tag:theconversation.com,2011:/global/topics/organised-crime-2076/articlesOrganised crime – The Conversation2024-03-25T15:08:37Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2259342024-03-25T15:08:37Z2024-03-25T15:08:37ZKenya’s greylisting for weak action on money laundering and terrorism financing: what that means and what must happen next<p><em>Kenya and Namibia are the <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/Increased-monitoring-february-2024.html">latest</a> African countries to be placed on the Financial Action Task Force’s grey list over their weak measures against money laundering and terrorism financing.</em></p>
<p><em>Being on the grey list is <a href="https://www.pwc.com/ke/en/blog/fatf-grey-list.html">typically seen</a> as an indictment of a country’s ability to identify and effectively redress financial crimes. It warns investors to be cautious in dealings with the country.</em></p>
<p><em>Financial crimes researcher <a href="https://scholars.latrobe.edu.au/ldekoker">Louis de Koker</a>, who has recently studied the <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/11/5/81">economic consequences of greylisting</a>, answers questions on the move.</em></p>
<h2>Why is Kenya on the grey list?</h2>
<p>In February 2024 Kenya was <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/02/23/fatf-financial-crime-watchdog-adds-kenya-and-namibia-to-its-grey-list.html">greylisted</a> by the <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/home.html">Financial Action Task Force</a> (FATF), the world body that sets standards for combating money laundering and the financing of terrorism and weapons of mass destruction. At the same meeting, Namibia was also listed while Uganda was removed from the grey list.</p>
<p>The Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental group of economically powerful countries, maintains a set of standards to safeguard the integrity of the international financial system. Kenya, Namibia and Uganda are not members of the task force but they are members of the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group, an associated regional body. </p>
<p>All countries that are members of the Financial Action Task Force or any of the regional bodies are regularly evaluated by their peers. Countries are rated on technical compliance with the standards, as well as the effectiveness with which those standards are implemented. </p>
<p>Kenya’s mutual evaluation reports revealed a host of strategic deficiencies. Kenya, for example, had not taken appropriate steps to investigate and prosecute money laundering and terrorist financing offences or to assess and mitigate crime risks associated with crypto assets.</p>
<p>When a country performs poorly in its mutual evaluation the Financial Action Task Force may place it in a one-year <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/More-on-high-risk-and-non-cooperative-jurisdictions.html#:%7E:text=The%20FATF%20continually%20identifies%20and,and%20was%20enhanced%20in%202009.">observation period</a>. During the observation period, the country works with the Financial Action Task Force or its regional body to address the identified weaknesses.</p>
<p>If at the end of the observation period the country has not been able to address the deficiencies appropriately but has an action plan to address them and has made the political commitment to do so, the task force may put that country on its list of “jurisdictions under increased monitoring”, also known as the “grey list”. This is what happened to Kenya and Namibia in February 2024.</p>
<h2>What are the consequences?</h2>
<p>At face value, the list sends a positive message. According to the Financial Action Task Force, countries on the list have committed themselves to resolve the identified deficiencies within agreed time frames. They are therefore working actively to improve their compliance with the Financial Action Task Force standards. Greylisting also triggers international technical and other assistance to help countries to improve their compliance levels.</p>
<p>The market, however, tends to respond negatively to countries that are greylisted. Some countries and regulators (including the <a href="https://finance.ec.europa.eu/financial-crime/high-risk-third-countries-and-international-context-content-anti-money-laundering-and-countering_en">EU</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/money-laundering-advisory-notice-high-risk-third-countries--2">UK</a>) also compel their institutions to treat the businesses and persons linked to greylisted countries as higher risk customers and parties. The accompanying enhanced due diligence measures (such as collecting and verifying more information about the customer and the customer’s funds) slow down the pace of business, increase transaction costs and may even threaten deals and business relationships.</p>
<p>In the past two years, the Financial Action Task Force has <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/Increased-monitoring-february-2024.html">called on</a> foreign regulators and their markets to take a measured approach. It added explicitly to its greylisting statement that it does not call for enhanced due diligence measures against greylisted countries and cautioned against termination of business relationships. It is not clear that this has had the intended effect.</p>
<p>In a recent <a href="https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/11/5/81">study</a> my co-authors and I found that greylisting appears to continue to have a negative economic impact on listed countries. Correlations point to a negative impact on GDP growth rates and, worryingly, even development aid appears to be adversely affected. Some of the negative impacts may lag after delisting. Uganda may, for instance, take some time to see the positive benefits of being off the list.</p>
<p>Impact, however, differs from country to country, and smaller economies are often likely to face greater impact than large economies.</p>
<h2>What does Kenya need to do now?</h2>
<p>Since its 2022 mutual evaluation report, Kenya has been working to improve its compliance levels. Now it must implement the <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/High-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/Increased-monitoring-february-2024.html">agreed action plan</a> to address the remaining strategic deficiencies. Actions include completing a national terrorist financing risk assessment and sharing the results with the public and private sector stakeholders. Kenya is also committed to improving its risk-based supervision of regulated entities including licensing and supervision of virtual asset (crypto) service providers.</p>
<p>Other actions required include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>enhancing risk-based compliance and the reporting of suspicious transaction reports to the <a href="https://www.frc.go.ke/">Financial Reporting Centre</a></p></li>
<li><p>increasing the number of money laundering and terrorist financing prosecutions to match the country’s risk levels</p></li>
<li><p>revising the framework for the regulation of non-profit organisations and their oversight to ensure that mitigating measures are risk-based and do not disrupt or discourage legitimate non-profit organisations’ activity.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>Uganda spent four years on the grey list. Given what Kenya will need to achieve, a time-frame of three to four years may be realistic.</p>
<h2>Why does greylisting matter to Africa?</h2>
<p>Greylisting poses a challenge for sub-Saharan Africa. Since February 2024, the region accounts for 12 of the 21 grey-listed countries. The listed countries include <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-has-been-grey-listed-for-not-stopping-money-laundering-and-terrorism-funding-what-it-means-200696">Nigeria and South Africa</a>. The economic impact of this level of simultaneous greylisting on the development of the region as a whole gives cause for concern. </p>
<p>The reasons why countries from this region have not been able to meet the task force standards adequately should be probed. Is there really a sufficient level of political commitment to fight money laundering, corruption and terrorist financing? Given the negative impact of crime and the negative impact of a failure to implement the crime combating standards, can the region afford political complacency?</p>
<p>The task force is about to start another round of mutual evaluations. Countries that are delisted in this round may be listed again in the next round. The listed countries have the opportunity now to ensure that these serious crimes are combated appropriately. Doing so will serve the national interest and prevent a relisting in the future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225934/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Louis de Koker received funding from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH (GiZ) to research the economic impact of greylisting.</span></em></p>Kenya must complete a national terrorist financing risk assessment and share it publicly.Louis de Koker, Professor of Law, La Trobe UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2252792024-03-12T01:27:27Z2024-03-12T01:27:27ZAustralia’s restrictive vaping and tobacco policies are fuelling a lucrative and dangerous black market<p>Australia currently has the most restrictive tobacco and vaping policies in the developed world. Australian smokers are taxed at <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2023/may/04/australia-tobacco-tax-is-among-the-highest-in-the-world-and-is-about-to-get-higher">one of the highest rates</a> among comparable nations, with taxes set to <a href="https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/smokers-hit-with-3-3b-tobacco-tax-increase-20230502-p5d4vb">further increase</a> at rate of 5% per year. Meanwhile, Australia is the <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/ladocs/submissions/82844/Submission%2032%20-%20Australian%20Association%20of%20Convenience%20Stores%20(AACS).pdf">only country</a> to have a prescription model for accessing vaping products. </p>
<p>These policies have begun to attract international attention. The UK government, for example, recently announced <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/06/jeremy-hunt-tax-vaping-products-raise-tobacco-duty">increased taxes on tobacco and vaping products</a>, while the Labour opposition has <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2023/12/05/vaping-prescription-labour-government-ecigarettes/">vowed to emulate Australia’s prescription model</a> if it wins this year’s election. </p>
<p>Australia’s policies have been <a href="https://www.phrp.com.au/issues/march-2023-volume-33-issue-1/reigniting-tobacco-control/">backed by some medical experts</a> as a means to drive down and eventually eliminate smoking and vaping. There has been much <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/media-releases/2022/cancer-council-warns-urgent-intergovernmental-action-is-essential-to-stop-an-epidemic-of-e-cigarette-use-among-young-people">alarm</a> around youth vaping, in particular. </p>
<p>While arguably well-intentioned, the increasing taxes and restrictions on cigarettes and vaping products have resulted in an unintended and dangerous outcome – the rise of a lucrative and expanding black market for these products.</p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/albanese-government-launches-war-on-vaping-declaring-it-the-number-one-behavioural-issue-in-high-schools-204760">Albanese government launches war on vaping, declaring it the 'number-one behavioural issue in high schools'</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<h2>Tobacco ‘war’ unfolding in Victoria</h2>
<p>Emerging black markets tend to attract established organised crime groups, which have the capacity to use violence to enforce contracts, collect debts and threaten competitors. </p>
<p>Over the past six months, for instance, there have been <a href="https://www.mandurahmail.com.au/story/8541181/four-teens-arrested-over-tobacco-war-firebombings/">more than 40 firebombings</a> of stores selling illicit tobacco and vapes across Victoria. In October, police said the <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12606833/Craigieburn-driveby-Melbournes-tobacco-war-Comanchero.html">killing of Melbourne man in a drive-by shooting</a> was also linked to the underworld war over illegal tobacco products. <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/oct/22/earn-or-burn-the-firebombings-and-underworld-conflicts-exposing-australias-illicit-tobacco-trade#:%7E:text=4%20months%20old-,'Earn%20or%20burn'%3A%20the%20firebombings%20and%20underworld%20conflicts,exposing%20Australia's%20illicit%20tobacco%20trade&text=Before%20the%20firebombings%20comes%20the,their%20business%20will%20be%20torched.">Reports of standover tactics and extortion</a> targeting tobacco shop owners are also on the rise. </p>
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<p>According to police, this serious criminal activity is being committed at the <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/victoria-news-police-arrest-alleged-ringleader-of-melbourne-tobacco-wars-thats-led-to-dozens-of-arson-attacks/3bcfd073-5087-4650-8953-1fae702defb5">behest of rival criminal networks</a> who are engaged in a “turf war” for control of the lucrative trade.</p>
<p>Since October, police have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2024/jan/13/tobacco-wars-victoria-police-turning-the-corner-in-battle-against-arson-attacks-as-more-arrests-made">searched almost 70 stores</a> believed to be involved in the illegal tobacco trade, seizing more than 100,000 vapes with an estimated street value of A$3.2 million, along with 3.2 million cigarettes. </p>
<p>While most of the violence associated with the black market appears to be taking place in Victoria, this is a national problem. Last month in Sydney, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-06/nsw-health-tga-raid-e-cigarettes-vapes-vaping-sydney-tobacco/103430412">health authorities seized over 30,000 vapes and 118,000 cigarettes</a> with a estimated street value of $1.1 million. </p>
<p>These numbers may sound impressive, but they represent a drop in the ocean of the total black market. Authorities <a href="https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/victorias-illegal-vape-market-worth-up-to-500-million/video/3048f28cd78094b601d0e17255034c82">estimate</a> the size of the illicit vape market could be worth up to $500 million in Victoria alone. </p>
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<h2>The economics of the black market</h2>
<p>The black market for illicit tobacco and vaping products has been driven by economic forces on both the supply and demand side. </p>
<p>On the demand side, smokers are <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/reports/alcohol/alcohol-drug-use-interactive-data">disproportionately concentrated among lower socio-economic groups</a>. Many are unable or unwilling to pay the ever-increasing prices for cigarettes. </p>
<p>People who vape are also largely rejecting the government’s prescription model, with 87% reporting they <a href="https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/b8b298cc-6d3f-4ab0-a238-9bd63f300c09/national-drug-strategy-household-survey-2022-2023.pdf?v=20240229072409&inline=true">source their vapes illegally</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=98%2C0%2C2897%2C1994&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/581136/original/file-20240312-26-gmqam6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vaping rates are on the increase, particularly among younger adults.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/man-smokes-new-vape-pod-system-1525671461">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This demand is only likely to increase as cigarette prices increase further and prescription vapes become even less appealing with the introduction of <a href="https://adf.org.au/insights/vaping-changes-australia/">new flavour restrictions</a>. </p>
<p>On the supply side, <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1745-9125.12202">economic models</a> suggest traffickers of illicit products are attracted to opportunities that present the lowest risks and highest rewards. </p>
<p>Similar to drugs like cocaine, the importation of illicit tobacco offers attractive profits. The difference is that while importing large quantities of cocaine can lead to <a href="https://www.cdpp.gov.au/crimes-we-prosecute/serious-drugs/importing-and-exporting-drugs-or-precursors">substantial prison sentences</a>, the penalties for the importation of illicit tobacco <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/tax-avoidance/the-fight-against-tax-crime/our-focus/illicit-tobacco">are not as severe</a>.</p>
<p>Vapes are similarly low risk and highly profitable. They can be purchased wholesale from China for as <a href="https://www.made-in-china.com/products-search/hot-china-products/Wholesale_I_Vape.html">little as $2.50</a> and sold “on the street” in Australia for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-04/parent-pleads-for-help-to-deal-with-vaping-teens-as-governments/102296538">more than ten times that amount</a>. </p>
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<h2>The limits and dangers of prohibition</h2>
<p>These economic realities suggest it is unlikely law enforcement agencies will be able to effectively tackle the black market under current government settings. </p>
<p>The Australian Border Force is already stretched beyond capacity tackling the booming <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/illicit-drug-data-report/illicit-drug-data-report-2020-21">illicit drug market</a>. So, even if eight out of ten consignments of illicit vapes are intercepted at the border (an unrealistically high proportion on the best of days), the two that make it through are sufficient for traffickers to make a profit.</p>
<p>And while law enforcement agencies have made inroads with arrests of black marketeers and seizures of their products, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17440570701739702">these are often quickly replaced</a> so trafficking operations can continue unabated.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-bad-is-vaping-and-should-it-be-banned-197913">How bad is vaping and should it be banned?</a>
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</em>
</p>
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<p>As previous examples of prohibition on alcohol and other drugs have demonstrated, the dangers of black markets extend beyond systemic violence. Other harms include the influx of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/sep/25/toxic-chemicals-found-in-vapes-seized-from-nsw-schools-and-retailers">inferior and adulterated products</a>, which can pose even more health risks than legal tobacco products. Young people also have greater access to vapes as black market retailers <a href="https://www.cancer.org.au/media-releases/2023/alarming-new-data-reveals-9-in-10-teens-find-access-to-illegal-vapes-easy">ignore restrictions on sales to minors</a>. (It should be noted, though, that many retailers may be doing so under duress.) </p>
<p>Added to this is the risk of criminalisation of consumers. A teenager in NSW was recently <a href="https://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/teens/dont-touch-him-wild-scenes-as-teen-scuffles-with-police-during-arrest-over-vape/news-story/2edb9243d66eb0b49c9a5875b7ee9425">arrested</a>, for example, following an altercation with police over his possession of a vape. </p>
<p>Then there is the lost tax revenue from tobacco goods sold under the counter, which the Taxation Office <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/about-ato/research-and-statistics/in-detail/tax-gap/tobacco-tax-gap/latest-estimates-and-findings">estimated</a> at $2.3 billion in 2021-22.</p>
<p>The Australian public and policymakers, as well as other countries considering emulating our policies, need to be mindful of these risks and the implacable economic forces that are driving the black market.</p>
<p>Australia’s tobacco and vaping policies have transformed two largely legal and peaceful markets into increasingly dangerous and uncontrolled ones. The situation could even get worse in the absence of meaningful legislative reform, enhanced multi-agency cooperation, nationally consistent policy platforms and the winding back of some restrictions. </p>
<p>As the <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315257341-26/economics-drug-prohibition-drug-legalization-jeffrey-miron">history of prohibition</a> has taught us time and again, there is a “sweet spot” in restricting the sale of harmful products – one that limits access and reduces harm, but is not so onerous as to create a large black market. The violence unfolding on our streets suggests our current tobacco and vaping polices are failing to strike this balance.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225279/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dr Martin has received funding from the Australian Institute of Criminology and the National Health and Medical Research Centre for research into illicit markets. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Bright receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Australian Institute of Criminology.</span></em></p>Black markets tend to attract established organised crime groups, which have the capacity to use violence to enforce contracts, collect debts and threaten competitors.James Martin, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Deakin UniversityDavid Bright, Professor of Criminology, Deakin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2207922024-01-16T17:47:57Z2024-01-16T17:47:57Z‘I never lost a fight against a man’: the story of the only woman to join Japan’s notorious yakuza<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/568999/original/file-20240112-29-r9i7lt.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C13%2C2991%2C1980&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Nichimura Mako, bottom left, is the only woman to ever formally join a yakuza gang as a full member.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Nishimura Mako is a petite woman in her late fifties, with flowing hair and a delicate face. But you soon notice that she is no traditional Japanese lady – she is tattooed up to her neck and hands and her little finger is missing. These are signs of affiliation to the <a href="https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/yakuza-past-and-present">yakuza</a> – Japan’s notorious criminal syndicates. </p>
<p>The yakuza is dominated by men and leaves only informal roles to women. Typically a woman involved with the yakuza might be an <em>anesan</em>, a boss’ wife who takes care of young affiliates and mediates between them and her husband. Wives and partners of the members support the group in a peripheral way. Some get involved to the extent that they manage yakuza-owned clubs or deal drugs. </p>
<p>When I interviewed Nishimura recently as part of my research, she told me that when she had become involved with the yakuza at 20, she took up both roles. But she went one step further – Nishimura is the only woman who has ever partaken in the <em>sakazuki</em> ceremony of exchanging sake cups. This is the ritual that confirms formal affiliation with a yakuza group. </p>
<h2>Joining the gang</h2>
<p>Born into a rigorous family of government officials, Nishimura’s childhood was strict. Her memories revolve around her authoritarian father and the bamboo stick he would use to discipline her. During junior high school, she felt the urge to escape from under the yoke of her family, so she befriended unruly peers – and eventually biker gangs (<em>bōsozoku</em>) who taught her how to fight. </p>
<p>This rebellious streak led her to a young yakuza member, who took her under his wing and showed her how to collect protection money, solve disputes, engage in blackmail and scout girls for prostitution. </p>
<p>Her life took a turn when one night she received a call: her friend was in a fight and needed help. She ran to the rescue and using a club she turned the scene into a bloodbath. This caught the attention of the boss of the local yakuza group, who called her to his office. She told me that she remembers his words to this day: “Even if you’re a woman, you must become a yakuza”.</p>
<p>By this time, she had been to juvenile detention centres several times, and her family had ceased their efforts to save her. She accepted the boss’ invitation and started living the rigorous life of a yakuza trainee. She joined alongside a cohort of male recruits, performing daily tasks, and eventually taking part in the group’s criminal activities. </p>
<h2>Master of finger cutting</h2>
<p>She finally underwent the <em>sakazuki</em> ceremony dressed in a male kimono, and swore her life to the path of the yakuza. </p>
<p>As an affiliate, she ran prostitution and drugs businesses, collected debts and mediated disputes between rival groups. When she cut off her own little finger to apologise for a collective mistake in a ritual known as <em><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4009169/">yubitsume</a></em>, she realised she had a knack for it. Members who could not go through with the amputation themselves would ask Nishimura to do it for them, garnering her the nickname of “master of finger cutting”. </p>
<p>But disillusionment set in once Nishimura reached her thirties, as meth became the main trade of her group and her own addiction started taking a heavy toll. She ran away – ironically continuing to run her meth business independently. For this, she was expelled from the group. At this point she started a relationship with a member of a rival group, and a pregnancy prompted her to cut ties with the yakuza world in exchange for a quiet life raising her child. </p>
<p>But, despite her efforts, her yakuza past – marked by her tattoos – prevented her from getting any regular sort of job. She married the father of her child, now a yakuza boss, and returned to prostitution businesses and drug dealing. After a second pregnancy, fights with her husband became more and more violent, to the point police were called any time one erupted. They eventually divorced and he took custody of the two sons.</p>
<p>She rejoined her old group, but meth had changed the boss that she adored, and in two years she left for good. </p>
<h2>Life after crime</h2>
<p>Nishimura lived as a male yakuza and retired as one. She found a job in the demolition business and a modest home where she now lives alone. She lives a quiet life, trying to be accepted by the community and to help others. With the assistance of Mr Fujimoto, a former yakuza himself, she also manages a branch of Gojinkai, a charity dedicated to providing housing and aid to former yakuza members, ex-convicts and addicts.</p>
<p>She says, “My day is not complete if I don’t come here at night”. They gather around a table to talk about the old days, current difficulties, and to check on each other. She is still the only woman at the table.</p>
<p>She insists that what earned her respect in an all-male world is her capacity for violence: “I was great at fighting, I never lost against a man”. But Nishimura does not want to be a feminist icon: it was not her intention to break gender stereotypes or publicise herself as the only female yakuza. </p>
<p>There have been other women – like Taoka Fumiko, widow of a yakuza boss – who, though not formally affiliated, have made a significant impact in the history of the yakuza. But none went the extra step like Nishimura and became a fully pledged member with the cut little finger. </p>
<p>Her story redefines the boundaries of gender roles and allegiance in the brutal world of Japanese organised crime – a unique journey of identity and belonging.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/220792/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martina Baradel receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 101029138. </span></em></p>Nishimura Mako’s life in the yakuza was dangerous and violent.Martina Baradel, Marie Curie postdoctoral researcher, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2174052023-12-13T14:57:28Z2023-12-13T14:57:28ZWe’re finally starting to understand the active role women play in organised crime groups<p>I met Caroline, a shy and pretty teenager who should be full of life and yet is not, in the course of my research. She explains to me how, as a 14-year-old, she became trapped in a cycle of violence when she transported money and drugs while being systematically sexually abused by the members of a local organised crime group. </p>
<p>She was threatened with attack if she spoke to anyone about her predicament. She was lured into this situation by one of her trusted girlfriends, who looked on as she was exploited.</p>
<p>This story highlights the complexity of women’s involvement in organised crime groups. They can be, and often are, victims. But they can also be complicit – actively involved and fully endorsing criminal values, like Caroline’s friend. </p>
<p>Women remain an unacknowledged component of transnational organised crime groups, which are largely thought of as macho and masculine. But we need only think of the mothers of mafia bosses in the Sicilian Cosa Nostra, the Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta and the <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11133-018-9389-8">Neapolitan Camorra</a> to realise that women are integral to the operation of these groups.</p>
