in mean sentence length by offence category was violence, where sentences were 35 per cent longer, and for drug trafficking with 17 per cent. This study contributes to the existing research with a detailed exposition of differences across different drug offences and by including the in-out decision and sanction severity.

Despite increasing recognition within mainstream media, criminology is yet to offer a substantive analysis of femaleparticipation within the upper echelons of organised crime. As such, this exploratory paper aims to offer an insight into the key themes identifiable within the context of high level, female, drug suppliers. Identifying thirty-six case studies, this exploratory paper combines descriptive statistics and a Fisher’s Exact test with Cramer’s V to demonstrate the prevalence and overall trends. Overall, the study demonstrated that women, dubbed Queenpins, are most likely to participate at high levels within Latin American cartels and the Camorra. Unlike their counterparts operating within the lower rungs of drug markets, these women are able to invert the highly patriarchal narcocultures they exist within. They operated in a narco-feminist role that supported the men in their lives and offered aroute to resist their machismo-oriented habitus.

This study provides an overview of the modus operandi used in one of the biggest fraud cases in Belgian football, known as the Zheyun Ye case. The case consists of several phenomena related to betting-related match-fixing. Given the fact that money laundering and tax fraud are often essential factors in betting-related match-fixing schemes and the fragmented research on these types of financial misconducts in sports, we analyzed the modus operandi used by the fraudsters in this case to commit money laundering and tax fraud through the football sector. To accomplish this, we conducted a crime scripting analysis, utilizing the court files of the case, compromising 41 547 pages. Furthermore, we conducted qualitative interviews (n = 7) with law enforcement key informants and professionals within the football milieu to triangulate the data of the court files. By doing so, we lay down the basis for two different crime scripts of financial misconduct through football: one focusing on money laundering and another on tax fraud. Based on our findings, we conclude that during the time of the Zheyun Ye case, certain conditions distinctive to the football landscape were major contributors to these financial malpractices.

In this article, we address the subject of the recent appearance and exponential and uncontrollable growth that betting had in the Brazilian sports context, alongside numerous changes in the country’s legislation system. Against the backdrop of this growth, we explore the Operation Penalty Kick organised match-fixing scandal, which unravelled in the country, as the media detailed it. Using media sources and field notes from two actors immersed in the field, we analyse the key actors and the processes of the criminal activity while exploring the ways in which it was organised, drawing parallels with trade-type network structures. Through the analysis, we argue that media are to be questioned on their role in (un)covering details of the criminal activity and key actors, once focusing the narrative away from organised crime and its financing they assist in perpetuating the culture of unpunished corruption in the country.

This paper uses Pires’ (Sociologia Problemas E Práticas 100:41–63. 2022) analytical framework to analyse the power and domination relationships that govern the betting related match-fixing practices in Portuguese professional football. The analysis focuses on the “Jogo Duplo” (Double Game) prosecution order - the first and thus far the only Portuguese betting related match-fixing case tried in court - and on semi-structured interviews with two professional football players who were approached to fix matches by the so-called “Luso-Malaysian” group. Contrary to the realities of other countries which dictate the institutional discourse, the Portuguese case exposes a organised transnational criminal group established upon opportunities and characterised by amateurism and disloyalty, and in which the power dynamics are determined by the possession and structured allocation of a scarce material resource (money). In Portuguese professional football, threats seem to play a minor role in inducing football players to fix matches or in preventing reports. While the offer of bribes constituted the mandatory material resource to make the corrupt pacts viable, the use of moral and communicational resources was configured as a complementary mechanism to persuade the most undecided players. This research shows that in organised crime groups with a low level of sanctions, the players can refuse to participate in the game, adopt infidelity acts, or even decide to leave the game halfway through without experiencing resistance and conflict.

The Juárez, Chihuahua-El Paso, Texas metroplex is a potent illegal drug smuggling corridor into the U.S. This has had dramatic effects on the types and levels of violence experienced particularly in Juárez for the last several decades. This project examines gun violence episodes related to the drug trade in that city from 2019 to 2020 using a distinct media-based framework. We use descriptive Geographic Information System (GIS) mapping to compare comprehensive media coverage of ‘ataques armados’ (firearm-related attacks) and official criminal justice agency data on these events in Juarez. Results contribute to the growing research literature on Mexican narco-based violence, and the reliability of official and unofficial Mexican crime data. We find a high level of agreement between the two data sources, and discuss the implications of this finding.

There is a growing body of evidence suggesting that Community Sport Organizations (CSOs) are increasingly susceptible to individuals with criminal affiliations or intentions. Despite its significance, this subject has received limited examination and theoretical exploration. This gap is particularly pronounced when considering the factors contributing to the vulnerability of CSOs and their susceptibility to criminal interference, as well as the mechanisms facilitating connections between CSOs and individuals with criminal ties. Our investigation employed various methodologies, including media searches, expert interviews, and case studies, with a detailed examination of one particular case. Drawing upon distinct literature perspectives —research on occupational fraud within CSOs, studies addressing the normalization of corruption in organizational settings, and literature exploring unethical pro-organizational behavior—we conducted a comprehensive analysis of the data. Through our research approach, we identified legal, financial, structural, cultural, and environmental factors that increase the vulnerability and susceptibility of CSOs to criminal interference. These factors are exacerbated by dynamic processes of rationalization, neutralization, and normalization of unethical behavior. Our findings underscore the necessity of maintaining continuous vigilance regarding these factors and mechanisms to safeguard the public function of CSOs.

Mafia-type families, envisioned as intergenerational (criminal) dynasties or family-based criminal groups, are shaped by recognition in the ‘underworld’ and affected by changes in their familiness. In Australia, mafia-type families or dynasties connected to the Calabrian ‘ndrangheta have been successful at exploiting licit and illicit opportunities across generations and places also thanks to their recognition as well as reputation. In this article we explore how mafia-type families or dynasties experience familiness diversification, including intergenerational changes, transculturation, and external factors, and how this relates to their recognition in the underworld, by other criminal groups or by law enforcement. Based on document analysis and interviews, and building on a new analytical framework, we present four ideal-types mafia-type families in Australia: gatekeepers, holdovers, newcomers, and vanishers. This is the first study that considers how mafia organisations evolve in their most fundamental forms abroad, and some implications of such evolution go against mainstream understandings of mafia mobility studies.

This is an introduction to the articles submitted to the special issue of Trends in Organized Crime on ‘Crime and Networks’. The aim of this special issue is to advance our relational understanding of organised crime, gangs and crime more generally by presenting six works exploring a diverse set of questions related to organised crime, street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, money laundering and groups operating in cyberspace.