<p>Our lack of understanding of the role women play is unhelpful if we want to combat crime effectively. We capture glimpses of women, <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/169/monograph/book/76948">here and there</a> but, on the whole, there exists a gender lacuna. Therefore, the picture we have of organised crime remains incomplete.</p>
<p>Over the last couple of years, there has slowly been a growing interest in <a href="https://sherloc.unodc.org/cld/uploads/pdf/Issue_Paper_Organized_Crime_and_Gender_1.pdf">this topic</a>. And a <a href="https://www.osce.org/secretariat/560049">new report</a> from the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) seeks to bring new understanding to this issue by focusing specifically on the women who are full participants in organised crime, not as victims. I was a consulting expert on this piece of work.</p>
<p>Based on questionnaires, in-depth interviews and previous research, this report seeks to go beyond the traditional gender binaries and see women for what they are – people with their own agency in organised crime. They play crucial roles in the family and household, where they can also act as advisers and decision makers in their criminal organisations. They can navigate the criminal underworld as intelligently as their male counterparts. </p>
<h2>Getting in</h2>
<p>What becomes clear from this report is that women are recruited in different ways depending on their place in the organised crime hierarchy, which is similar to the way men enter these groups.</p>
<p>Women in family criminal networks such as mafias may be educated into working for the family business because that is “what you do”. Meanwhile, girls and women in the lower levels of organised crime who do not belong directly to a crime family are often recruited as mules, transporters, lookouts and dealers. </p>
<p>This may be because they either need the money to survive, they want to belong or are simply looking for affection. This recruitment at the lower end of the criminal hierarchy is at times connected to sexual and emotional violence and abuse. </p>
<p>The OSCE report underlines that the nature of women’s roles in organised crime is much more varied than is usually presumed. There is also far less difference between what men do and what women do than we previously thought.</p>
<p>The women in these groups will do what is necessary to survive and get on, whether this means recruiting other women for human trafficking rings, becoming street dealers or allowing their names to be used as front companies for money laundering. Women <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003146568/graphic-narratives-organised-crime-gender-power-europe-felia-allum-anna-mitchell">make decisions</a> within this criminal underworld and are present across all criminal markets. </p>
<p>They are often the people who pass on criminal values to new generations within crime families and groups, contributing to criminal careers and cultural continuity of clans and groups. With this in mind, it starts to become clear that the foundations and roots of organised crime are, essentially, female.</p>
<h2>Getting out</h2>
<p>However, the report finds that women are underrepresented or completely absent from State witness protection programmes. When they are present, it is just as the wife or partner of a criminal rather than as independent participants in their own right. </p>
<p>For example, often, if women want to get out of the mafia, they must slot into their partner’s protection arrangements or follow a system that is set up for men. Women are not being offered the same exit opportunities as men because their specific needs as women and as mothers are rarely taken into consideration. </p>
<p>Women can be crucial in encouraging men to leave organised crime networks but they can also be the ones who refuse to leave the criminal underworld. This needs to be understood and taken into account. </p>
<p>Despite recent progress, we still need far more specific information about women as perpetrators of organised crime. Only by acknowledging their agency and listening to their experiences will we finally have a complete picture.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217405/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum worked as an external expert for the OSCE on this report. She is also a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI).</span></em></p>Women are often victims of these highly patriarchal crime systems – but they can also be powerful decision makers and exploiters of others.Felia Allum, Professor of Comparative Organised Crime and Corruption, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2106592023-09-05T17:03:24Z2023-09-05T17:03:24ZUniversities and their students are vulnerable to money laundering – new research<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/542976/original/file-20230816-21-towf59.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=46%2C0%2C5184%2C3445&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Students are at risk of being exploited by financial and organised criminals.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/back-view-man-presenting-students-lecture-478521652">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Money laundering jeopardises the security of UK citizens and the integrity of its economy. Money launderers often target financial institutions, but they are also increasingly <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/945411/NRA_2020_v1.2_FOR_PUBLICATION.pdf">targeting</a> lesser regulated or unregulated sectors, such as universities. </p>
<p>Our <a href="https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160289/">research</a> has focused on how universities apply anti-money laundering legislation, as well as their response to identified threats. We have found that universities, their employees and students are vulnerable to threats from money launderers because universities are not explicitly included within the UK’s money laundering, terrorist financing and transfer of funds <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/contents/made">regulations</a>.</p>
<p>The government’s anti-money laundering laws and regulations focus on preventing the crime by requiring organisations to submit suspicious activity reports to the National Crime Agency’s (NCA) <a href="https://nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/crime-threats/money-laundering-and-illicit-finance/ukfiu">Financial Intelligence Unit</a>. These are reports of financial transactions that may be linked to money laundering.</p>
<p>In the UK, <a href="https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/who-we-are/publications/480-sars-annual-report-2020/file">more than 90%</a> of suspicious activity reports submitted to the NCA are from financial or credit institutions. However, money launderers have adapted their techniques to exploit the weaker controls and regulations in the university sector. </p>
<p>UK universities, in some cases, <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/files/Page_AfricaUK_Corruption_1.pdf">attract</a> the family members of convicted criminals and corrupt politically exposed persons. These are people who hold prominent positions in government, business or other organisations. Their status makes them <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/content/fatf-gafi/en/publications/Fatfrecommendations/Peps-r12-r22.html">vulnerable</a> to corruption and involvement in money laundering schemes.</p>
<p>The NCA <a href="https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/news/nsa2020">revealed</a> in 2020 that increasing numbers of students are having their bank accounts used by organised criminals. Young people can be used or exploited as “<a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-45797603">money mules</a>” by crime gangs for laundering money. In 2018, students Abdi Mohamed and Nyanjura Biseko were <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-sussex-46196850">found guilty</a> of laundering more than £10,000 through their bank accounts, part of a £37,986 fraud.</p>
<p>There have also been instances where people have used their student loans to finance terrorism. For example, Yahya Rashid was <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/18/yahya-rashid-used-student-loan-join-isis-syria-youth-custody">jailed</a> for five years in 2015 after using his student loan to pay for himself and four friends to go to Syria to join the terror group, Islamic State.</p>
<h2>What we found</h2>
<p>We sent freedom of information requests to 120 universities across the UK to discover how anti-money laundering legislation is being applied. Nine out of ten institutions responded to our requests, and while some universities provided a full response to every question we asked, others declined to answer some or all questions. Overall, <a href="https://orca.cardiff.ac.uk/id/eprint/160289/">we found</a> there is a disparity among universities regarding the implementation of anti-money laundering legislation. </p>
<p>A significant minority of universities are failing to provide staff and students with guidance on money laundering and terrorism financing risks. We found that 20% of respondents do not provide any internal anti-money laundering training for staff. While 24% of respondents do not provide any guidance to their students on the risks posed to them by financial and organised criminals. </p>
<p>Some universities are failing to recognise the money laundering risks inherent in large cash payments, with more than 21% of respondents willing to accept cash payments. For example, three universities received more than £1 million in cash between 2019 and 2020, for tuition fees and accommodation. This is concerning, particularly given that some universities do not impose any limits on cash payments. </p>
<p>Also, universities are seemingly failing to recognise the value of the financial intelligence created by submitting suspicious activity reports. This is despite the fact that university employees are bound by the obligation to submit these reports under the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2000/11/contents">Terrorism Act 2000</a> and the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2002/29/contents">Proceeds of Crime Act 2002</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, we found that most universities do not submit any suspicious activity reports at all to the NCA. Most suspicious activity reports are submitted by a small number of universities. </p>
<p>This means that while universities are not explicitly included within the regulations, the current disparity of its application by the sector will continue. It means that universities and their employees are at risk of criminal and civil liability for committing money laundering and terrorism financing offences, or for failing to establish preventative measures. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Students wearing black gowns throw their mortar board hats in the air." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/545238/original/file-20230829-15-tf55pk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Students can be exploited as ‘money mules’ by organised criminals.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/portsmouth-july-20-graduation-ceremony-university-298907810">Enrico Della Pietra/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>To reduce the risks to which universities and their students are exposed, the UK’s money laundering, terrorist financing and transfer of funds <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/contents/made">regulations</a> should be explicitly applied to the higher education sector. This should include providing guidance to staff and students on terrorism financing and money laundering risks. And allowing cash payments for accommodation and tuition fees should be prohibited, or at least severely restricted.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/210659/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Higher education institutions are not explicitly included within the UK’s anti-money laundering regulations.Nicholas Ryder, Professor of Law, Cardiff UniversityHenry Hillman, Lecturer in Law, University of ReadingSam Bourton, Senior Lecturer in Law, University of the West of EnglandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2086322023-07-24T14:47:04Z2023-07-24T14:47:04ZWhen mafia threatens democracy: research shows ordinary people are less honest in countries hit by organised crime<p>Organised crime casts a <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Illicit_financial_flows_2011_web.pdf">long shadow</a>, driving violence and an illicit economy. But our <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506231176615">research</a> has uncovered some more subtle dimensions to its influence, too. We’ve found that organised crime can undermine the civic honesty of ordinary, law abiding people. </p>
<p>Civic honesty means adhering to shared moral norms that characterise actions such as tax evasion, bribery or welfare fraud as unacceptable. Civic honesty is a cornerstone for a robust and thriving democracy. It creates a society where people follow rules not out of fear of reprisal but due to their moral convictions. That, in turn, lessens the need for intensive surveillance and costly punitive measures. </p>
<p>Typically, civic honesty is driven by trust in public bodies such as the government and police. This trust represents citizens’ stake in a tacit <a href="https://www.econometricsociety.org/publications/econometrica/2020/07/01/state-capacity-reciprocity-and-social-contract">social contract</a> according to which they perform their civic duties in exchange for the competency, fairness and reliability of their government.</p>
<p>However, the link between political trust and civic honesty varies substantially from country to country. We wanted to explore if the presence of organised crime was a factor in this variability.</p>
<h2>83 countries</h2>
<p>To test this, we used an <a href="https://ocindex.net/">index</a> of global organised cime to rate the influence of criminal groups in different countries and regions on a scale of 1 to 10. We included mafia-style groups with a clear structure and a recognisable name like the Cosa Nostra in Italy or the Yakuza in Japan, and looser criminal associations without a clear structure or name. </p>
<p>We also looked at state-embedded groups – organised criminals that operate by infiltrating the state apparatus – and foreign criminal groups operating outside their home country, such as the Italian mafia operating in the US.</p>
<p>We paired this index with survey data from more than 128,000 people in 83 countries from two <a href="https://www.worldvaluessurvey.org/WVSEVSjoint2017.jsp">large-scale research studies</a> investigating beliefs, opinions and values. From these studies, we obtained two measures of individual differences: political trust and civic honesty.</p>
<p>The political trust measure was based on how much confidence people had in key legal and political institutions – the police, civil service, government, political parties and the justice system.</p>
<p>The civic honesty index was based on how justifiable respondents thought four illegal actions were – accepting a bribe, cheating on taxes, fare dodging on public transport and benefit fraud.</p>
<p>Data for these two measures were available from eight African countries, 13 countries in the Americas, 26 Asian nations, 34 European nations and two in Oceania. </p>
<h2>Corruption undermines civic honesty</h2>
<p>We found that citizens tended to be less inclined towards civic honesty in countries where organised criminal groups were more widespread. In these places, corruption is more commonly justified. </p>
<p>We also expected that people who report higher political trust would be <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11109-006-9013-6">more civically honest</a>. If you believe in the integrity and reliability of the government, the police and the courts, you are more likely to abide by the rules they impose. </p>
<p>Political trust is a reflection of the legitimacy of institutions because when people see institutions as legitimate, they are more likely to internalise the norms and values they promote as their own. </p>
<p>People tend to follow the directives of legitimate institutions out of a conviction that such directives constitute the proper, moral way to act. Therefore, how much people trust institutions should be linked to their civic honesty.</p>
<p>That was indeed the case in countries that had fewer problems with organised crime, such as Denmark, Finland and Singapore. However, the picture was quite different in countries where there was more organised crime, exposing an interesting dynamic.</p>
<p>In countries such as Italy, Mexico and Russia, the association between civic honesty and political trust was weaker or even non-existent. Knowing how much trust a person has in institutions therefore tells you little or nothing about what they think about civic honesty.</p>
<p>We interpret this as an indication that in countries more strongly influenced by organised crime, institutions lose their role as moral referents. People’s judgements about the justifiability of illegal actions are not predicted by how much they trust political and legal institutions. </p>
<p>When our understanding of the appropriateness of tax evasion becomes disconnected from our confidence in institutions, for example, it shows that our norms are out of step with those of the institution. We don’t yet know what drives people’s judgements in these situations but it is likely that the perceived <a href="https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.57.102904.190038">probability of being caught</a> or personal values become more central.</p>
<h2>Total takeover</h2>
<p>Remarkably, however, in countries experiencing the most extreme criminal influence, the correlation between trust and honesty actually inverted. If people had a greater trust in public institutions, they were more likely to show a lower level of civic honesty. </p>
<p>In countries such as Colombia, Iraq and Venezuela, people’s trust in institutions is associated with higher justification of illegal actions like bribery and fare dodging.</p>
<p>In these countries, not only do institutions lose their role as moral referents, but people’s confidence in what presumably are corrupted institutions is linked to them finding it easier to justify illegality. </p>
<p>This seemingly paradoxical outcome could be attributed to criminal groups successfully co-opting the state, thereby subverting the nature and moral responsibilities of institutions. </p>
<p>Institutions may be perceived as being manipulated to serve illegal interests, which leads to a situation where the citizens who have confidence in corrupted institutions are also the ones with a higher tendency towards immorality and crime. </p>
<h2>Crime as a democratic issue</h2>
<p>The implications of these findings for democratic systems are profound. Organised criminal groups can play a part in altering societal norms by undermining the moral authority of public bodies. An insidious erosion of the social contract can follow, shifting norms away from the principles of civic honesty.</p>
<p>The unchecked growth of organised crime doesn’t merely lead to more illegal activities and lower public security, it threatens the very fabric of our democracies. It can lead to a broader acceptance of illegal behaviours by subtly limiting, or even sabotaging, political and legal authorities’ capacity to promote a culture of legality and cooperation.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208632/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Giovanni A. Travaglino receives funding from the UKRI for the "Secret Power" project (Grant No. EP/X02170X/1). The grant was awarded to him under the European Commission’s “European Research Council - STG” Scheme.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alberto Mirisola and Pascal Burgmer do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Mafia groups don’t just cause harm through violence, they can erode the principles that make a democracy function.Giovanni A. Travaglino, Professor of Social Psychology and Criminology, Royal Holloway University of LondonAlberto Mirisola, Associate Professor of Social Psychology, University of Palermo Pascal Burgmer, Lecturer in Psychology, University of SouthamptonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2086542023-06-30T02:13:52Z2023-06-30T02:13:52ZInvestigation into ‘reprehensible’ failure of police ends quietly with no charges – why we must learn from the Lawyer X scandal<p>For over 15 years, the Victoria police used criminal barrister Nicola Gobbo as an informant against her own clients in what has become known as the <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-nicola-gobbo-lawyer-x-scandal-explained-20201124-p56hh9.html">Lawyer X scandal</a>. </p>
<p>The scandal has been accurately described as a massive <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-lawyer-x-scandal-is-a-massive-blow-to-the-criminal-justice-system-heres-why-111342">blow to the criminal justice system</a>.</p>
<p>But this week it became clear the director of public prosecutions would not bring charges against any current or former police officers in the case. </p>
<p>The special investigator building the cases against the officers, former High Court judge Geoffrey Nettle, said it appeared to be a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/21/lawyer-x-special-investigator-wants-own-office-abolished-over-dpps-refusal-to-lay-charges">waste of time and resources</a>” to pursue the matter any further. His office has now been <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/lawyer-x-investigator-s-office-to-be-disbanded-20230627-p5djuz.html">disbanded</a>, with little to show for the A$120 million that was spent on years of investigations.</p>
<p>While the news may have only been briefly in the headlines, this case matters greatly. The shelving of the investigation should be a concern to us all.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1671994285716291584"}"></div></p>
<h2>‘Reprehensible’ behaviour</h2>
<p>In the early 2000s, Gobbo represented a number of notorious figures in Melbourne’s criminal underground, including Carl Williams and Tony Mokbel. At the same time, she was giving police information about her clients.</p>
<p>In 2018, the <a href="http://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/cases/cth/HCA/2018/58.html">High Court</a> said the use of Gobbo as a police informer “debased fundamental premises of the criminal justice system” and that police conduct in using Gobbo as an informer was “reprehensible”. </p>
<p>The right to a <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/courts-law/vic-police-admit-wrong-over-lawyer-x-saga/news-story/1668113093b91d26fdec58566586c57c">fair trial</a> is a cornerstone of the rule of law. No trial can be fair when a person’s defence lawyer is acting as an agent of the police.</p>
<p>In the wake of the High Court case, a <a href="https://www.rcmpi.vic.gov.au/final-report">royal commission</a> was established. It found the police use of Gobbo as an informer may have affected the convictions or findings of guilt of more than 1,000 people. </p>
<p>Several convictions for <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2020/dec/15/tony-mokbel-conviction-quashed-as-fallout-from-lawyer-x-scandal-rumbles-on">serious offences have since been quashed</a>, due at least in part to the police behaviour in using Gobbo. </p>
<p>The royal commission found police “corrupted the criminal justice system” and “tolerated bending the rules to help solve serious crime”. Senior police were implicated. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lawyer-x-inquiry-calls-for-sweeping-change-to-victoria-police-but-is-it-enough-to-bring-real-accountability-147836">Lawyer X inquiry calls for sweeping change to Victoria Police, but is it enough to bring real accountability?</a>
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<h2>Why bringing charges against police is difficult</h2>
<p>The scandal and its aftermath point to a systemic failure of police accountability. Such failure is fertile soil for police corruption and makes a repeat of the Lawyer X scandal entirely possible. </p>
<p>The scandal was kept under wraps for nearly a decade as police fought through the courts to suppress information about their use of Gobbo. </p>
<p>According to the royal commission, hundreds of people within Victoria Police knew about Gobbo. The Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (IBAC) also knew about Gobbo, but decided in <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/the-nicola-gobbo-lawyer-x-scandal-explained-20201124-p56hh9.html">2015</a> it did not have the jurisdiction to deal with it. </p>
<p>IBAC sent the matter back to police to investigate. The police showed little inclination to investigate. </p>
<p>In short, there was no investigative body capable or willing to investigate the police tactic of using a criminal lawyer as a source against her own clients. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/expanding-victorias-police-powers-without-robust-independent-oversight-is-a-dangerous-idea-146758">Expanding Victoria's police powers without robust, independent oversight is a dangerous idea</a>
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<p>The key recommendation of the royal commission was the appointment of a special investigator, Geoffrey Nettle, to do the job. However, the director of public prosecutions maintained final say over whether any charges would be pursued. </p>
<p>While the director of public prosecutions is formally an independent body, bringing charges against police can still be professionally challenging, particularly when senior police may be involved. The director of public prosecutions relies on close <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/jun/24/should-victorias-dpp-have-laid-charges-over-lawyer-x-scandal">police cooperation</a> for its everyday operations.</p>
<p>The police are also politically powerful. In 1993, after a former Victorian director of public prosecutions charged police officers over <a href="https://www.booktopia.com.au/blue-army-jude-mcculloch/book/9780522849608.html">fatal shootings</a>, the government sought to undermine his independence, prompting his resignation. </p>
<p>Nettle believed his office had “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2023/jun/21/lawyer-x-special-investigator-wants-own-office-abolished-over-dpps-refusal-to-lay-charges">established a powerful case of offending</a>” in the Lawyer X scandal. </p>
<p>The director of public prosecutions, Kerri Judd, declined to pursue charges, however, because of the time that had elapsed since the alleged offences and because the police involved would be able to run a defence “that any wrong or improper decisions […] were made in good faith in an effort to solve and prevent serious criminality”.</p>
<p>In addition, she said she had no confidence in Gobbo as a witness. </p>
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<h2>Calls for reform</h2>
<p>The Lawyer X case provides a stark demonstration of why we need to address systemic failures in investigating police misconduct.</p>
<p>While the IBAC provides the promise of independent oversight, it is limited by a lack of resources, jurisdiction and investigative powers. In Victoria, <a href="https://theconversation.com/police-shouldnt-be-able-to-investigate-themselves-victoria-needs-an-independent-police-accountability-body-207608">police investigate</a> at least 98% of complaints against police, and very few complaints are substantiated.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/police-shouldnt-be-able-to-investigate-themselves-victoria-needs-an-independent-police-accountability-body-207608">Police shouldn't be able to investigate themselves. Victoria needs an independent police accountability body</a>
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<p>A <a href="https://apo.org.au/node/190261">parliamentary inquiry into IBAC</a> made a raft of recommendations for change in the system of police oversight in 2018, but these have not been implemented. </p>
<p>In a positive sign, key recommendations of the royal commission into the Lawyer X scandal have been implemented. Legislation covering 25 of the recommendations related to the management of police informers has been passed. </p>
<p>However, these recent changes to the law also allow police to <a href="https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/new-informant-legislation-risks-rerun-of-lawyer-x-scandal-experts-and-opposition-say-20230208-p5cj14.html">register lawyers</a> as informants in some circumstances. This has the <a href="https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/8179352/post-lawyer-x-reforms-to-still-allow-client-snitching/">danger</a> of institutionalising what could be a corrupt practice.</p>
<p>In addition, the external oversight of this informant registration scheme is in many respects similar to the flawed police oversight that contributed to the Lawyer X scandal in the first place. </p>
<p>The High Court said in relation to the scandal, “it is greatly to be hoped that it will never be repeated”. Without real reform to the way the police are policed and held to account, there is a very real possibility that it will be.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208654/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I have previously engaged in paid consultancy work for Victoria Police.
I have previously received Australian Research Council grants to engage in a research partnership with Victoria Police.
I have previously worked extensively in community legal centres on issues related to police accountability. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Maguire is a member of the Yoorrook Royal Commission Advisory Committee, Melbourne</span></em></p>The scandal and its aftermath point to a systemic failure of police accountability. Such failure is fertile soil for police corruption and makes a repeat of the scandal entirely possible.Jude McCulloch, Emeritus Professor Monash University, Monash UniversityMichael Maguire, Honorary Professor Practice, George Mitchell Institute for Global Peace and Security, Queen's University BelfastLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2066062023-06-21T20:02:23Z2023-06-21T20:02:23ZAustralia is awash with dirty money – here’s how to close the money-laundering loopholes<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530738/original/file-20230608-29-icn0yy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=67%2C44%2C4767%2C3278&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Australia’s financial crime laws are unfit for purpose. The problem: there are many professionals currently facilitating money laundering within the country who are exempt from the laws and regulations set up to stop it.</p>
<p>To illustrate the extent of the problem, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-02-02/nine-arrest-after-afp-dismantles-chinese-money-laundering/101920598">nine people were arrested</a> on money laundering charges this year. They were allegedly involved in a Chinese-Australian syndicate that moved around A$10 billion offshore and amassed at least $150 million in luxury assets and properties. </p>
<p>The suspects allegedly relied on lawyers, accountants and real estate professionals to launder such large sums of money. These are the industries currently not regulated by our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.</p>
<p>But there is a ray of hope: the Albanese government recently <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/consultation-commences-amlctf-reforms">invited public consultation on proposed reforms of these laws</a>. If the government lives up to its commitments, the draft reforms will go through the legislative process and be passed into law.</p>
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<h2>What is money laundering?</h2>
<p>Australia has seen its <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/podcast-episode/significant-australian-money-laundering-syndicate-smashed/w79rpjjk6">fair share of alleged money laundering cases</a> in recent years. <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/financial-services/commonwealth-bank-settles-austrac-case-for-700m-20180604-h10wzu">Banks</a>, <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-05-30/crown-fined-450-million-money-laundering-breaches-austrac/102410670">casinos</a> and <a href="https://www.sbs.com.au/news/video/experts-urge-australia-to-strengthen-anti-money-laundering-regulations/7zjztyk0y">organised crime groups</a> have all been at the centre of recent allegations. Record fines have been handed down and reputations have been tarnished. </p>
<p>Money laundering is the process of “cleaning” dirty money to give its source a legitimate appearance. The dirty money is generated from illicit activities such as fraud, bribery, corruption and drug trafficking – either within Australia or internationally. </p>
<p>On the surface, money laundering may initially appear to be a victimless financial crime. Large corporations get fined and syndicates are interrupted, and we move on. </p>
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<p>The reality is money laundering results in serious harm: socially, politically and economically. <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/dirty-money-products-9780228019053.php?page_id=46&">Dirty money</a> inflates the cost of housing, fuels gang violence, exacerbates foreign interference in our politics, and enables human and wildlife trafficking. It finances nuclear weapons proliferation and helps countries evade international sanctions, such as those currently imposed against Russia for its war on Ukraine. </p>
<p>Money laundering also results in reduced revenue for the government that could be used for the benefit of Australians. Our tax dollars are also being spent on fighting the organised crime rings that are behind these activities. </p>
<p>In short, money laundering is a global problem and affects all of us. Still, the federal government has long failed to act. For 16 years, it has been shirking the implementation of crucial reforms to strengthen our regulations. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/crown-sydney-casino-opens-another-beacon-for-criminals-looking-to-launder-dirty-money-184253">Crown Sydney casino opens – another beacon for criminals looking to launder dirty money</a>
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<h2>Key weakness in the current law</h2>
<p>In 2006, the Howard government passed the <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/legislation/amlctf-act">Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act</a> in response to the global concern around money laundering and terrorism financing. </p>
<p>The act addressed “high-risk” sectors: financial institutions, cash-carrying services, bullion dealers, casinos, remittance service providers and stored value card providers. However, soon after it passed, numerous weaknesses were identified.</p>
<p>One major weakness was the fact that a wide range of professionals operating outside the traditional financial system were not included under the law. This includes real estate professionals, lawyers, accountants, dealers in precious metals and stones, and trust and company service providers. Collectively, they are known as “designated non-financial businesses and professions”. </p>
<p>These professionals are vulnerable to exploitation for a number of reasons. They may have extensive networks to facilitate high-value, cross-border transactions. They often handle large amounts of cash. They also have insider knowledge on how to conceal or integrate large amounts of funds into the financial system.</p>
<p>Several multi-agency investigations in Australia have <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/new-money-laundering-taskforce-tackles-lifeblood-organised-crime">revealed</a> the use of such professionals in concealing the source of illicit funds, financing criminal activities and disguising the <a href="https://www.austrac.gov.au/business/how-comply-and-report-guidance-and-resources/customer-identification-and-verification/beneficial-owners">true ownership of companies and trusts</a> through the use of associates or fake identities. </p>
<p>Similarly, <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">in a joint investigation</a> last year, the Australian Federal Police and the US Federal Bureau of Investigations identified the involvement of lawyers, accountants and other professionals in organised crime activities across Australia and abroad.</p>
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<h2>Australia remains vulnerable to financial crime</h2>
<p>To overcome this problem, the Howard government started to talk about reforming the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act in 2007. But these reforms have still not been implemented. </p>
<p>As a result, Australia is currently failing to meet international commitments on cracking down on money laundering and terrorist financing set by the global financial crime watchdog, <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/en/publications/Fatfrecommendations/Fatf-recommendations.html">the Financial Action Task Force</a>. The Paris-based task force was established in 1989. It currently has 39 members, including Australia, and 205 jurisdictions committed to meeting its standards. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-westpac-is-alleged-to-have-broken-anti-money-laundering-laws-23-million-times-127518">How Westpac is alleged to have broken anti-money laundering laws 23 million times</a>
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<p>Astonishingly, Australia is one of the only three countries that have not extended or promised to extend its money laundering laws to cover professionals like lawyers and real estate agents. Haiti and Madagascar are the other two.</p>
<p>This regulatory gap opens Australia up to potentially grave consequences. It has made the country an attractive destination for financial crimes and leaves us ill-equipped to deal with <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791423000064">evolving threats</a>.</p>
<p>Extending the law to include these professionals would give Australia a more robust framework to combat illicit activities in line with international standards. Better reporting, due diligence and oversight of these individuals must be a priority.</p>
<p>The need for implementing these reforms cannot be overstated. By seizing this opportunity, Australia can demonstrate its dedication to safeguarding its financial system. While it may just be the tip of the iceberg, it is a necessary step that can no longer be neglected.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206606/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>For 16 years, the government has failed to reform our anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws to include professionals like real estate agents and lawyers.Jamie Ferrill, Lecturer in Financial Crime Studies, Charles Sturt UniversityMilind Tiwari, Research Fellow In Financial Crime, Charles Sturt UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2067092023-06-09T12:26:09Z2023-06-09T12:26:09ZUK ivory trade ban extended to five more species – here’s why we think it will be ineffective<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530555/original/file-20230607-23-m1kddg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=36%2C6%2C4092%2C2713&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The import of ivory into the UK from five more species, including walruses, has been banned.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/wildlife-photographer-arctic-walrus-on-sand-1569758596">Ondrej Prosicky/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The loss of nature is one of the many environmental crises facing our planet. And a key challenge in addressing this is halting the poaching and trafficking of wildlife, which is often driven by demand for ivory.</p>
<p>In a bid to protect animals from poaching, the UK government has <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/news/five-new-species-set-to-be-protected-under-ivory-act-extension">strengthened legal protections</a> for five more species. Trading in ivory from <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/hippopotamus-mammal-species">hippos</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/walrus">walruses</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/narwhal">narwhals</a>, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/killer-whale">killer whales</a> and <a href="https://www.britannica.com/animal/sperm-whale">sperm whales</a> is set to be prohibited under the extended provisions of the <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2018/30/contents/enacted">Ivory Act 2018</a>. Since coming into force last year, this act has gained recognition as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-65673951">“one of the toughest bans of its kind in the world”</a>. </p>
<p>Its initial objective was to curb the trafficking of elephant tusks, which are smuggled and sold for purposes including traditional medicine and as trophies and ornaments. It bans people from selling, renting, importing or exporting elephant ivory in the UK. Those found guilty of breaking the law can face fines of up to £250,000 and, in severe cases, even imprisonment.</p>
<p>The newly protected species make up a smaller proportion of the ivory trafficking trade than elephants. But these animals are still hunted for their ivory. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.bornfree.org.uk/publications/a-tooth-for-a-tooth">recent investigation</a> examined 621 online listings of ivory in the UK, and discovered that approximately one-third originated from non-elephant species. Furthermore, a <a href="https://www.traffic.org/publications/reports/often-overlooked-ivory-trade-a-rapid-assessment-of-the-international-trade-in-hippo-ivory/">separate report</a> highlighted clear demand for hippo ivory: between 2009 and 2018, an estimated 957kg of hippo ivory was seized globally.</p>
<p>The legal protection of trading in these species potentially serves as a deterrent for ivory traffickers. But it’s important to recognise that any ban is only as good as its enforcement. We think the effectiveness of the Ivory Act’s legal extensions may be hindered by several barriers.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Hippo head coming out of water with its mouth wide open." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530562/original/file-20230607-21-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=442&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Between 2009 and 2018, an estimated 957kg of hippo ivory was seized globally.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/hippo-head-coming-out-water-wide-1727243290">Carlene Thurston/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<h2>1. Global disparity in wildlife law</h2>
<p>In many countries, the trade in ivory is merely “regulated” rather than prohibited, allowing existing markets to persist. In 2022, <a href="https://data.consilium.europa.eu/doc/document/ST-12274-2022-ADD-2/en/pdf">ten African nations</a> attempted to increase protections for hippos. However, their proposal was rejected and the legal trade in hippo ivory continues in those countries.</p>
<p>The global disparity between wildlife trade laws enables the continued circulation of illegally obtained ivory, often laundered alongside trade in legitimate ivory. Hong Kong, for example, declares a higher volume of hippo ivory imported from Uganda than the volume Uganda declares it exports. Some <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/aje.12441">14,000kg of hippo teeth were unaccounted for</a> between Uganda and Hong Kong from 1995 to 2013, suggesting actual trade levels greatly exceed the agreed quotas.</p>
<p>The impact on ivory trafficking of an extended ban is likely to remain limited without a global consensus on wildlife laws. Yet unfortunately, there is wide variation in wildlife protection laws across different countries, with each state adopting its own approach. This remains the case despite <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003007838/cites-protecting-wildlife-tanya-wyatt">international law</a> setting out the basis for wildlife protection. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://cites.org/eng">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species</a> (Cites), for instance, imposes international restrictions on wildlife trade that signatory countries are obliged to comply with. Similarly, <a href="https://iwc.int/management-and-conservation/whaling/commercial">commercial whaling activities</a> are explicitly prohibited by the <a href="https://iwc.int/en/">International Whaling Commission</a>. </p>
<p>However, there are many cases where countries have signed these agreements without implementing or enforcing the necessary changes. Earlier this year, Mexico acknowledged that it <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/news/mexico-ap-cites-sea-shepherd-mexico-city-b2308050.html">faces sanctions</a> from Cites for failing to adequately protect the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/species/vaquita">vaquita marina</a>, an endangered species of porpoise.</p>
<h2>2. Policing</h2>
<p>Wildlife crimes are not always given the priority they require. <a href="https://www.ifaw.org/uk/resources/make-wildlife-matter-report">Research</a> based on surveys of UK police forces and police and crime commissioners found that wildlife crime enforcement was heavily dependent on the “enthusiasm, dedication and specialist knowledge of individual officers”.</p>
<p>Other studies consistently show that wildlife crime enforcement <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10610-011-9140-4%20or%20https://eprints.mdx.ac.uk/11066/">suffers from inadequate resources</a>, and is not considered a primary focus within mainstream policing in the UK. Although the UK has a dedicated <a href="https://www.nwcu.police.uk/">National Police Wildlife Crime Unit</a>, training in wildlife crime is not included in the compulsory training regime for police officers. As a result, wildlife crimes are inconsistently prosecuted, and even when cases do reach the courts, <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-21576-6_11">fines and sentencing are often lenient</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A UK wildlife & rural crime officer’s patrol car." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530560/original/file-20230607-27-qd01sb.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Training in wildlife crime does not form part of UK police officer training.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/beverley-east-yorkshire-uk-14-february-1317305369">Mick Atkins/Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<h2>3. Criminal organisations</h2>
<p><a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12117-020-09385-9">Organised crime networks</a> play a significant role in facilitating the illegal ivory trade. It’s therefore likely that numerous unreported and undiscovered incidents occur. These criminal networks employ various techniques to facilitate their activities, including sophisticated smuggling methods, bribery, corruption and exploiting porous borders.</p>
<p>The participation of criminal organisations contributes to a lack of understanding about the true scale of the ivory trade and the different species involved. This <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10610-011-9140-">hinders efforts</a> to gather accurate data on the ivory trade and allocate resources for enforcement.</p>
<h2>4. Ivory identification</h2>
<p>UK authorities enforcing the strengthened ban on ivory trade face the additional hurdle of accurately identifying ivory and ivory products. Traffickers commonly employ tactics to deceive by disguising elephant ivory as other products, particularly on online marketplaces. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1940082920974604">Research</a> has documented cases where ivory has been misrepresented as materials from other species, such as cow bone, on ecommerce platforms. This practice makes it difficult to distinguish illicit ivory trade from legitimate transactions. </p>
<p>The situation will be further complicated by the fact that some existing ivory markets, such as <a href="https://www.bornfree.org.uk/publications/a-tooth-for-a-tooth">those involving warthogs</a>, are not covered by the extended Ivory Act. These gaps in protection again provide avenues for traffickers to exploit, by hiding illegal ivory among legal ivory trade.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Various souvenirs carved from ivory." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/530568/original/file-20230607-5320-iwb073.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Accurately identifying ivory and ivory products can be challenging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/souvenirs-amulets-carved-ivory-sale-thaicambodia-1130439302">Christopher PB/Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>Any law that protects threatened wildlife should be welcomed. However, a ban alone will not prevent illegal activity. The establishment of a properly funded enforcement regime is essential if we are to safeguard our natural world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/206709/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angus Nurse has received funding from the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) to independently research the current state of wildlife crime in the UK. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elliot Doornbos does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Any law that protects threatened wildlife should be welcomed – but a ban alone will not prevent illegal activity.Elliot Doornbos, Senior Lecturer of Criminology, Nottingham Trent UniversityAngus Nurse, Head of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Nottingham Trent UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2003862023-02-24T11:29:29Z2023-02-24T11:29:29ZSouth Africa’s intelligence agency needs speedy reform - or it must be shut down<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/512012/original/file-20230223-2271-8qc43o.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mondli Gungubele, former minister in the Presidency, was in charge of intelligence.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Siyabulela Duga/GCIS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South Africa’s <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/intelligence-white-paper">civilian intelligence service</a>, the State Security Agency, is a broken institution. It is meant to provide intelligence to forewarn the country about national security threats. </p>
<p>Powerful individuals aligned to former president <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/profiles/president-jacob-zuma-0">Jacob Zuma</a>, presumably at his behest, repurposed the institution to help him maintain his grip on <a href="http://www.saflii.org/images/state-capture-commission-report-part-5-vol1.pdf">power</a>. It was one of many institutions that were repurposed for improper personal or political gain during his tenure (May 2009 to February 2018): a process that has become known as <a href="http://www.saflii.org/images/state-capture-commission-report-part-5-vol1.pdf">state capture</a>. </p>
<p>His successor, President Cyril Ramaphosa, <a href="https://ewn.co.za/2022/10/24/ramaphosa-vows-to-overhaul-ssa-as-per-zondo-commission-recommendations">promised</a> in 2022 to reform the agency so it would serve its original mission. He committed to returning it to the pre-2009 era of having separate domestic and foreign branches, each led by its own director-general. </p>
<p>This decision is a major positive development. The Zuma administration <a href="http://www.saflii.org/images/state-capture-commission-report-part-5-vol1.pdf">merged the two branches</a> and abused the centralised model to protect the president from criticism. </p>
<p>Dismantling this architecture of abuse is happening too slowly, however, with no transitional plan having been announced publicly. Such a plan should include appointing interim heads for the domestic and foreign branches, rather than relying on people in acting positions. The government’s underestimation of the time needed to restructure the intelligence agency could have potentially serious, even dangerous, consequences. </p>
<h2>What went wrong</h2>
<p>The government under Zuma established the State Security Agency in 2009 as an <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/merger-of-spy-agencies-led-to-cabinet-ministers-giving-ssa-operatives-illegal-instructions-20210915">amalgamation</a> of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Intelligence_Agency_(South_Africa)">National Intelligence Agency</a>, the domestic intelligence service, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Secret_Service">South African Secret Service</a>, the foreign service.</p>
<p>At that stage, the directors general and other intelligence entities <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LCm2Ds5V0I">reported directly</a> to the Minister of Intelligence. A coordinating mechanism ensured overall coherence. But in 2021 Ramaphosa <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/ramaphosa-does-away-with-intelligence-ministry-ssa-to-report-directly-to-him-20210805">dissolved</a> the ministry. The agency now reports to the Minister in the Presidency.</p>
<p>The intelligence agency during the Zuma era concentrated too much power in one entity, specifically a super director-general. Hence, it took very little to capture the entire entity for abusive purposes. Officials loyal to the former president used this merged structure to turn the agency into a <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency-9-mar-2019-0000">protective service</a> for him and those close to him politically.</p>
<p>Testimony before the state capture commission showed how the agency’s resources were <a href="http://www.saflii.org/images/state-capture-commission-report-part-5-vol1.pdf">used</a> to improve the fortunes of the governing African National Congress under Zuma’s leadership, by providing his supporters with resources to campaign on his behalf. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/zumas-abuse-of-south-africas-spy-agency-underscores-need-for-strong-civilian-oversight-154439">Zuma's abuse of South Africa's spy agency underscores need for strong civilian oversight</a>
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<p>Despite his administration’s stated objective of integrating the two services, they continued to operate on separate tracks. In fact, the merger <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency-9-mar-2019-0000">eroded</a> the very essence of the intelligence mandate – of forewarning the state of national security threats. The failure of intelligence ahead of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-deadly-july-2021-riots-may-recur-if-theres-no-change-186397">July 2021 riots</a> is a glaring example.</p>
<p>During the Zuma years, the focus on protecting the president led to the intelligence agency <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency-9-mar-2019-0000">prioritising</a> domestic intelligence by spying on citizens at the expense of foreign intelligence. Officials with ill intent also undermined the agency’s intelligence gathering <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency-9-mar-2019-0000">capacity</a>.</p>
<h2>The plan to fix it</h2>
<p>Following Ramaphosa’s promises, then Minister in the Presidency Mondli Gungubele had <a href="https://www.gov.za/speeches/minister-mondli-gungubele-state-nation-address-debate-14-feb-2023-0000">committed the presidency</a> to ongoing reforms.</p>
<p>He highlighted the unbundling into foreign and domestic branches. This was one of the key recommendations of the 2018 High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency’s <a href="https://www.gov.za/documents/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency-9-mar-2019-0000">report</a>. </p>
<p>This would be done through an intelligence laws amendment bill that the intelligence agency intends to introduce to parliament by the end of the current financial year.</p>
<p>This was not the first time Gungubele had made this promise. He did so in May 2022, <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/address-minister-presidency-responsible-state-security%2C-mondli-gungubele%2C-occasion-2022-23-budget-vote-debate%2C-parliament%2C-cape-town">saying</a> that the bill had been finalised and would be submitted to parliament in September of that year. So it should surprise no one if the new timeline isn’t followed once again.</p>
<p>A new bill should ensure that the new heads of domestic and foreign intelligence have more discretionary power, reducing the power of the director-general. Doing so should make it more likely that this person will confine themselves to an oversight role rather than becoming involved in operational matters.</p>
<h2>The problem with the plan</h2>
<p>The fact that the State Security Agency has been absorbed into the presidency – which is also <a href="https://salaamedia.com/2023/02/19/analysis-ramaphosa-is-building-a-super-presidency-while-ministers-sit-at-home/">accumulating</a> other government entities and functions – could be a gift to any president intent on repeating the abuses of the Zuma administration.</p>
<p>One of the biggest dangers is a delay in appointing leaders of the domestic and foreign intelligence branches. They need direction. The head of the foreign branch was <a href="https://www.defenceweb.co.za/security/national-security/mcbride-suspended-as-ssa-foreign-branch-head/">suspended</a> in July 2021 and the head of the domestic branch <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/southafrica/news/ssa-without-a-head-of-domestic-intelligence-after-mahlodi-sam-muofhe-leaves-20210804">left</a> after his contract expired at the end of the same month.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-provides-fertile-ground-for-funders-of-terrorism-heres-why-194282">South Africa provides fertile ground for funders of terrorism. Here's why</a>
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<p>The agency told me that they cannot appoint permanent heads until the bill to restructure the agency becomes a law, and its disestablishment is complete.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/b25a-2011-130416a.pdf">2011 bill</a> that established the amalgamated agency took <a href="https://pmg.org.za/bill/184/">20 months</a> to be signed into law. It would make sense to have a transitional plan, appointing individuals on two-year contracts.</p>
<p>The Zuma administration was characterised by many <a href="https://www.ru.ac.za/perspective/2013archive/zumathekingofacting.html">acting appointments</a> in key positions across government, including the State Security Agency and the <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/zuma-to-appoint-npa-head-by-end-of-august-20150429">National Prosecuting Authority</a>. Relying so heavily on acting appointments weakened the government structures, to enable state capture.</p>
<p>People in acting positions are unable to take strong positions as they lack the security of tenure to do so. But the domestic and foreign branches need strong positions to safeguard South Africa’s security and stability.</p>
<h2>Why this matters</h2>
<p>The result of an intelligence service that is not fit for purpose is that the country is vulnerable to security threats from within and without. South Africans are living with the disastrous consequences – such as <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-09-21-south-africas-organised-crime-climbs-to-italys-levels-racing-past-mexico-somalia-and-libya/">rising organised crime</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/sandton-terror-alert-time-for-south-africa-to-improve-its-intelligence-sharing-channels-with-the-us-194542">Sandton terror alert: time for South Africa to improve its intelligence sharing channels with the US</a>
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<p>Going back to separate foreign and domestic services is the last chance civilian intelligence has to re-establish its credibility. </p>
<p>The current round of restructuring the State Security Agency cannot fail. If it does it will have to be shut down and restarted from scratch. </p>
<p>The South American country Colombia did just that. In 2011, the government there <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/americas/colombias-troubled-intelligence-agency-shuttered/2011/11/28/gIQA7mnzTO_story.html">shut down</a> the Administrative Department of Security (DAS), after it went rogue and engaged in criminal activities under the guise of fighting the war on drugs. </p>
<p>Unless the Ramaphosa administration expedites the State Security Agency’s restructuring, then the Colombian option will be the only one that makes sense for the agency. </p>
<p>*This story has been updated to reflect that Mondli Gungubele has since been appointed as Communications Minister in the SA cabinet.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/200386/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:jane.duncan@glasgow.ac.uk">jane.duncan@glasgow.ac.uk</a> receives funding from the British Academy and Luminate.</span></em></p>Having an intelligence service that is not fit for purpose means the country is vulnerable to security threats from within and outside the country.Jane Duncan, Professor of Digital Society, University of GlasgowLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1981602023-02-06T14:58:00Z2023-02-06T14:58:00ZLink between crime and politics in South Africa raises concerns about criminal gangs taking over<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507613/original/file-20230201-8719-bz77s1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">South African President Cyril Ramaphosa receives reports of the of the state capture commission from Justice Raymond Zondo. The reports found exposed massive state corruption involving private individuals and companies. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">GCIS</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GI-TOC-Strategic-Organized-Crime-Risk-Assessment-South-Africa.pdf">report</a> by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organised Crime (Gitoc) released in September 2022 argues that South Africa has increasingly become a centre of organised crime, transcending national boundaries.</p>
<p>The picture emerging from the report is that there are organised networks inside and outside the state that enable, facilitate and exploit opportunities for private gain. Or, they exercise unfair advantage in economic activity in the public and private sectors, using coercive methods. Some actively go about <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-needs-stronger-security-in-place-to-stop-the-sabotage-of-its-power-supply-187889">sabotaging critical infrastructure</a> to benefit from this.</p>
<p>The areas of public life where criminals exploit or intimidate their way into influence are growing. In recent times grand-scale crime has seeped through to <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/global-health/terror-and-security/mystery-murdered-whistleblower-babita-deokaran-who-uncovered/">healthcare</a>, <a href="https://mg.co.za/opinion/2023-01-13-shooting-at-fort-hare-university-highlights-corruption-at-south-african-universities/">education</a> and <a href="https://www.mining.com/eskom-ceo-de-ruyter-survives-alleged-poisoning-attempt/">parastatals</a>. Speaking out against malfeasance comes at a high price.</p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/crime-covid-and-climate-change-south-african-tourism-faces-many-threats-but-its-resilient-192505">Crime, COVID and climate change - South African tourism faces many threats, but it’s resilient</a>
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<p>This is apart from the scores of <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-06-27-the-underworld-runs-the-anc-assassinations-analysis-shows-stark-reality-of-violence-in-kzn/">political assassinations of local activists</a> and officials, either for political gain or sheer vengeance against those who dare to call out corruption. </p>
<h2>Mafia state</h2>
<p>There is no doubt that there is a growing ecosystem of organised crime overwhelming the state and public life in the country. And, because political actors or state institutions are so often implicated in it, some commentators are even asking if South Africa is becoming a <a href="https://mg.co.za/article/2017-11-10-00-the-mafia-state-is-in-full-swing/">“mafia state”</a>. </p>
<p>The term “mafia state” refers to the interpenetration of governments and organised crime networks. In his influential 2012 article, <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/04/25/mafia-states-pub-47954">Mafia States</a>, Venezuelan journalist and writer Moises Naim said: </p>
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<p>In a mafia state, high government officials actually become integral players in, if not the leaders of, criminal enterprises, and the defence and promotion of those enterprises’ businesses become official priorities.</p>
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<p>There is no single prototype for when a state can be labelled a mafia state. The concept is best thought of as a spectrum. The most extreme cases involve politicians at the highest levels taking direct control of organised crime operations. Other characteristics are collusion between crime syndicates and powerful political figures, money laundering to hide illicit proceeds, and the use of violence and intimidation to protect those involved.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/GI-TOC-Strategic-Organized-Crime-Risk-Assessment-South-Africa.pdf">Gitoc report</a> shies away from using the label “mafia state” to describe South Africa. What it does make clear is that there is a proliferation of crime networks that involves not just criminal “kingpins” and politically connected individuals but also ordinary people. They become part of this “value chain”, for different historical reasons. But South Africa may be reaching a point where the link between crime and politics is sustained because there are role-players who do not want to see it changing. </p>
<h2>Fighting corruption</h2>
<p>The prevalence of criminal elements within the state does not mean that the whole of the state has become a criminal enterprise. But it is true that many state institutions, have been targeted by criminals, with the collusion of people on the inside.</p>
<p>South Africans are not resigned to the criminalisation of the state, and are actively challenging it. Many of the revelations about fraud, corruption and nepotism come from principled whistle-blowers within state structures. Others come from the relatively free media, and voices in civil society and politics. Some of the malfeasance has been revealed by <a href="https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/article/2022-08-15-the-zondo-report-has-clearly-fingered-the-enablers-of-state-capture-now-its-time-for-reparations/">inquiries initiated by the executive</a> itself. This is the case with the Zondo Commission, which <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/">probed state capture</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/using-the-south-african-army-to-fight-crime-is-a-bad-idea-heres-why-85627">Using the South African army to fight crime is a bad idea: here's why</a>
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<p>Poor communication strategies make it difficult for ordinary citizens to assess how the state is responding to these challenges. A case in point is the government’s decision to <a href="https://www.news24.com/news24/opinions/columnists/mpumelelo_mkhabela/mpumelelo-mkhabela-when-did-eskom-crisis-become-a-national-security-crisis-requiring-the-army-20230111">deploy the military</a> to beef up security at several electricity generation facilities. It remains to be seen whether the deployment will be able to stop the acts of sabotage that the ESKOM senior management claim to be a major factor in the worsening energy crisis. </p>
<p>As with the <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-lies-behind-social-unrest-in-south-africa-and-what-might-be-done-about-it-166130">July 2021 riots</a>, sparked by the jailing of former president Jacob Zuma for contempt of court, there are <a href="https://mg.co.za/news/2022-12-15-gordhan-calls-out-mantashes-bizarre-accusations-applauds-de-ruyters-efforts-at-eskom/">conflicting public pronouncements</a> from cabinet ministers on critical sectors and services affected by crime.</p>
<h2>The political economy of organised crime</h2>
<p>The South African economy has a formal sector (“first economy”) and an informal sector (“second economy”). Economists call this a <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/05/south-africas-economy-in-5-charts/">dual economy</a>. To this should be added a “third economy” – the illicit economic activities described above, that have seeped into the formal and informal economies. </p>
<p>The overlap between the licit and the illicit economy in South Africa is complex. Even big, multinational companies may also <a href="https://www.pplaaf.org/cases/bain.html">covertly engage in illicit operations</a> in spite of appearances. On the other hand, criminals often exploit vulnerable people where the state has failed to meet basic needs: they offer jobs, opportunities and income, a phenomenon seen not only in South Africa, but <a href="https://www.thebrokeronline.eu/poverty-and-unemployment-encourage-organized-crime-d6/">across the African continent</a>. </p>
<h2>Looking forward</h2>
<p>Part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-needs-stronger-security-in-place-to-stop-the-sabotage-of-its-power-supply-187889">reset</a> South Africa needs to untangle political and crime networks is better policing and security strategies. The state must be able to assert its authority in the interests of the majority, law-abiding citizens who want to live honest lives in a climate of certainty.</p>
<p>If the crime-politics nexus is being deliberately sustained through the collusion of influential actors within the state, then it is going to be much harder to dismantle. </p>
<p>The resources being spent to address crime will be ineffective. The spectre of corrupt, pliable or compromised people in the criminal justice sector will make the future more unstable. Violence and threats against those who stand up against organised crime will become more commonplace. </p>
<p>The reports of the <a href="https://www.statecapture.org.za/site/information/reports">Zondo Commission</a>, the <a href="https://www.siu.org.za/investigation-reports/">Special Investigating Unit</a>, whistle-blower reports, work by <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-investigative-journalists-helped-turn-the-tide-against-corruption-in-south-africa-93434">investigative journalists</a>, research by <a href="https://pari.org.za/betrayal-promise-report/">academics</a>, <a href="https://issafrica.org/research/southern-africa-report/investigating-corruption-in-south-africa-cooperation-or-conflict">think tanks</a> and <a href="https://www.corruptionwatch.org.za/">civil society organisations</a>, all go some way towards showing how the slide towards a criminal state can be halted. The criminal justice system must bring criminals to book, not give way to impunity. </p>
<p>But more important than combating crime is asking the difficult questions about how ordinary people end up involved in organised crime, and why the country’s democracy is becoming <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africans-hold-contradictory-views-about-their-democracy-159647">more polarised</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/many-kenyans-have-embraced-vigilante-cops-an-ineffective-police-force-is-to-blame-196449">Many Kenyans have embraced vigilante cops – an ineffective police force is to blame</a>
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<p>If the dire <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africa-is-trapped-again-what-kind-of-leaders-can-set-the-country-free-187704">socio-economic conditions</a> persist, there is every likelihood that organised criminals will continue to exploit the contradictions in society, and organised crime markets will expand. </p>
<p>The stakes are high. Stopping South Africa from becoming a “mafia state” ought to be a priority for everyone. This will become a key issue of concern to voters ahead of the 2024 national general elections.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198160/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sandy Africa is affiliated with the University of Pretoria's Faculty of Humanities, which partnered with the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime (GITOC), the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) to launch GITOC's 'Strategic Organised Crime Risk Assessment: South Africa' in September 2022.</span></em></p>South Africans are actively challenging the criminalisation of the state. Many of the revelations about fraud, corruption and nepotism come from principled whistle-blowers within the state.Sandy Africa, Associate Professor, Political Sciences, and Deputy Dean Teaching and Learning (Humanities), University of PretoriaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1983522023-01-27T15:54:49Z2023-01-27T15:54:49ZModern mafia: Italy’s organised crime machine has changed beyond recognition in 30 years<p>The arrest of Matteo Messina Denaro, one of Sicily’s most infamous mafia bosses, has reminded many Italians of the extreme violence he was associated with when operating as a leading figure of Cosa Nostra. </p>
<p>Denaro appears to belong to another time – when the mafia brutally killed at will. And it is indeed true that the period of extreme violence with which he is associated has been confined to the past. But that does not in any way mean Italy’s organised crime groups have disappeared in the 30 years Denaro has been in hiding – they’ve just had a rethink about how they operate.</p>
<p>The Italian mafia has drastically reduced the number of homicides it carries out. Violence is now used in a much more strategic and less visible way. Rather than bloody and conspicuous murders, the modern mafia intimidates with crimes that are less likely to be reported to the police – such as arson and physical assault or sending threats. Murder is now a last resort. </p>
<p>The violent conflict between the Sicilian mafia and the Italian state reached its climax in the early 1990s. This was a period characterised by massacre after massacre, including the notorious bombing on <a href="https://www.unionesarda.it/en/italy/thirty-years-ago-the-via-d39-amelio-massacre-but-borsellino39-s-brother-invokes-silence-avzmokq9">Via D'Amelio in 1992</a> that killed magistrate Paolo Borsellino and five members of his entourage. In 1991 alone, there were 1,916 homicides – 718 of which were of a mafia nature.</p>
<p>The media covered every twist and turn. Politicians spoke in parliament about the scourge of organised crime. Mafia activity occupied a significant place in Italy’s public discourse and cultural imagination. </p>
<p>The authorities reacted with force. New laws were enacted, such as the “41-bis” prison regime, which included the threat of solitary confinement for members of organised crime gangs. A local municipality could be stripped of its powers for up to two years if local officials were thought to be working with the mafia, and a nationally appointed <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/ecoj.12237">technocratic administration</a> installed to clean house. A national anti-mafia directorate was also created so that more resources could be dedicated to the fight against organised crime.</p>
<p>In the years that followed, <a href="https://www.istat.it/it/archivio/277932#:%7E:text=Nel%202021%20gli%20omicidi%20risultano,diminuiti%20nel%202020%20(170)">data</a> shows a radical decrease in the number of mafia-related homicides, from 718 in 1991 to just 28 in 2019. In 2020, there were 271 homicides in Italy, compared with almost 2,000 in 1991. With 0.5 homicides per 100,000 inhabitants, Italy now has the fewest homicides in Europe after Iceland and Slovenia – fewer homicides per capita than Norway, Switzerland or Luxembourg.</p>
<p>At the same time, an interesting trend can be identified. In ongoing research, I’ve been analysing the archive of RAI (Italian National Television) over the past 40 years and studying the content of national and regional news bulletins. It’s clear that in years with more mafia homicides, media coverage related to the mafia increases, measured by the percentage of news on the mafia topic.</p>
<p>Conversely, when mafia homicides decrease, the topic is talked about less and there are fewer interventions in parliament. For example, between 1992 and 1994, organised crime was cited in 15% of speeches by parliamentarians. Within 20 years it was being mentioned in just 4.3% of speeches.</p>
<p>In other words, the more the mafia openly kills, the more attention it attracts from the media and politicians. It’s important to note that these are not necessarily years in which the mafia has been any less active in other ways. The smuggling, racketeering and corruption continues unabated. Only the most noticeable violence is in retreat. </p>
<h2>Unreported and unnoticed</h2>
<p>All of this suggests that the decrease in the number of homicides could, at least in part, be a strategic choice. Criminals have worked out what they need to do to fly under the radar and be left to their own devices. </p>
<p>This does not mean that violence is no longer used – it is simply more targeted. As reported every year by the anti-mafia charity <a href="https://www.avvisopubblico.it/home/home/cosa-facciamo/pubblicazioni/amministratori-sotto-tiro/">Avviso Pubblico</a>, local administrators are now the main targets of the mafia. They are sent threatening letters and are treated with aggression in person at a rate of about one incident per day. This phenomenon goes almost unnoticed by the media, which would surely pay attention were a member of the national parliament face intimidation or violence. At best, local officials might see their experiences reported in the local press; it’s rare for such incidents to be reported on at a national level. </p>
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<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/matteo-messina-denaro-arrest-of-mafia-boss-after-30-years-on-the-run-is-the-end-of-an-era-but-not-the-end-of-the-cosa-nostra-197940">Matteo Messina Denaro: arrest of mafia boss after 30 years on the run is the end of an era – but not the end of the Cosa Nostra</a>
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<p>The mafia thereby neatly achieves its goal of influencing local politics without attracting media and political attention. Election periods are particularly delicate: mayors are <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0047272717301251">subject to the most threats at these times</a>, particularly in the period immediately after taking office, as local criminals see an opportunity to take control of the newcomer. </p>
<p>This strategy has facilitated the mafia’s economic expansion. While the number of murders has declined, the number of properties and businesses seized from the mafia has ballooned – again suggesting that a drop in violent crime is not necessarily an indicator of a drop in other types of criminal activity. In 1991, the state seized two companies and four properties from the mafia. In 2019, <a href="https://aziendeconfiscate.camcom.gov.it/odacWeb/home">351 companies and 651 properties</a> were seized.</p>
<p>These figures could be read as indicating that law enforcement is doing a better job of identifying economic crime, and that could indeed be the case. But other data lends weight to the more pessimistic interpretation of the facts.</p>
<p>In 2019, assets relating to organised criminals were seized in 11 Italian provinces (largely in the northern regions) that had never previously experienced mafia activity. And today, each police operation related to organised crime leads to <a href="https://direzioneinvestigativaantimafia.interno.gov.it/statistiche/">seizures of about €1 million</a> (£880,000). At the end of the 1990s, the average value was about €50,000.</p>
<p>This suggests that far from being in retreat, the mafia is expanding into new areas of the country, and finding more lucrative opportunities as it goes.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198352/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gianmarco Daniele does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Organised crime gangs appear to have realised that committing fewer murders enables them to fly under the radar more easily.Gianmarco Daniele, Assistant Professor at University of Milan and Executive Director of the CLEAN Unit on the economics of crime at Bocconi University, Bocconi UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1979402023-01-17T18:34:04Z2023-01-17T18:34:04ZMatteo Messina Denaro: arrest of mafia boss after 30 years on the run is the end of an era – but not the end of the Cosa Nostra<p>Matteo Messina Denaro, one of the leaders of the Sicilian mafia, the Cosa Nostra, has finally been detained after 30 years on the run. His arrest came as around 100 police officers surrounded the private Maddalena clinic in Palermo where they had discovered he was receiving treatment. </p>
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<p>Rumours had been rife for weeks that Denaro was ill and having chemotherapy – but it came as a surprise to the public that Italy’s most wanted man was having treatment in a Palermo clinic alongside ordinary citizens. He was in the queue for tests when a police officer approached him to ask him who he was. An associate standing with him made a run for it but he came forward and simply answered “I am Matteo Messina Denaro”. </p>
<p>Investigators <a href="https://www.unionesarda.it/en/italy/matteo-messina-denaro-the-press-conference-of-the-carabinieri-n3gg04a6">explained at their press conference</a> that it was his need for healthcare that finally enabled them to identify him and move in. </p>
<p>Denaro’s arrest on January 16 came exactly 30 years and one day after the arrest of his mentor, the boss, Toto “the Beast” Riina. It seems significant that after three decades on the run, this was the date the state finally managed to catch up with him. It may indicate that the internal dynamics of Cosa Nostra are changing and that someone had decided to give him up because he was no longer considered “useful”.</p>
<p>Denaro is the last boss who knows all the secrets surrounding Cosa Nostra’s terrorist attacks on the state of the early 1990s. Were he to talk, he could provide essential pieces to the post-war Mafia puzzle. This is very unlikely, however, so anyone hoping for closure or the truth may well be disappointed.</p>
<p>His arrest is also a worrying reminder for authorities about the current state of play. His is the last known face of Cosa Nostra’s leadership. Investigators know less about what current leaders look like and will now be fighting with one hand tied behind their back as they look for other mafia suspects.</p>
<h2>A bridge between the old and new school</h2>
<p>Denaro was the last of the old generation mafia bosses. He represents the final link between the <a href="https://euobserver.com/rule-of-law/155016">belligerent and overt Cosa Nostra</a> of the early 1990s and the silent, business-like mafia of the 21st century. He was born into a mafia family and was known for his violence but he also moved in the “right” circles for progressing his career. </p>
<p>He is the last mafia boss who associated with the Corleone generation, a group of mafiosi (led by Riina and Bernardo Provenzano) that essentially conducted out-and-out war on the Italian state in the early 1990s. The conflict caused numerous violent deaths such as of judges <a href="https://brill.com/display/book/9789004281943/B9789004281943-s044.xml">Giovanni Falcone and Paolo Borsellino</a> and of Giuseppe Di Matteo, the 12-year-old <a href="https://allthatsinteresting.com/giuseppe-di-matteo">son of a turncoat</a>, who was kidnapped, strangled and dissolved in acid to force his father to backtrack on his collaboration with the state. </p>
<p>Considered to be less conservative than traditional and older leaders, Denaro was flashier and more modern. He was able to direct the Cosa Nostra from 2007 until his arrest by infiltrating the legitimate economy through front companies. While Riina adopted a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mobster-salvatore-riina-helped-motivate-a-fightback-against-the-mafia-87876">terrorist strategy towards the state</a>, Denaro’s mafia brand encapsulates the 21st century: it is based on a mixture of violence, illegal activities, social solidarity (providing jobs and justice to local communities), silence and anonymity. Solid business and political contacts are also crucial, especially the capacity to reinvest “dirty money” into the legitimate economy. </p>
<p>In recent years, it has even been suggested that Denaro was investing in innovative and forward-looking businesses (such as <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2013/4/3/italy-seizes-mafia-tied-clean-energy-assets">wind and solar energy companies</a>). All this is abetted by a <a href="https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/facilitating-the-italian-mafia-the-grey-zone-of-complicity-and-co-2">large network of enablers and facilitators</a> who have protected Denaro for the past 30 years. These are often likely to be people with no criminal record of their own, so are less traceable by the authorities. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/married-to-the-mob-what-the-lives-of-two-camorra-women-tell-us-about-how-to-challenge-the-power-of-the-mafia-193924">Married to the mob: what the lives of two Camorra women tell us about how to challenge the power of the mafia</a>
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<p>The existence of such trusted support networks within Denaro’s mafia is a crucial issue for the authorities. It shows still the existence of a layer of <em>omertà</em> – silence – that protected him. This arrest is a clear victory for the Italian state, but it must be asked why it took so long to find Denaro in Sicily. His protective circle has evidently been hard to break down. </p>
<p>The police have slowly been able to remove these layers of accomplices which made him vulnerable – but it has taken time. The Italian police has come to rely on both traditional monitoring and more modern digital and telephone intercepts when investigating mafia networks. These eventually proved successful.</p>
<h2>The end of Cosa Nostra – or a new era?</h2>
<p>Denaro’s arrest could well produce a power vacuum that throws the Cosa Nostra into crisis – but this is not the end of the mafia. The fall of Denaro might even create an opportunity for it to mutate once again, change and adapt to new business opportunities, like a snake changes its skin. I believe that this arrest marks a change of the guard for the leadership of Cosa Nostra. It may be that Denaro was no longer relevant or needed. Maybe, he had even outlived his usefulness. A new generation will already be in place managing Cosa Nostra.</p>
<p>Many people may now declare Cosa Nostra dead. Clearly, it is not as healthy as Italy’s other main organised crime gangs – the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13532944.2011.554805?tab=permissions&scroll=top">Calabrian ‘Ndrangheta</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/mafia-in-naples-is-still-going-strong-and-we-must-not-forget-how-it-affects-everyday-life-in-the-city-120177">Neapolitan Camorra</a>, both of which are thriving – but it is far from a lost cause. Even after Denaro’s downfall, the Cosa Nostra continues to function, permeating the Italian economy and the economies of plenty of other European nations. Therefore, the Italian state and European countries must relentlessly continue their fight against mafias and organised crime groups and never let their guard down.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/197940/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The mafia boss is the last known face of the Cosa Nostra crime syndicate. But his capture represents the end of an era, not the end of the mafia in Sicily.Felia Allum, Professor of comparative organised crime and corruption., University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1939242022-12-12T16:26:50Z2022-12-12T16:26:50ZMarried to the mob: what the lives of two Camorra women tell us about how to challenge the power of the mafia<blockquote>
<p>I told the judge: “Dottore, I’m on the first floor. If they want to retaliate again, they know where to find me … All the lives they’ve taken from me – they took my brother, they took my husband. I don’t think there’s anything else.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Lucia has had a harsh life. A petite and elegant 80-year-old woman with piercing brown eyes that are starting to fail and a melancholic smile, she lives on her own in a middle-class neighbourhood of Naples near the Maradona stadium. Lucia may look like your typical well-kept Neapolitan grandmother, but there is much more to her than meets the eye.</p>
<p>She was born during the second world war into what would become one of Naples’ more powerful criminal families, the only girl between two boys. Her father, like many men in the immediate post-war period, got involved in any business opportunity going to make money and survive. She denies that he was ever a <em>mafioso</em>, saying he was only ever looking out for others – but this is how he is described in most newspaper articles, police and judicial reports.</p>
<p>In the 1980s, Lucia had a prime view of the Neapolitan underworld and its devastating violence. Her younger brother was an emerging Camorra member specialising in relationships with corrupt businessmen and judges. Her husband, a car dealer, secretly collaborated with his brother, an international drug trafficker and significant criminal figure. On paper these were respectable businessmen, but in reality they were important <em>camorristi</em> – members of a key Camorra city clan.</p>
<p>Then, in the early ‘90s, both Lucia’s husband and younger brother were killed in mafia hits. She cries during our interview, which is conducted online because of COVID restrictions, especially when she talks about her brother’s murder. Lucia explains that she has had to bottle up her emotions ever since:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I’ll confess this to you: I have experienced great pain, great fear and great suffering. This is my whole life.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Life imprisonment</h2>
<p>It is said that you can only be born into a criminal family – otherwise you will always be an "outsider”. While this is true of Lucia, Teresa was a complete outsider to the criminal underworld as a child. One of nine siblings, her mother was a housewife and her father worked for the municipal dairy:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>My father was hard-working and my mother raised us with love and care … [They] taught us good values, to respect everyone. My father always played with us children.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Yet like Lucia, Teresa also became a Camorra wife. This proud great-grandmother, now 68, first met her husband Giuseppe in 1968 at the age of 14. He would go on to become a <em>capo zona</em> (neighbourhood boss) for the Camorra, but in 1990 was sent to prison for life with a minimum tariff of 30 years.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/288776/original/file-20190820-170910-8bv1s7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p><strong><em>This story is part of Conversation Insights</em></strong>
<br><em>The Insights team generates <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/topics/insights-series-71218">long-form journalism</a> and is working with academics from different backgrounds who have been engaged in projects to tackle societal and scientific challenges.</em></p>
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<p>When I last interviewed Teresa in July 2022, she was very angry with Giuseppe, who is now back home on conditional release. She feels she has wasted her life supporting the Camorra and a man who has spent most of his adult life in prison.</p>
<p>Teresa says she used to love spending time in her tiny-but-cosy flat in a working-class district near the busy Neapolitan waterfront. But over the two years that Giuseppe has been back with her, she has become scared and spends a lot of time walking around the city to avoid being at home alone with him:</p>
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<p>I did so much for him and he answers: “No one asked you to.” I spent my life and money on him and he replies: “But I made you live the good life.” It is hell – he loves no one. He has become the devil.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Hiding in the shadows</h2>
<p>There is another important character in this story: Naples. I am married to a Neapolitan and have a love-hate relationship with Italy’s third largest city.</p>
<p>When you walk around Naples, you don’t necessarily feel or see the Camorra. Rarely do you witness its business dealings or its beatings. It prefers to hide in the shadows, but there are small traces that become visible if you know what to look for.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="aerial view of city" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=327&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499980/original/file-20221209-29206-4pofku.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">The city of Naples with Mount Vesuvius in the background.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Felia Allum</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
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<p>Walk down a street in the <a href="https://www.naplespass.eu/info-and-tips/attractions-art-and-culture/what-to-see-in-the-spanish-neighborhood-quartieri-spagnoli">Spanish quarter</a>, for example, and if you are not a local a whistle may sound to warn Camorra colleagues that an unidentified person is walking in their direction. The criminal activities and individuals disappear in a second, whether to avoid possible rivals or a police bust.</p>
<p>One lunchtime walking home, I caught a glimpse of two youngsters on a moped carrying an enormous Kalashnikov rifle as they drove up and down the streets controlling the territory. Everyone looked at the floor and the tension was palpable, but they passed without incident. Normality was restored.</p>
<p>The Camorra protects its territory but it also wants to make people feel safe and gain their respect. My brother-in-law, when he lived in the city centre, once went into a bar for a coffee and in a flash, a young man had stolen his wallet. Everyone in the cafe looked confused – how could this happen to a local? Within five minutes, the wallet was back in my brother-in-law’s hands – with the understanding that he would not go to the police. </p>
<p>Let’s not forget that the Camorra looks out for its local community. It makes good business sense to guarantee peace and social consensus.</p>
<h2>A more complete picture</h2>
<p>Over the past 20 years, I have sought out the <a href="https://researchportal.bath.ac.uk/en/publications/women-doing-it-for-themselves-or-standing-in-for-their-men-women-">stories</a> of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11133-018-9389-8">women who orbit the Neapolitan criminal underworld</a>. I believe sharing their voices can help build a more complete picture of organised crime to complement the city’s judicial overview. Above all, I hope it can help us understand how to counter the mafia’s deeply harmful grip on communities all over Naples and beyond.</p>
<p>Women have traditionally been ignored and considered irrelevant in the story of the Camorra and other Italian mafias, and indeed <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003146568/graphic-narratives-organised-crime-gender-power-europe-felia-allum-anna-mitchell">in most organised crime groups around the world</a>. In 2006, the Neapolitan Camorra was made famous by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/oct/16/my-life-in-the-mafias-shadow-italys-most-hunted-author-robert-saviano">Roberto Saviano’s accounts</a>: he documented its members, structures, activities and links to politics. He even illustrated some of its female protagonists, but they were always presented as the exception rather than the rule.</p>
<p>In contrast to the rural Sicilian and Calabrian mafias, the Camorra has deep roots within the city of Naples. The <a href="https://direzioneinvestigativaantimafia.interno.gov.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Relazione_Sem_II_2021-1.pdf">Anti-mafia Investigation Directorate</a> (DIA) estimates there are 44 active clans in the city and a further 98 across the rest of the Campania region. In 2021 alone, they were <a href="https://www.anteprima24.it/napoli/omicidi-napoli-2021-primati/">reported</a> to have been involved in 26 murders and 65 attempted murders.</p>
<p>While many get distracted by the “<a href="http://www.lejournalinternational.info/en/les-baby-gangs-la-jeunesse-mafieuse/">baby gang</a>” phenomenon – groups of children and teenagers forming their own criminal gangs in Naples – Camorra clans remain <a href="https://theconversation.com/mafia-in-naples-is-still-going-strong-and-we-must-not-forget-how-it-affects-everyday-life-in-the-city-120177">heavily involved</a> in extortion, drugs and counterfeit goods. They have become savvy about social media and the potential for new business opportunities such as online fraud. Whenever necessary, they have the ear of both local and national officials.</p>
<h2>Falling in love</h2>
<p>Both Lucia and Teresa admit they fell for the wrong men. But they were not coerced or forced, despite how it might appear from the outside. Both describe complex relationships that were at once loving, coercive, inconsistent and contradictory. Of course, they weren’t only married to their husbands but the mob too.</p>
<p>Despite Teresa’s love affair with Giuseppe as a teenager, he married another girl who had told him she was pregnant. Once he realised she was not, he came looking for Teresa again. But because he was now married, they had to run away together as their strict parents could not accept this irregular relationship.</p>
<p>The couple found a small basement flat in a nearby district and had their first child in 1974. After that Teresa’s parents could not keep away. They turned up at the hospital and peace was restored when they met their new granddaughter.</p>
<p>Lucia’s romance was more turbulent. Her future husband kidnapped her in 1959 when she was 17 because he “had a sick love” for her, but feared her father would never approve of him. Lucia defends his subsequent violence and jealousy towards her by arguing that “I was still a child for him – so I had to stay that way”.</p>
<p>After two years, they returned to Naples and in time Lucia’s father accepted the relationship – but it was an agitated marriage. Lucia says she only fell in love with her husband once she had her first child:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I never went to complain to my father or my brothers, not least because they would say: “At the end of the day, you wanted him.” But at that age, how could I know? I wanted him as I couldn’t get close to any other man after being with him.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Many people imagine mafia women either to be male-like leaders or unimportant bystanders. Lucia and Teresa are neither of these caricatures. Their marriages and the families that grew out of them spawned love, trust and loyalty. They were in partnerships against the common enemy, the Italian state. Family relationships were transformed into criminal ventures. It seemed to me that Lucia knew and accepted what she was getting into – and Teresa says the same:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yes, I started to understand many things. I understood, but by now we were too involved. When you get into this thing, you can’t get out afterwards – you don’t leave.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Invisible ghosts</h2>
<p>Italian mafias are always portrayed as male-centred criminal organisations, whether in films and TV series, academic and newspaper articles, legal judgments or police reports. Women, if present at all, are purely representatives of the men, <a href="https://theconversation.com/mcmafias-passive-women-simply-arent-credible-91268">with no independent agency</a>.</p>
<p>By failing to challenge this “master” narrative, women’s criminal activities are overlooked and the fight against mafias is weakened. Women are an integral part of these groups with their own agency and their own criminal knowledge and capacity for violence.</p>
<p>My studies show that women often bear joint responsibility for the planning of criminal activities, but this remains hidden within the informal world of the household. In this private space, they participate, advise and organise. They are not coerced or forced; they are aware, knowledgeable and involved. Without these women, the criminal structures would find it difficult to survive.</p>
<p>So why are the majority of them “invisible ghosts” to us? Judicial records and police reports tend not to pick up the involvement of women because it is often behind closed doors, discreet and unpaid and therefore invisible. While much of Italian civil society reinforces patriarchal values that diminish the role and value of women, family life is a negotiated space where women can predominate. The same is true in Italian mafia families, where women – especially mothers and wives – can become equals to their men in the criminal underworld.</p>
<p>Over the course of our conversations, Lucia and Teresa highlight how living in a criminal space is not a black-and-white affair, as described in fiction or academic books. They show me that behind every successful male mafioso, there is likely to be a strong woman. But this doesn’t mean they are free of regrets.</p>
<h2>A family slain</h2>
<p>Lucia does not directly acknowledge the criminal activities of her husband or younger brother. She accepts that her husband did some loan sharking and that he went to prison for four years for his activities. But she is vague about the details because she was also part of this family business. Her husband put one of his companies under her name in order to hide their illegal profits, for which she went on the run and eventually spent time in prison in 1981. She never makes it clear why – she just did time for the family business.</p>
<p>Lucia’s son, who I have also interviewed and is not involved with the Camorra, acknowledges his mother’s apparent duplicity – of knowing but not wanting to know, of being involved without wanting to. Lucia says she always had a sense of how things would play out – first when her father was shot (but not killed) in 1980, then when her younger brother and husband were assassinated a decade later.</p>
<p>Her father was punished by her brother-in-law after he had supposedly “behaved improperly” towards Lucia’s sister-in-law, exposing a deep internal rift in this Camorra clan. Lucia told her husband that she knew who had ordered her father’s shooting but was not believed – probably because she was a woman. </p>
<p>While she maintains that her younger brother was “an honourable man”, to anti-mafia prosecutors he was a key member of the dominant Camorra alliance in the late 1980s, involved in drug trafficking and other criminal activities. He too was murdered, in 1991, apparently because his associates suspected he was a police informer. </p>
<p>Lucia recalls that her brother’s killer was someone he knew, whom he had taken in and looked after. She likens this Camorra execution to “being kissed and then shot in the back” – and says it “crucified” her:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I raised him – and when he died it was my great pain. We cried together when we were children because daddy wasn’t around, so he was like a son as well as a brother to me. That was my first big pain – my biggest pain.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Almost unimaginably, two years later Lucia’s husband was murdered because his brother, a top mafia boss, had decided to collaborate with the state. Her husband was offered state protection (as all relatives of informers are) but he refused point-blank; it is believed he was murdered as a form of indirect revenge.</p>
<p>After her husband’s murder, Lucia was also offered state protection but she too refused. There was simply nothing left for her to lose:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>All the lives they’ve taken from me – they took my brother, they took my husband. I don’t think there’s anything else … I experienced great pain, great fear and great suffering.</p>
</blockquote>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Giant mural on two apartment buildings" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/499850/original/file-20221208-9377-9fo5k3.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Che Guevara depicted in Naples’ San Giovanni a Teduccio neighbourhood, known as ‘the Bronx’, which has its own Camorra issues.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Felia Allum</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Breaking from the Camorra</h2>
<p>As <em>capo zona</em>, the boss of their local neighbourhood, Teresa’s husband Giuseppe was much respected and admired by his local community. She explains “they loved him” because he brought calm and was a “reference point” people could turn to in times of hardship:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>From the beginning, I realised my husband was with these people … I would ask him: 'But what are you doing? What kind of people are they?’ And he would say to me: ‘Teresa, let’s say it’s a life …’ By then he had it in his blood. The truth is they make you persist because they show you the money … They even bought my husband a car. He was starting to dress smartly – and I had everything.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teresa was fully aware of her husband’s activities and supported and helped him. He would explain everything to her and they usually agreed. She never pretended not to know. But she admits:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We got ourselves into a mess, me and him. Not a small one. There was no turning back then. I spent my nights in bed waiting for him to come back home, with the fear that they would kill or arrest him. Those were terrible nights.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 1990, Teresa’s husband was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment for being the leader of a violent group of <em>camorristi</em>. Teresa went from being a “Lady Camorra”, living the good life, to a Camorra widow, visiting her husband in different prisons across Italy while dealing with his lawyer.</p>
<p>Her husband chose not to negotiate with the state, which would have given him a leaner sentence. He frequently told Teresa not to wait for him, saying: “Leave me because I wasn’t a good husband.” But Teresa swore she would stick by him, as did the clan. She explains how the Camorra tried to buy their loyalty and silence:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>[The clan] came in and hired a lawyer, and they gave me 100,000-150,000 Italian lira [then about £400-£600] a week. This is the way the clan keeps members loyal … It is very difficult to say no when they offer this financial help – but in time we did.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Two years into her husband’s prison sentence, Teresa decided to break free from the Camorra, its control and its power. She recalls how one day they came to her door and she said she no longer wanted their money. She would look after herself and her five children alone because she “didn’t want them to go down the same path”. She got a job working in a local market where, she says: “People were scared of me because I was the local boss’s wife.”</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Life got even more difficult – I had to scrape together money so that my husband had money in prison, and to raise my children and for house expenses. My life was bad – you don’t know what it was like. You can’t even imagine.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Teresa grew very depressed, lost a lot of weight and turned to the local nuns for help. They looked after her and gave her a job. Over the 30 years of Giuseppe’s imprisonment, she slowly rebuilt her life, waiting for the day her husband would be released. Eventually he was allowed to take a job outside the prison three days a week. But, says Teresa, life remained “complicated”.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Woman walking away down narrow street" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500000/original/file-20221209-33110-qh64s7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=484&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A woman walks alone through the narrow streets of Naples.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-walking-alone-under-acient-arch-74400820">Giuseppe Parisi/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A wasted life?</h2>
<p>Teresa acknowledges that the clan system in Naples entraps people. Since breaking free of the Camorra’s grip, she has had to work hard to ensure her children did not get sucked in – but she has been successful. Her five kids all have regular jobs: one works in a bakery, one owns a small restaurant, two are looking for work after COVID made them redundant, and another has moved to the north of Italy to work in a hospital. Above all, she says, they are happy people.</p>
<p>Lucia, now a widow for almost 30 years, has also focused on getting her children as far as possible away from a life of crime. According to her son, even though they are now out of the clan system, the local bosses still treat Lucia and the rest of her family with respect and admiration – her surname alone still produces reverence in others.</p>
<p>Being born into the Camorra has probably made it more difficult for Lucia to question and fully escape its grip. On top of all the killings, she has survived cancer too. After we speak for some time, she admits to feeling enormous pain and sadness as she reflects on her life, then says: “But this is my whole life – I have lived everything.”</p>
<p>Teresa, in contrast, says she regrets “everything”, having wasted her life on the wrong man and his choices. After 30 years in prison, he came out two years ago. Teresa had to sign the paperwork to be his guarantor on the outside, but her dream of living a comfortable old age with the man of her life has not quite worked out.</p>
<p>Giuseppe is still under licence – he has limited freedoms and must spend most of his time at home, with the police doing house visits to check on him at antisocial hours. Prison has had a huge impact: he is depressed and traumatised, and this in turn affects everyone around him. </p>
<p>Teresa describes him as “a monster living in her house”. She worries that Giuseppe is destroying everything she has built with her five children while he was in prison – in particular, a loving family atmosphere. She does not know what the future looks like, but is seriously considering her options as her love and soul have been destroyed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A wall of human skeletons" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/500001/original/file-20221209-34972-4pofku.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Surrounded by death: skeletons in Naples’ famous Fontanelle cemetery.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/skeletons-famous-naples-italy-cemetery-fontanelle-1925252858">Desert Bee/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The role of women in organised crime</h2>
<p>Listening to these women’s accounts of their lives within the Neapolitan underworld shows how much more nuanced organised crime is than the way it is depicted on screen.</p>
<p>Lucia and Teresa are anything but weak and incapable. They have lived full lives as women, wives, mothers and sisters at the heart of the city’s underworld. They navigated this criminal space: it was not a glamorous life but a question of surviving – avoiding rival clans’ bullets and the handcuffs of the police and anti-mafia investigators.</p>
<p>The plurality of these women’s roles and responsibilities is fundamental to the way the Camorra functions. Without their emotional, physical and financial support, their husbands would not have made successful careers within the mob.</p>
<p>Women may not formally join a mafia as “made” members during an official affiliation ritual, but this doesn’t mean they only have irrelevant walk-on parts. Women may not make the drug deals or coordinate the transportation, but they aren’t oblivious of what they are carrying in their car or bag, or how their bank accounts are being used. However unsavoury, their long-time criminal involvement demands greater recognition and understanding.</p>
<p>Whether looking at women in Italian mafias or female members of British criminal gangs, we need to review our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12117-014-9223-y">understanding of women in crime groups</a> by listening to their voices and experiences. Only then can we get near a complete picture of their roles in the continued success and growth of organised crime. Perhaps in this sense, we are all part of the mafia problem.</p>
<p><em>Names have been changed to protect the anonymity of interviewees</em></p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=112&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/313478/original/file-20200204-41481-1n8vco4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=140&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
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<p><em>To hear about new Insights articles, join the hundreds of thousands of people who value The Conversation’s evidence-based news. <a href="https://theconversation.com/uk/newsletters/the-daily-newsletter-2?utm_source=TCUK&utm_medium=linkback&utm_campaign=TCUKengagement&utm_content=InsightsUK"><strong>Subscribe to our newsletter</strong></a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193924/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Felia Allum received funding from The Leverhulme Trust (2018-2022: MRF-2017-075) for her research on women in organised crime groups. She is co-author of Graphic Narratives of Organised Crime, Gender and Power in Europe, Routledge, May 2022)</span></em></p>In contrast to their depiction in most mafia films, women are an integral part of these groups with their own criminal knowledge and capacity for violenceFelia Allum, Professor of comparative organised crime and corruption., University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1942822022-11-10T11:53:32Z2022-11-10T11:53:32ZSouth Africa provides fertile ground for funders of terrorism. Here’s why<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/494600/original/file-20221110-18-z9fote.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The country needs to pay closer attention to compliance with anti-money laundering legislation. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The US embassy in South Africa has twice raised the alarm recently about terrorism in the country. On <a href="https://za.usembassy.gov/security-alert-u-s-embassy-possible-attack/">26 October</a> it issued a security alert for a possible terror attack in <a href="https://www.tripadvisor.co.za/Tourism-g312586-Sandton_Greater_Johannesburg_Gauteng-Vacations.html">Sandton</a>, the financial centre of Johannesburg. </p>
<p>Days later it <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1084">blacklisted four individuals and eight companies</a> as terrorist financiers for Islamic State (ISIS). This followed media reports, most notably by <a href="https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2022/04/16/islamic-state-is-using-south-african-money-to-build-its-network">The Economist</a>, showing that ISIS was using South Africa to add to its war chest.</p>
<p>There is a long history of concerns about the country’s deficiencies in dealing with terrorism financing activities within its borders. More than 15 years ago, American terrorism expert <a href="https://jamestown.org/analyst/john-solomon/">John Solomon</a> <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/new-report-of-terrorist-camp-in-south-africa/">warned</a> that lawlessness and government corruption in the country facilitated terrorist financing. </p>
<p>I have been researching terrorist financing within South Africa for many years. In my book <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=15ZdEAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions">Jihad: A South African Perspective</a>, I unpack the state of terrorist financing in the country using open sources.</p>
<p>The latest US action comes as South Africa is <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/news/economy/hasty-law-amendments-to-avoid-sa-greylisting-face-serious-pushback/">rushing to avert “greylisting”</a>: being placed on the list of countries subject to increased monitoring by the <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/about/">Financial Action Task Force</a>. The inter-governmental task force has identified deficiencies in the country’s policies and efforts to combat money laundering and terrorism financing.</p>
<h2>Risk of greylisting</h2>
<p>The issue will also surface in February 2023 when South Africa is due for another review by the <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/">Financial Action Task Force</a>. This body evaluates steps by governments to prevent the financing of terrorism and money laundering.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/mutualevaluations/documents/mer-south-africa-2021.html">In its last evaluation</a>, published in October 2021, the task force said South Africa had a strong legal framework against money laundering and terrorism financing. But its implementation had significant shortcomings, including a failure to prosecute criminal cases.</p>
<p>The country has either not complied or only partially complied with <a href="https://www.moneyweb.co.za/financial-advisor-views/what-happens-when-south-africa-is-greylisted/#:%7E:text=The%20report%20concluded%20that%20South,laundering%20and%20terrorism%20funding%20risks.">20 of the body’s recommendations</a> to combat money laundering and terrorism financing. There is thus a strong possibility that South Africa will be added to the greylist of countries that are <a href="https://www.fatf-gafi.org/publications/high-risk-and-other-monitored-jurisdictions/documents/increased-monitoring-october-2022.html">monitored closely</a>.</p>
<p>Greylisting is an attempt by the international community to prevent illicit funds being directed towards terrorist groups. </p>
<p>The task force’s concerns about South Africa aren’t new. In 2009, <a href="https://2009-2017.state.gov/j/ct/rls/crt/2009/index.htm">it warned</a> that the country needed to pay closer attention to regulating trusts, monitoring financial transactions, compliance with anti-money laundering legislation, and enhancing the disclosure of trans-border cash transfers. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/business/2022-10-02-sa-cannot-escape-greylisting-says-financial-intelligence-centre-chief/">risk of greylisting</a> suggests that the country has not taken the necessary steps to ensure compliance.</p>
<p>This should hardly come as a surprise to those following the growing footprint of terror groups in South Africa. </p>
<h2>A longstanding problem</h2>
<p>In January 2007 <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/weekly-standard/pretoria-unguarded?_amp=true">Jonathan Schanzer</a>, a security analyst, reported that two South African cousins – Farhad Ahmed Dockrat, the principal of the Darus Salaam Islamic College in Laudium, Pretoria, and Dr Junaid Ismail Dockrat, a dentist – were proposed for consideration on the UN Security Council’s list of terror suspects. They had already been placed on the US treasury department’s <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/hp230">list</a> of Al Qaeda’s supporters.</p>
<p>According to papers submitted to the Security Council, Farhad was alleged to be an Al Qaeda “facilitator and terrorist financier”. Junaid, it was claimed, was also an Al Qaeda “financier, recruiter and facilitator”. </p>
<p>Since 2007, the South African government has not done much to ensure that the country does not become a terrorist haven. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.za/anti-corruption">Corruption</a>, general <a href="https://theconversation.com/south-africas-deadly-july-2021-riots-may-recur-if-theres-no-change-186397">lawlessness</a> and a security apparatus <a href="https://theconversation.com/zondo-commissions-report-on-south-africas-intelligence-agency-is-important-but-flawed-186582">focused on party factional battles</a> all account for why terrorist financiers thrive in the country. </p>
<h2>Terrorist financing</h2>
<p><a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=15ZdEAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions">My book</a> documents the case of <a href="https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG-107shrg89957/html/CHRG-107shrg89957.htm">Yassin al-Qadi</a>, a US-designated terrorist financier, who invested US$3 million for a 12% stake in <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/company/GDRS:US">Global Diamond Resources</a>, which mined diamonds in South Africa. He also controlled New Diamond Corporation, an offshore company that had <a href="https://jamestown.org/program/the-danger-of-terrorist-black-holes-in-southern-africa/">mining interests in the country</a>. </p>
<p>Then there was the case of <a href="https://dbpedia.org/page/Abd_al-Muhsin_Al-Libi">Abd al-Muhsin al-Libi</a>, also known as Ibrahim Tantouche, who set up two Al Qaeda financing fronts – the Afghan Support Committee and the Revival of Islamic Heritage Society. Both operated as charities for orphans. In reality, the orphans were either dead or nonexistent. </p>
<p>As I point out in my book, terrorist financing can be simple or sophisticated. An example of the simple occurred on 25 April 2001 when <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB1039475895846624273">Mohamed Suleman Vaid</a> was arrested with his wife while attempting to smuggle US$130,000 in local currency across the border with Eswatini. The ensuing police investigation found that he had made this trip 150 times in the previous 18 months, and that there may have been connections to Al Qaeda via a Lebanese businessman.</p>
<p>A more sophisticated example came to light <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=15ZdEAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions">in 2010</a> following a forensic investigation by South Africa’s Department of Trade and Industry. This showed the convergence of corruption, criminality and terrorism. It took advantage of the corruption occurring within South Africa’s Companies and Intellectual Properties Registration Office. </p>
<p>The case involved tax fraud, money laundering, racketeering, organised crime, fraud and siphoning off millions of rands to fund international terrorism. One Pakistani suspect who is now in custody, <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/south-africa/2010-12-01-tax-fraud-syndicate-member-gets-8-years/">Aliraza Syed Naqvi</a>, specialised in cloning legitimate companies by registering a fake company with the same name as a legitimate company and its own bank account. Monies meant for the legitimate businesses were then diverted to the fake one.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://books.google.co.za/books?id=15ZdEAAAQBAJ&source=gbs_book_other_versions">forensic audit</a> estimated that up to 285,000 fake or dubious companies were created in this way. This scheme would never have occurred had it not been for corruption within <a href="https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times/lifestyle/2010-05-09-corruption-at-cipro-funds-global-terror/">the company registration office</a> itself. The report identified 60 of its officials as being involved in such suspicious activities.</p>
<h2>Addressing the problem</h2>
<p>In this context, the US <a href="https://home.treasury.gov/news/press-releases/jy1084">blacklisting</a> of companies and individuals comes as no surprise. What South Africa needs to do is to implement the Financial Action Task Force recommendations completely and ensure compliance. </p>
<p>Given the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61912737">high level of corruption</a> within the ruling party, this will be not be easy. But it needs to be done to deter terrorist financiers and ensure the credibility of the government.</p>
<p>The country has signed and ratified the necessary <a href="https://www.saps.gov.za/resource_centre/acts/downloads/juta/terrorism_act.pdf">counter-terrorism legislation</a>. It is now time to walk the talk. Government needs to work with business, especially banks, to ensure early warning systems are in place.</p>
<p>The judicial system needs to be empowered to develop the necessary specialised capacity to ensure speedy convictions. Finally, the country needs to work with global partners to aggressively respond to this threat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/194282/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hussein Solomon does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>South Africa has long been seen as deficient in dealing with terrorism financing.Hussein Solomon, Senior Professor and Academic Head of Department: Political Studies and Governance, University of the Free StateLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1873202022-10-04T15:06:14Z2022-10-04T15:06:14ZUniversity students are hidden targets of county lines drug dealing – new report<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477655/original/file-20220804-25-6fktf5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=241%2C80%2C6433%2C4399&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/multiracial-students-walking-university-hall-during-685407808">4 PM production / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For young adults, university is a period of firsts: their first time living away from home, having to budget their money and going to pubs and nightclubs. For many, it will also be the first time they will try drugs, and as our <a href="http://clok.uclan.ac.uk/42209/1/County%20Lines%20%26%20Criminal%20Exploitation%20of%20UK%20University%20Students.pdf">new report shows</a>, be exploited by county lines drug dealers. </p>
<p>County lines is a model of drugs distribution that involves transporting and trading illicit drugs from one part of the country to another, and selling them via dedicated phone lines. It is a form of exploitation often associated with children and vulnerable adults, but anyone can be targeted. </p>
<p>We have investigated the prevalence of county lines drug dealing targeting university students, who are known to have increased exposure to drugs, but are often overlooked in discussions about organised crime and county lines.</p>
<p>In March 2022, we sent freedom of information requests to 127 UK universities enquiring about county lines and drug incidents involving their students. From the 113 responses we received, we learned that since the academic year of 2016-17 there have been approximately 14,000 drug-related incidents on university campuses and in student accommodation. Of these, approximately 300 specifically related to drugs distribution. </p>
<p>Students may be exploited to transport drugs (for which travelling to and from university provides an ideal cover story). They may also have their student accommodation “cuckooed”, used as a base to store and sell drugs.</p>
<p>Fifty universities did not hold any data relating to county lines, and 44 said they had no recorded cases. However, data from seven universities revealed that since 2017, there have been as many as 109 university students involved in county lines, as either a victim or perpetrator, at those institutions alone. </p>
<p>We also conducted a student survey of 140 students. The responses, combined with the data (or lack thereof) from universities, suggest that the prevalence of county lines exploitation on campuses may be much higher than universities are aware of. </p>
<p>Up to a third of students reported witnessing common signs of county lines among their fellow students, such as sudden unexplained increases in money (27%) and luxury goods (24%), owning multiple “burner” phones (29%), being scared of particular people (22%) and having unexplained injuries (25%). </p>
<p>They also observed non-students frequently visiting student accommodation at unsociable hours (34%) or unofficially moving into student accommodation (22%). Around one in ten respondents said they witnessed other students carrying weapons or keeping them in their homes.</p>
<h2>Why students are a target</h2>
<p>There are a number of reasons why county lines perpetrators would want to target students. For a start, there is a huge drug market in the student population. </p>
<p>A 2018 <a href="https://www.release.org.uk/sites/default/files/pdf/publications/Taking%20the%20Hit%20-%20Student%20drug%20use%20and%20how%20institutions%20respond%20-.pdf">report</a> by the drug law charity <a href="https://www.release.org.uk/">Release</a> and the <a href="https://www.nus.org.uk/">National Union of Students</a> found that 56% of university students have taken drugs. It makes sense that county lines groups would want to capitalise on this market. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://metro.co.uk/2017/09/20/drug-dealers-are-handing-out-free-samples-and-business-cards-during-freshers-week-6943082/">previous years</a>, posts on social media have sparked fears about dealers advertising to students during freshers week by handing out business cards and samples of their drugs. </p>
<p>Students can also be targeted online. Our survey found that 60% of students had seen drugs advertised on Snapchat, with others saying they had seen this on Instagram (35%) or other social media (38%). </p>
<p>Students also reported that they had seen non-students joining and posting in group chats specifically for students. Although this may be for a number of motives, county lines perpetrators are known to target and <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12117-021-09442-x">infiltrate group chats</a> in areas where they want to begin trading.</p>
<p>Research suggests that the student drug market is a <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30955401/">hybrid</a> of purchasing from traditional dealers and the social supply of sharing drugs among friends. Students are not just potential consumers, but also potential suppliers. Over 40% of respondents to our survey said that they had witnessed students selling drugs to their peers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A young man sitting on his bed looking down at a mobile phone" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=280&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/477658/original/file-20220804-16-shfeux.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=351&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Phone lines and social media are one way organised crime groups exploit young people for drug dealing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/teenage-boy-bedroom-listening-music-through-1170692434">Rawpixel.com / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Our survey found that three in ten students had been approached to purchase drugs from students or non-students, and one in ten had been approached to sell drugs by students or non-students. However, students were more likely to be offered drugs for free by other students (53%) than non-students (32%). </p>
<p>While the social sharing of drugs is not uncommon, providing drugs for free can also be part of the <a href="https://crimestoppers-uk.org/getmedia/9685d017-ea4c-4644-8511-59efb83c7266/Ch-Society-Criminal-Exploitation-Stages-of-Recruitment-CaRE.pdf">exploitation process</a>, with victims later being told that they must repay these costs. Additionally, some victims of exploitation may be coerced to recruit and exploit their peers.</p>
<p>All of this shows why students also make valuable targets for organised crime groups, because they can easily access and blend in with other students to sell drugs.</p>
<h2>Protecting students</h2>
<p>County lines groups can be quick to <a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/s12117-021-09442-x.pdf#12117_2021_9442_Article.indd%3ACR78%3A159">adapt</a> to policing responses. As <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-quarter-1-2022-january-to-march/modern-slavery-national-referral-mechanism-and-duty-to-notify-statistics-uk-quarter-1-2022-january-to-march#key-results">children</a> are increasingly recognised as victims, students may be the next best demographic to target. </p>
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<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-gangs-are-exploiting-children-to-do-their-dirty-work-71926">How gangs are exploiting children to do their dirty work</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>University students may be at increased risk of county lines exploitation by mere exposure to drugs and dealers, regardless of whether or not they use drugs themselves. This risk may be increased by vulnerabilities such as <a href="https://www.savethestudent.org/money/surveys/student-money-survey-2021-results.html#financialstruggle">financial worries</a> and <a href="https://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/sites/default/files/field/downloads/2021-07/minding-our-future-starting-conversation-student-mental-health.pdf">poor mental health</a>.</p>
<p>University students are adults, and do not have the same laws to protect them that children have. In UK law, the <a href="https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/990426/dhsc_transitional_safeguarding_report_bridging_the_gap_web.pdf">transition</a> from childhood to adulthood is abrupt, occurring the day a young person turns 18 years old. However, the developmental transition from childhood to adulthood does not happen overnight. </p>
<p>Recognising the risks of drug use and supply is one of the first steps to protecting students. As students head to university, many for the first time, they should be aware of how they could become a target for exploitation via county lines.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>For more information on county lines, and what to do you if you are concerned, visit <a href="https://crimestoppers-uk.org/campaigns-media/campaigns/crimes-which-could-affect-students">Crimestoppers</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187320/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beth Hall received funding from The Centre for Criminal Justice Research & Partnerships at the University of Central Lancashire.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Roxanne Khan received funding from The Centre for Criminal Justice Research & Partnerships at the University of Central Lancashire.</span></em></p>Universities and students need to be aware of the prevalence of organised drug dealing on campuses.Beth Hall, Graduate Teaching Assistant/PhD Candidate, University of Central LancashireRoxanne Khan, Director of HARM (Honour Abuse Research Matrix); Course Leader, Forensic Psychology, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1893562022-09-08T16:36:30Z2022-09-08T16:36:30ZLiverpool shooting and the devastating impact of violence and deprivation on communities<p>August 22 marked the 15th anniversary of the shooting of 11-year-old <a href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/rhys-jones-killer-15-years-27800683">Rhys Jones</a> in the Liverpool suburb of Croxteth. In the same week, the people of Liverpool again witnessed the merciless <a href="https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2022-08-23/murder-of-nine-year-old-girl-in-liverpool-act-of-evil">killing of an innocent</a> child, gunned down in her own home. Nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel has become one more unnecessary victim of a shooting in the city.</p>
<p>Police have appealed to the public for help identifying those involved, and have made several arrests. Merseyside Police’s Assistant Chief Constable Chris Green <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-merseyside-62722937">praised the public’s</a> “collective ambition to make sure that those individuals in our communities who are engaged in organised crime – the intimidation, the violence, the use of firearms – they’ve got no place in our society.”</p>
<p>Olivia is the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-merseyside-62706386">fourth person</a> to be killed in recent weeks in the area. As many previous events have shown, the impact of violence goes beyond those directly involved.</p>
<h2>Areas of high crime</h2>
<p>I have spent the last ten years studying gangs and violent crime, as well as living in an area on Merseyside that has seen its fair share of both. In that time, young people, often under the age of 25, have become involved in street gangs. While there are no official figures regarding gang involvement, “best guess” numbers are often drawn from historic reports and news articles. </p>
<p>A Home Office study several years ago found that <a href="https://safeguardinghub.co.uk/young-people-risk-gang-involvement-just-statistic/">up to 6%</a> of ten to 19-year-olds in England and Wales belonged to a gang. While identity, money, status and territory are all important consequences for those involved, their decision to join is usually triggered by one main case: inequality.</p>
<p>We in the west live in a society of conspicuous consumption, placing a high value on materialism and spending money on symbols of success, like designer clothes, cars and expensive holidays. But in less affluent areas, there are fewer legitimate means to achieve financial and material success through good jobs and other opportunities. </p>
<p>As a result, people simply innovate or find alternative means to reach those goals. For some, the obvious alternative path is one of criminality. This is an old academic theory that dates back to 1938 to social scientist <a href="https://soztheo.de/theories-of-crime/anomie-strain-theories/anomie-theory-merton/?lang=en">Robert Merton</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/334633203_Grafting_the_boyz_just_doing_business_Deviant_entrepreneurship_in_street_gangs">My research</a> has found that where crime, particularly dangerous drug dealing, is concerned, illegal innovation has blurred the lines of criminality and employment. Young people selling drugs, often under the influence of adult organised crime groups, speak of their illegal activities in business-like ways, talking about “serving” clients and describing their gangs as “firms”. I coined the term “deviant entrepreneurship” to describe this.</p>
<h2>The sprawl of violence</h2>
<p>The existence of deviant entrepreneurship as a viable “career path” has created a cycle of young people growing up in environments that lack real opportunities, ultimately drifting into street gangs and later on adult organised crime. And with increased involvement in crime, violence often follows. As one young person who had been involved in violent crime and gangs said to me, it was on “my doorstep, I had no choice”. </p>
<p>For those who are innocent bystanders, yet occupy the same place as gangs and organised crime groups, the indirect effects can be damaging. <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43609902_Who_needs_enemies_with_friends_like_these_The_importance_of_place_for_young_people_living_in_known_gang_areas">Research has revealed</a> the effects of living in known “gang areas” on young people who are not involved in gangs. Law-abiding residents can be subjected to surveillance or have their movement restricted by heavy policing or gang conflict that takes over particular places. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Front facade of a derelict industrial red brick warehouse, with many broken windows." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/482487/original/file-20220902-20-fxk51p.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The cycle of deprivation and crime is difficult to break.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/old-derelict-brick-industrial-historical-warehouse-1229062213">Marbury / Shutterstock</a></span>
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<p>It also has an impact on families. Parents and siblings unaware of their family member’s involvement in gang activity may experience shock, shame and anxiety when <a href="https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-71169-6_3">going through the criminal justice system</a>, or may even be blamed for their child’s actions.</p>
<p>On a community-wide level, the prevalence of gangs and organised crime groups can lead to a normalisation of crime, where violence and disorder just becomes <a href="https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/broken-windows-theory">part of local life</a>. Poverty has always been intertwined with crime and is something that politicians have <a href="https://www.leicestershirevillages.com/are-crime-rates-higher-in-urban-or-rural-areas/">failed to address</a> head-on, ignoring it in favour of pursuing individual perpetrators. </p>
<h2>Preventing and solving the problem</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.merseyside.police.uk/news/merseyside/news/august/merseyside-police-continues-its-relentless-pursuit-of-organised-crime-groups/">recent shootings</a> in Dingle, Old Swan and Dovecot (three other deprived Liverpool suburbs) are indicative of a continuing pattern of social exclusion and poverty leading to organised crime or violence generally. </p>
<p>It is a cycle that sadly is not going to go away any time soon, especially with the cost of living crisis. The government’s “levelling up” policy has, so far, neglected the ground-level issues that real people want addressing. Homelessness, poverty and crime have been overlooked to focus more on physical infrastructure. And much of the funding has reportedly gone to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/inequality/2022/feb/02/levelling-up-funding-inequality-exposed-by-guardian-research">focus on more affluent areas</a> – contradicting the very notion of levelling up.</p>
<p>But on Merseyside, there is some hope in the form of <a href="https://www.policechiefmagazine.org/prevention-focused-community-policing/">preventative policing</a>, an approach that focuses on preventing crime before it occurs. Preventative policing is not just about increasing police presence, it involves looking at the social biographies of communities, their needs and the types of crime that is occurring. It recognises that community safety is not just a matter for law enforcement, but requires other agencies and organisations such as public health and the third sector to work together to alleviate poverty and crime. </p>
<p>Preventative policing is in its infancy, and we are likely to see it operational on Merseyside in early 2023. It’s a start, but the road is long. Solving a problem as endemic as inequality and related gang involvement will involve long term cultural change. </p>
<p>This can only be achieved by early intervention strategies and better investment, not just in the community, but in the people themselves with tailored support into decent employment. But how many more Rhyses and Olivias will there be before this happens?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189356/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Hesketh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Violence affects entire communities, even law-abiding residents.Robert Hesketh, Lecturer in Policing Studies, School of Justice Studies., Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1878892022-08-03T16:03:47Z2022-08-03T16:03:47ZSouth Africa needs stronger security in place to stop the sabotage of its power supply<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/477200/original/file-20220802-14-80pssz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EFE-EPA/Kim Ludbrook</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>South African president Cyril Ramaphosa recently <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/speeches/address-president-cyril-ramaphosa-actions-address-electricity-crisis%2C-union-buildings%2C-tshwane">outlined</a> plans to solve the country’s devastating electricity supply crisis. But he didn’t mention the country’s ability to protect its energy infrastructure as a prerequisite to any solution.</p>
<p>South Africa has had power cuts <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/7/1/power-cuts-in-south-africa-what-you-need-to-now">since 2007</a> when Eskom, the power utility, began failing to meet demand. This got worse every year. The power utility is struggling to keep its <a href="https://www.power-technology.com/news/eskom-coal-power/">aged coal-fired power stations</a> running after many years of poor maintenance. It is also <a href="https://www.esi-africa.com/industry-sectors/asset-maintenance/generating-capacity-woes-continues-to-bedevil-eskom/">struggling</a> to get its two new power stations to operate at full capacity.</p>
<p>Explaining some of the recent power cuts, Ramaphosa said that some of the energy infrastructure had been <a href="https://www.enca.com/news/sas-power-stations-ramaphosa-says-theres-deliberate-sabotage">sabotaged</a>. </p>
<p>We flagged this in an earlier <a href="https://theconversation.com/hybrid-warfare-is-on-the-rise-globally-might-south-africas-eskom-be-its-latest-victim-173166">article</a>. We argued that Eskom was the target of hybrid warfare operations aimed at destabilising South Africa’s national power generation capability. </p>
<p>The question is whether the country has the necessary security capabilities to protect its energy infrastructure from such threats and risks. An assessment of the security capabilities also has to include a fit for purpose test of the legislation for the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201911/4286628-11act8of2019criticalinfraprotectact.pdf">protection of critical infrastructure</a>.</p>
<p>Enhanced intelligence capacities are required to detect, deter and neutralise threats such as sabotage, or subversion caused by rioting. More – and appropriately equipped – security forces are also needed to physically secure critical infrastructure. These could be privately or publicly funded.</p>
<p>Our view is that the country does not have what is required where and when it is needed. A comprehensive approach is needed – including managing security threats – to address its energy crisis. This requires collaboration between the state and private sector to implement the president’s long-term energy security vision. </p>
<h2>Hybrid attacks now common</h2>
<p>South Africa is not the only country whose energy infrastructure is facing security threats. There are <a href="https://www2.deloitte.com/za/en/insights/industry/public-sector/cyberattack-critical-infrastructure-cybersecurity.html">numerous examples</a> of attacks on critical infrastructure. These are typically <a href="https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/critical-infrastructures-under-daily-attack-erncip-head-georg-peter">cyber-related</a>. But physical attacks such as <a href="https://www.da.org.za/2021/11/eskom-infrastructure-sabotage-is-consistent-with-the-july-insurrectionists-modus-operandi">sabotage</a> also occur.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/critical-infrastructure-attacks-why-south-africa-should-worry">Institute for Security Studies</a> argues that attacks on the critical infrastructure of developing countries, such as South Africa, could be “<a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/critical-infrastructure-attacks-why-south-africa-should-worry">potentially devastating</a>”. South Africa’s national security vulnerabilities, combined with the security risks to a monolithic state owned entity with no backup, could exacerbate the country’s power supply insecurities. </p>
<p>Cyber attacks on Eskom’s critical infrastructure could lead to severe damage. The result could be corresponding losses of generation capacity and damage to the economy. </p>
<p>National security vulnerabilities can be reduced by state security capabilities that are equal to the task. A <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/content/report-expert-panel-july-2021-civil-unrest">Report of the Expert Panel</a> into <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57818215">civil unrest</a> in the country in July 2021 revealed serious capacity problems within the state security sector. The sector is mandated to forewarn government, and to protect critical infrastructure and the public against <a href="https://journals.sas.ac.uk/amicus/article/view/1671">hybrid threats</a>. These include terrorism, subversion, sabotage, espionage and organised crime. </p>
<p>This weakness was also highlighted in the 2018 <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201903/high-level-review-panel-state-security-agency.pdf">High-Level Review Panel on the State Security Agency</a>. It concluded that the country’s <a href="https://nationalgovernment.co.za/units/view/42/state-security-agency-ssa">State Security Agency</a> had been</p>
<blockquote>
<p>compromised by factionalism, mismanagement and inefficiency.</p>
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<p>The agency is South Africa’s primary authority tasked with protecting the country against such hybrid threats. Yet it is in a state of disrepair. This calls for the country to focus efforts on (at least) the capability to secure Eskom against obvious national security threats. </p>
<h2>The importance of critical infrastructure</h2>
<p>The protection of South Africa’s energy infrastructure falls within the remit of the new <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201911/4286628-11act8of2019criticalinfraprotectact.pdf">Critical Infrastructure Protection Act 8 of 2019</a>. Such infrastructure is crucial for the effective functioning of the economy, <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201911/4286628-11act8of2019criticalinfraprotectact.pdf">national security</a> and public safety. </p>
<p>Critical infrastructure consists of national assets that are viewed as having strategic importance. South Africa has plenty of critical infrastructure spread across its length and breadth – measuring <a href="https://www.worlddata.info/africa/south-africa/index.php#:%7E:text=South%20Africa%20is%20a%20country,25th%20biggest%20in%20the%20world">about 1.219 million km²</a>. These include the Eskom energy grid – <a href="https://www.eskom.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/TDP-Report-2019-2029_Final.pdf">including power stations, sub-stations and transmission networks</a> – dams, the banking system and oil storage. The sheer scale requires extensive security capabilities necessary for physical protection and monitoring threats. </p>
<p>Beyond physically securing this infrastructure, the state also needs to have the ability to detect, deter and neutralise threat actors. These are classical counterintelligence prerogatives. Failure on this front makes the country vulnerable to destabilisation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.thepresidency.gov.za/download/file/fid/2442">stretched nature</a> of the country’s security agencies was laid bare during the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-57818215">violent riots</a> in July 2021. It is thus reasonable to question the capacity of the police, and other security agencies, to secure Eskom’s critical infrastructure and that of private power producers.</p>
<h2>Planning for security</h2>
<p>In our view, all planning to develop and diversify the national power grid and energy supply should include enough resources to protect them. This requires cooperative planning between Eskom and the South African security sector (both state and private).</p>
<p>The exact role of the South African National Defence Force in providing security for critical infrastructure remains unclear. The <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201503/act-102-1980.pdf">National Key Points Act 1980</a>, the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/a42-020.pdf">Defence Act 2002</a> and the <a href="https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201911/4286628-11act8of2019criticalinfraprotectact.pdf">Critical Infrastructure Protection Act 8 of 2019</a> are not explicit on the issue. </p>
<p>The protection of critical infrastructure has been assigned to the South African Police Service, with the defence force <a href="https://static.pmg.org.za/170512review.pdf">supporting it</a>. Given that the defence budget has been shrinking annually, the military will probably not be able to sustain this.</p>
<p>With the private sector playing an increased role in the energy sector, South Africa needs to develop dedicated private security capacities to protect its critical infrastructure. At the very least, it should adopt a mixed public-private security model akin to the police service’s <a href="https://cvwa.org.za/community-police-forum/">community policing</a> concept. </p>
<p>The president’s energy vision envisages a much larger private industrial capacity. If left unsecured, such capacity would be just as vulnerable to sabotage as the current Eskom infrastructure is. It is time the country took stock of its security requirements in the same way it has started being serious about its energy vulnerabilities. </p>
<p>There’s also the question of whether the penalties prescribed by law are fit to deter sabotage. </p>
<h2>What needs to happen</h2>
<p>The hybrid nature of <a href="https://www.da.org.za/2021/11/eskom-infrastructure-sabotage-is-consistent-with-the-july-insurrectionists-modus-operandi">threats to the country’s infrastructure</a> can only be solved by an integrated solution. That requires, firstly, clarity about mandates as well as state security capabilities. </p>
<p>Secondly, security sector capacity needs to be developed alongside critical infrastructure. Thirdly, legislation needs to increase existing sanctions in terms of fines and imprisonment.</p>
<p>Lastly, public-private security partnerships must be established to bolster the security of the country’s electricity infrastructure.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/187889/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sascha-Dominik (Dov) Bachmann has received funding from the Australian Department of Defence for research regarding grey zone and information operations targeting Australia. Sascha Dov is a Research Fellow with The Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University. Sascha would like to thank Dr. Sasha-Lee Afrika for her insightful comments and assistance, particularly regarding the law.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dries Putter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The hybrid nature of threats to South Africa’s energy infrastructure can only be solved by an integrated solution, including severe sanctions that should include fines and imprisonment.Sascha-Dominik (Dov) Bachmann, Professor in Law and Co-Convener National Security Hub (University of Canberra) and Research Fellow (adjunct) - The Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa, Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University- NATO Fellow Asia-Pacific, University of CanberraDries Putter, Lecturer at the Faculty of Military Science / Affiliate Member, National Security Hub, University of Canberra and Researcher for Security Institute for Governance and Leadership in Africa (SIGLA), Stellenbosch UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1848352022-06-21T03:06:38Z2022-06-21T03:06:38ZA flurry of attention, then collective forgetfulness – 100 years of the ‘ndrangheta Calabrian mafia in Australia<p>In a recent media release, Australian Federal Police <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">said</a>:</p>
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<p>We have about 51 Italian organised crime clans in Australia. We have identified 14 confirmed ‘ndrangheta clans across Australia, involving thousands of members.</p>
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<p>The ‘ndrangheta, widely considered Italy’s wealthiest and most powerful <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-32585-9">mafia</a> group, are connected with Calabria, a region in southern Italy. They have important international links with – and are sometimes in a superior position to – local groups, such as bikies.</p>
<p>A flurry of recent reporting and police comment on the 'ndrangheta may give the impression their activity in Australia is a relatively new phenomenon. </p>
<p>But in truth, the ‘ndrangheta has been successfully planting seeds into Australian society for 100 years. It is integrated into Australian society; it’s not an alien guest or recent virus. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/meet-the-ndrangheta-and-why-its-time-to-bust-some-myths-about-the-calabrian-mafia-54075">Meet the ’Ndrangheta – and why it's time to bust some myths about the Calabrian mafia</a>
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<h2>A long history</h2>
<p>The recent AFP <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">statement</a> was celebrating first anniversary of “the overt action taken under Operation Ironside, the biggest and most significant organised crime operation” in AFP history. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/the-most-significant-police-operation-in-australian-history-how-it-worked-and-what-it-means-for-organised-crime-162342">Operation Ironside</a> – otherwise known as operation <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-an-app-to-decrypt-criminal-messages-was-born-over-a-few-beers-with-the-fbi-162343">AN0M</a> or <a href="https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdca/pr/fbi-s-encrypted-phone-platform-infiltrated-hundreds-criminal-syndicates-result-massive">Trojan Horse</a> in the United States – involved a joint action between the FBI and the AFP that took place on June 8 last year.</p>
<p>According to the AFP <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">statement</a>, “globally, excluding Australian statistics, more than 700 alleged offenders have been charged”, thanks to Ironside. In Australia, it said, 383 alleged offenders have been charged with 2,340 offences.</p>
<p>The recent anniversary of this joint action led to a spike in media reports about the ‘ndrangheta in Australia, with AFP Assistant Commissioner Nigel Ryan quoted as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2022/jun/07/thousands-of-italian-mafia-operating-in-australia-federal-police-say">saying</a>:</p>
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<p>It’s entirely possible that people will be living next door to members of the ‘ndrangheta without knowing.</p>
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<p>I thought it was notable the AFP’s press release <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">mentioned</a> 51 Italian crime groups, of which only 14 are recognised ‘ndrangheta clans; this begs the question of who are the remaining groups.</p>
<p>The AFP’s <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-target-italian-organised-crime-and-money-laundering-year-operation">statement</a> didn’t specify, and focused chiefly on the ‘ndrangheta.</p>
<p>As someone who has researched the ‘ndrangheta for a decade – and specifically the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26338076211040604">Australian ‘ndrangheta</a> <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865814554305">since 2014</a> – I didn’t think there was much urgent or new in the recent “revelations” tied to the anniversary of the Ironside arrests. </p>
<p>The ‘ndrangheta – also known as “the honoured society” – has operated in Australia in a structured way for at least <a href="https://www.icsaicstoria.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The_Ndrangheta_Down_Under_Constructing_t.pdf">a century</a>.</p>
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<h2>The ‘ndrangheta in Australia</h2>
<p>The criminal organisation even has <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/26338076211040604">an Australian “birthday”</a>: December 18, 1922 when the ship King of Italy docked at the Western Australian port of Fremantle, then in Adelaide and then in Melbourne. It left in each of these ports one of the three founders of the ‘ndrangheta.</p>
<p>The ‘ndrangheta has capitalised on Calabrian/Italian <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/modern-italy/article/abs/undesirable-italians-prolegomena-for-a-history-of-the-calabrian-ndrangheta-in-australia/1492FB4203669F0497AC21722140B29C">migration</a> to Australia to grow and entrench its power in <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-78873-9">Australia</a>. </p>
<p>Australian institutions were quicker than their Italian counterparts to <a href="https://www.icsaicstoria.it/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/The_Ndrangheta_Down_Under_Constructing_t.pdf">recognise the specificities</a> of the ‘ndrangheta between the mid-1950s and mid-1960s. At this time, Italian authorities were largely focused on the more famous Cosa Nostra, the Sicilian mafia.</p>
<p>Australia’s approach to countering <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0004865816652367">the ‘ndrangheta in Australia</a> tends to swing between <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-319-53568-5">visibility and forgetfulness</a> or <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-the-calabrian-mafia-in-australia-is-so-little-recognised-and-understood-50914">sensationalism and denialism</a>. As investigative reporter Nick McKenzie, put it:</p>
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<p>The history of the AFP’s policing of Italian organised crime in this country is marked by widely spruiked success, rarely mentioned failure and extended periods of malaise.</p>
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<p>As his <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/often-studied-rarely-prosecuted-how-the-mafia-gets-away-with-it-in-australia-20220609-p5asjj.html">report noted</a>, in the past 20 years alone Australian law enforcement has produced maps of ‘ndrangheta families and confidential reports about its members and activities. </p>
<h2>Drugs, political infiltration and power</h2>
<p>Much media and police focus has been on ‘ndrangheta and the drug trade (Operation Ironside is, so far, no exception).</p>
<p>Yes, the drug trade is fundamental to ‘ndrangheta wealth and power in Australia and has been for <a href="https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/worlds-biggest-ecstasy-bust-how-a-google-search-foiled-aussie-tomato-tin-mafias-drug-plots/news-story/0db0ce6a9d6d61706420b975484ba7ea">many years</a>.</p>
<p>However, as outlined in my recent book, <a href="https://bristoluniversitypress.co.uk/chasing-the-mafia">Chasing the Mafia</a> and by investigative <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-06/calabrian-mafia-continues-flourish-despite-police-operations/6596192">reporters</a>, there is a world of political infiltration, too. Legal businesses have been born on the back of proceeds of crime, and powerful men who have a say in the Calabrian/Italian community.</p>
<p>This is less talked out, partly due to fear and intimidation but also due to consensus, friendships, and <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0004865818782573?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.1">exploitation of ethnic solidarity</a>. </p>
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<p>The ‘ndrangheta is deeply integrated into Australian society; it is a phenomenon with <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0004865818782573?icid=int.sj-full-text.similar-articles.1">many heads</a>.</p>
<p>As such, it needs a strategy that does not stop at countering drugs importation but considers, for example, the social impact of this mafia on society and the <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-48145-2">transcultural identity of Italian migrants in contemporary Australia</a>.</p>
<p>When it comes to the ‘ndrangheta in Australia, the combined knowledge of the AFP, the NSW police and the Victorian police is unparalleled. Much of this knowledge is, of course, left out of official statements. These statements have arguably one good effect: they raise the level of attention yet again.</p>
<p>But any attempt to take the ‘ndrangheta seriously requires sustained political will and resources. Swinging between a flurry of attention on the ‘ndrangheta and collective forgetfulness of the issue does not help.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mafia-and-corruption-scandals-rocked-italian-football-and-left-fans-with-a-crisis-of-faith-118136">How mafia and corruption scandals rocked Italian football and left fans with a crisis of faith</a>
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<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Anna Sergi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A flurry of recent reporting on the ‘ndrangheta may give the impression their activity in Australia is relatively new. In truth, the ‘ndrangheta has been in Australian society for a century.Anna Sergi, Professor in Criminology, University of EssexLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1777692022-03-11T14:28:07Z2022-03-11T14:28:07ZThe Godfather at 50: celebrating the mob saga that raised the bar for gangster films<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/450047/original/file-20220304-19-1kees6u.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C1985%2C1997&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The Godfather starred Marlon Brando in his most iconic role.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-vector/palu-city-indonesia-august-22th-2020-1800429997">Zero05Ard/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s one of the most famous climactic scenes in film: a tense and shocking denouement that sees a series of brutal assassinations intercut with the central character calmly renouncing Satan as he becomes godfather to his nephew.</p>
<p>Considered one of the great classics of American cinema, the triple Oscar-winning <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/feb/23/the-godfather-review-a-brutal-sweep-of-magnificent-storytelling">Godfather</a> turns 50 on March 14. A bold piece of storytelling, the film reinvented the gangster epic, setting a high bar for all the mafia movies that followed in its wake. It also secured legions of fans obsessed by the murky underworld of the mob.</p>
<p>Admirers of the saga are expressing their devotion in myriad Facebook groups and YouTube channels. Explanatory videos chart major plot developments, provide “<a href="https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Aqwlqyi66C8">10 lessons from The Godfather</a> everyone needs to know” or offer sage advice about never revealing your hand when you’re in a negotiation.</p>
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<p>Paramount Pictures is commemorating the 1972 premiere of The Godfather with a series of new releases, building a sense of occasion for a film described as a “<a href="https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/2019/06/14913/">towering masterwork</a>”. Beginning with a rare theatrical run and ending in April with a 10-part biographical drama about the making of the first film, Paramount is treating the films as landmark studio heritage.</p>
<p>Remastered DVDs, an accompanying coffee table book and a new interview with <a href="https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0000338/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm">director Francis Ford Coppola</a> further cement the film’s status as lucrative cultural capital. Given that the studio purchased the rights to Mario Puzo’s bestselling novel for $12,500, it is fair to say that Paramount has enjoyed one of the most spectacular returns on investment in motion picture history.</p>
<h2>Crime and family</h2>
<p>The film revolutionised the portrayal of organised crime by conflating it with something all audiences can relate to: family. This one is a strong ethnic unit that, as film reviewer Todd Gitlins noted, ran counter to the “bleached American television family” of the early 1970s. Like many other reviewers, Gitlin felt that the appeal of the film was largely due to the fact that it provided “<a href="https://cinefiles.bampfa.berkeley.edu/catalog/51817">prime national nostalgia</a>” for an idealised version of the past.</p>
<p>The starkness of composer Nino Rota’s unforgettable trumpet solo signals a movement into a world where villains have values. Film critic Pauline Kael described Marlon Brando’s Don Vito as a “<a href="http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1972/03/18/the-current-cinema-24">primitive sacred monster</a>” who approved of gambling but felt prostitution and drug running were “infamia” – vile deeds and morally wrong.</p>
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<p>The Godfather trilogy continues to resonate with fans long after its original release. Coppola’s epic crime saga would do for Italian gangsters what the great Soviet filmmaker Sergei Eisenstein – director of <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0015648/">Battleship Potemkin</a> – did for Russian revolutionaries: lend the story a gravitas and epic grandeur that belied the brutality of the power struggles involved.</p>
<p>In her book <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1879930.The_Annotated_Godfather">The Annotated Godfather</a>, film writer Jenny M Jones describes the climactic baptism murders scene as a homage to Eisenstein’s iconic <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sEPFd-1Dm8">Odessa steps sequence</a> from Battleship Potemkin – widely regarded as a masterpiece of 20th-century cinema. Coppola crafted an operatic denouement, crosscutting between the calm of the church and the violence of the executions with deliberate nods to Eisenstein’s celebrated montage sequence, staging the action on steps and stairs throughout.</p>
<p>Involving simultaneous action across multiple locations – church, spa, suburbia, barbershop, hotel, courthouse – and boldly introducing minor and major players in the unfolding action, it is remarkable for its scope and scale. Each of the assassins is revealed in the build up to each execution: one is making heavy work of a flight of stairs while two prepare their guns and another has a professional shave.</p>
<p>The crosscutting lends a complexity to the action that pivots on Michael Corleone, played memorably by Al Pacino, performing the rites of baptism: far from rejecting Satan, Michael is embracing the evils of gangster life. </p>
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<h2>Creating a classic</h2>
<p>The aftermath scenes further showcase Coppola’s great skill as a filmmaker. Although not as thrilling as the denouement, these scenes are emotionally satisfying and foreshadow the reverse moral trajectory of the sequel, The Godfather Part II. </p>
<p>Having stood godfather to his sister’s child, Michael enters his brother-in-law Carlo’s house to confront him over his part in the murder of Michael’s older brother Sonny: “You have to answer for Santino”. Carlo is too stupid to realise that his fate is sealed and he is garroted in the front seat of a car to complete Michael’s revenge. His thrashing death throes shatter the car windscreen on the driveway, providing a subtle visual reminder of Sonny’s bullet-ridden car at the tollbooth where he was ambushed by rivals.</p>
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<p>Novelist and cultural commentator <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/20/umberto-eco-obituary">Umberto Eco</a> stipulated that a cult film must offer a “fully furnished world” that fans can return to again and again.</p>
<p>The forthcoming theatrical release of The Godfather trilogy provides an opportunity for fans to experience this cinema classic again on the big screen as part of a collective audience. There is something oddly comforting about slipping into this shady, familiar world of loyalty and revenge. A world of men and guns and pasta sauce. A world where the best veal in the city is served with a bullet in the throat.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177769/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gill Jamieson does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Considered one of the greatest films of all time, Francis Ford Coppola’s sweeping epic is back on the big screen for its big birthday.Gill Jamieson, Senior Lecturer in Film, Television & Cultural Studies, University of the West of ScotlandLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1753692022-02-17T11:21:35Z2022-02-17T11:21:35ZGirls in gangs: how they are recruited, exploited and trapped<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445759/original/file-20220210-50318-1qwdh6x.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C32%2C3072%2C2267&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/woman-eye-close-face-155146973">Cafe Racer / Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>There has long been a misconception that gangs are made up of boys and young men, typically from ethnic minority groups and disadvantaged backgrounds. But the reality is very different. </p>
<p>Girls and young women from all demographics are targeted by gang members, and used to transport drugs and weapons from urban areas to rural locations and coastal towns. </p>
<p>Research in London’s <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322677141_From_Postcodes_to_Profits_Changes_in_gang_activity_in_Waltham_Forest">Waltham Forest</a> in 2018 found that “clean skins” – children, especially young women and girls, not previously known to police and statutory agencies and often from wealthier backgrounds – are being targeted by gangs.</p>
<p>When young women and girls are recognised as part of gangs, they tend to be viewed as willing participants, and judged according to sexist social norms and stereotypes. Their behaviours are interpreted as one of two extremes: they are either very violent, or immoral and sexually promiscuous. For example, so-called hooks or honey traps are commonly seen as perpetrators, willingly manipulating their sexuality to entice rival gang members or attract new ones. </p>
<p><a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17488958211051513">The truth</a> is far more complex. Women and girls involved in gangs are often <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6akZmp_qkQE">both perpetrator and victim</a>, actively recruiting other young people to avoid their own sexual and <a href="https://researchbriefings.files.parliament.uk/documents/CBP-9264/CBP-9264.pdf">criminal exploitation</a>. </p>
<p>The limited public awareness of girls and young women in gangs is to the gang’s advantage. Absent from the statistics and viewed as deviant, they are <a href="https://www.northlondonsocialwork.co.uk/news/we-must-protect-the-silent-and-invisible-youth/">seldom seen</a> and less often believed, which means they can more readily avoid detection. In this sense, girls and young women from diverse backgrounds are ideally placed to help gangs run their <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10610-019-09408-4">profit making business model</a>.</p>
<p>Challenging these conceptions and improving public understanding about girls in gangs could help prevent more young women from being recruited and used to perpetuate criminal activity.</p>
<h2>Coercive control</h2>
<p>A better way to understand the behaviour of girls and young women in gangs is the concept of <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/17488958211051513">coercive control</a>. Historically associated with domestic abuse, coercive control is built on a foundation of trust, where the victim shares intimate experiences and information with the perpetrator, including personal dreams and fears. It is different from other forms of abuse, because abusers leverage the privileged and trusted information to exert influence or control over their victim.</p>
<p>The BBC documentary <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0010dbw/hidden-girls">Hidden Girls</a>, which I consulted on, describes first-hand accounts of the ways girls are recruited into gangs. Young men in gangs show an interest in or feign concern about young women and girls. They target these children and deliberately foster a dependency which leads to an emotional commitment. </p>
<p>In the hands of gang members, technology becomes a <a href="https://www.northlondonsocialwork.co.uk/news/we-must-protect-the-silent-and-invisible-youth/">tool for coercive control</a>. Gang members regularly use <a href="https://archive.voice-online.co.uk/article/girls-gangs-and-social-media">social media</a> to recruit young women and girls from all backgrounds to parties. Here, they are plied with drink and drugs and sexually exploited, often by several gang members at a time. They are often too drunk to give consent or too frightened to say no, and the rape is filmed. Armed with evidence of the girl or young woman’s alleged promiscuity, gang members then threaten to expose them by posting the footage and their personal information on social media. These young women and girls are then bombarded with sexually explicit texts and phone calls from predatory strangers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A distressed-looking young woman sits in the dark with her head resting on her hand and holding a mobile phone in her other hand" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/445753/original/file-20220210-21-nmcnk4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Mobile phones are an easy tool for gang members to maintain control over their victims.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/young-scared-worried-teenager-girl-holding-1285787740">Burdun Iliya / Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Technology can also be used to groom young women and girls by creating the impression of a romantic relationship. Once in the gang fold, this same technology is used to intimidate and maintain <a href="https://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/tpp/jgbv/2020/00000004/00000002/art00007;jsessionid=1vffoncsf7pe1.x-ic-live-02">round the clock surveillance</a>. Equipped with their personal numbers, elder gang members are able to track young women and girls through GPS apps on their phones. </p>
<p>Always knowing where they are and able to text or call at any time, gang members can make demands at a moment’s notice, while monitoring the girls to check on their whereabouts and ensure they are following instructions. This creates the impression that the perpetrator is always present, even when he cannot be seen. This fear traps the girls in gang life and forces them to comply with the demands of gang members.</p>
<p>Gangs are targeting young women and girls from all backgrounds. The myths and stereotypes associated with gang demographics only serve to isolate these women and girls and keep them hidden. We need to recognise that all children are vulnerable to recruitment and that their decisions, however unwise, may be a consequence of fear and control. Rather than judge these young women and girls, it may be helpful to understand their behaviours as a strategy to manage their abuse and a tool to keep themselves safe.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175369/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Some of the findings from this research came from research in Waltham Forest that was funded by the local authority. The research was a 10 year follow up and the purpose was to understand how gangs had changed over this timescale. </span></em></p>Gangs are using coercive control tactics to recruit young women into criminal activity.Tirion E. Havard, Associate Professor of Social Work, London South Bank UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1656402021-09-22T15:30:42Z2021-09-22T15:30:42ZScouse Soldiers: the organised crime gangs of Merseyside<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/416062/original/file-20210813-27-9p7pex.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=51%2C17%2C5158%2C3728&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/silhouettes-shadows-people-on-street-crowd-1559767076">Oleg Elkov/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Like many urban areas in the UK, Merseyside has a <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/liverpools-historic-brutal-street-gangs-18533991">long and notorious history</a> of street gangs. From the Cornermen and High Rip gangs of the 19th century, to the Croxteth Crew, Nogga Dogs and Moss Edz, the self-perceived North Face “Scouse Soldiers” of today, all have left a dark and deadly legacy.</p>
<p>As someone who has always lived on a former Merseyside council housing estate in Knowsley, one of the most <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2004/apr/29/communities.socialexclusion">socially excluded</a> and poverty-stricken areas in the UK, and an academic whose research has focused on youth and gang crime, I have seen both sides of the fence. This experience has motivated me to <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JCRPP-03-2021-0012/full/html">research gangs</a> on Merseyside – one of the UK’s hot spots for gang and organised crime activity.</p>
<p>In 2018-19, <a href="https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/knowsley-highest-rate-children-risk-17227983">social services assessed 16,132</a> children in Merseyside County, of which 546 were deemed to be either active members of a gang, at risk of joining one, or at risk of being a victim of gang-related violence. </p>
<h2>Social networks</h2>
<p>In 2009, sociologist Hannah Smithson and colleagues <a href="http://eprints.hud.ac.uk/id/eprint/24788/1/acc-guns-and-gangs-report.pdf">examined the extent</a>, nature and causes of young people’s involvement in gang and gun crime. From interviews with Merseyside police, practitioners and young people aged between 16 and 29, they identified two types of gang structures. </p>
<p>The first, a loosely-knit, non-hierarchical group of young people who would get together on the streets at night and engage in antisocial behaviour and potentially violence and criminality. This is the classic, stereotypical assumption of what a street gang is. The second type was structured and hierarchical, with ties to illegal drug markets and cities’ adult organised crime groups. </p>
<p>In more recent years, these drug-dealing groups have become fiercely territorial and violent, resorting to the use of knives and firearms in order to protect their selling patch, and exploiting vulnerable young people.</p>
<p>Why do people get involved in gangs? I’ve sought to answer this key question in my own research, and found that a sense of belonging, respect and protection as well as membership as a source of income all contribute.</p>
<p>In 2018 <a href="https://www.academia.edu/39223463/DOCTORAL_THESIS_2018_DEPOSIT_VERSION">I interviewed</a> 44 young men – half involved in street gangs and half completely abstaining – to learn why some young people joined gangs. Social exclusion, coupled with cutbacks brought in by austerity policies, meant many young men who became involved in street gangs suffered from “<a href="https://www.academia.edu/43038234/Countering_network_poverty_as_a_precursor_to_gang_membership_bridging_and_social_capital_through_temporary_migration_research_and_practice">network poverty</a>”. This means that they lacked the ability to make good “pro-social” connections, which shape how young people perceive the welfare of others and their communities. </p>
<p>With friendships mainly restricted to the schoolyard or the residential streets, criminality is seen as a way to succeed in a world which values the ownership of material things. In the case of gang members, values become bound around deviant group formation and offending as a way of escape from continuing poverty and deprivation. </p>
<p>In contrast, young men who found opportunities beyond their local area abstained from gang affiliation and criminality. They joined interest groups such as martial arts classes or took weekend jobs, forging new friendships with peers away from their home streets. Their belief systems opened up, and they embraced legitimate employment and leisure activities, leading to further opportunities.</p>
<h2>Deviant entrepreneurship</h2>
<p>For those involved in street gangs, there was also the appeal of edgework – as risk-taking behaviour is <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/2780644?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents">described in criminology</a> – which provided excitement and escapism from the boredom and routine existence that social exclusion brings. Quite simply, there were no real legitimate opportunities for young people to access. Such thrill-seeking behaviour has not been adequately addressed by interventions aimed at countering gang recruitment. </p>
<p>In the eyes of many gang-involved young people, the line between employment and criminality (specifically drug dealing) became blurred. This was evident in interviews with gang members living closer to Liverpool city centre and its vibrant nighttime economy. Here, the language used during interviews became more businesslike – one participant identified his group as a “firm of boys” and talked about serving punters (customers) and profit margins. </p>
<p>I coined the term <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/SC-05-2019-0016/full/html">“deviant entrepreneurship”</a> to describe the process of gangs making money through illegitimate means. Those gang members involved neutralised their criminal activity into the context of work, or as it is widely known on the streets around Liverpool, “grafting”. </p>
<p>Across Merseyside, many young people involved in street gangs have become embroiled with adult organised crime groups as part of the <a href="https://www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk/what-we-do/crime-threats/drug-trafficking/county-lines">“county lines” phenomenon</a> – a form of exploitation in which gangs of adults coerce children and young people to carry drugs to rural or coastal areas of the country. </p>
<p>In 2018, modern slavery researcher Grace Robinson interviewed a combination of young people (aged 14-20) and people working in youth justice interventions. Her research focused on exploitation within gangs by adult criminals. She found that some young people were paid a commission in drugs (in most cases, cannabis) in return for selling a supply. </p>
<p>Moreover, she identified the widespread use of social media platforms to <a href="https://www.dressember.org/blog/dressemberday16">lure young people</a> into carrying out drug supplying tasks, and to manipulate them through debt bondage. Gang members offer young individuals trainers, designer clothes and sometimes even a place to stay or drugs for personal use. The young person is then forced into working to pay off the debt, by carrying drugs or recruiting other young people into the network, continuing the cycle of exploitation.</p>
<p>The existing research makes clear that gang activity on Merseyside is a major and continuing problem, and that addressing individualised symptoms alone will not stop young people becoming involved. A substantial part of this is the environment and lack of opportunities – something that should be addressed further by politicians.</p>
<p>Continuation of austerity policies, including <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2020/jan/20/youth-services-suffer-70-funding-cut-in-less-than-a-decade">cuts to youth services</a>, coupled with unemployment and the financial consequences of the pandemic, have created socially deprived breeding grounds for street gangs and organised crime groups to flourish.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/165640/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Hesketh does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some areas of Merseyside have more children at risk from gangs than in London. So why isn’t it studied more?Robert Hesketh, Lecturer in Policing Studies, School of Justice Studies., Liverpool John Moores UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1574252021-06-16T03:17:30Z2021-06-16T03:17:30ZAs organised crime makes headlines, are bikie gangs the threat they are made out to be?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/406387/original/file-20210615-13-1ixnccc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Victoria Police</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Organised crime has been front page news after the Australian Federal Police <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-most-significant-police-operation-in-australian-history-how-it-worked-and-what-it-means-for-organised-crime-162342">revealed</a> its pivotal role in a multinational sting, three years in the making. </p>
<p>Along with drug cartels, the mafia and Asian crime syndicates, the <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">AFP listed</a> bikie gangs as one of the prime targets of Operation Ironside, with media reports also <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/operation-ironside-bikies-using-an0m-warned-to-hand-themselves-in/news-story/c5c38e241dc15bd007d6b1b813ce1bcf">highlighting the role of bikies</a>. </p>
<p>This follows <a href="https://www.watoday.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-bikie-gang-colours-to-be-banned-under-bold-police-proposal-to-dismantle-and-destroy-criminal-networks-20210317-p57bo5.html">recent calls</a> from Western Australian police commissioner Chris Dawson for tougher laws against bikies to tackle organised crime. </p>
<p>But are outlaw motorcycle gangs the serious organised crime threat they are made out to be?</p>
<h2>Outlaw motorcycle gangs</h2>
<p>According to the Australian Institute of Criminology an outlaw motorcycle gang is a motorcycle club used by members to engage in criminal activity. This activity <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-05/ti586_australian_omcg_involvement_in_violent_and_organised_crime.pdf">can include</a>: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>violent crimes designed to protect the club and its reputation, its members and its territory, and more profit-motivated crimes that enhance the gang’s power or economic resources.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been the prime target in Australia’s fight against organised crime in recent years, with the <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/about-crime/priority-crime-themes/gangs">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> identifying them as a priority crime “theme” (along with cyber crime and illicit drugs). It launched a <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/about/determinations/outlaw-motor-cycle-gangs-special-acic-operation-2020">special operation</a> against bikie gangs in 2020, describing them as a “significant threat”. </p>
<p>In the wake of Operation Ironside, the AFP’s anti-gangs squad commander Andrew Donoghoe <a href="https://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/operation-ironside-bikies-using-an0m-warned-to-hand-themselves-in/news-story/c5c38e241dc15bd007d6b1b813ce1bcf">told The Courier Mail</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>They are purely an organised crime network that is there to make money, generally off drug dealing, sometimes off intimidation and acts of violence and with no remorse for anyone, including innocent members of the community being hurt or killed in the process.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>But the common assumption that all members of bikie gangs are criminals is incorrect. </p>
<h2>What type of crime do they commit?</h2>
<p>Much of the rationale for targeting bikie gangs is they predominately commit <a href="https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/taskforce-on-organised-crime-legislation">high-level</a> or serious offences, such as murder, drug trafficking and extortion.</p>
<p>But our analysis of crime data in two Australian jurisdictions shows outlaw motorcycle gangs in both Queensland and the ACT contribute less than 1% to most organised crime offence categories. For example, in Queensland, between 2008 and 2014, bikie members represented 1% of murders and 0.1% of reported robberies. In the ACT between 2000 and 2019, gang members represented 0.4% of reported drug offences and 0.3% of unlawful weapons possessions. </p>
<p>The top ten offences by numbers committed by bikie gang members are minor offences such as low-level drug possession, driving offences and public nuisance. </p>
<h2>How much crime are we talking about?</h2>
<p>A 2020 study by the <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi586">Australian Institute of Criminology</a> showed 12.5% of bikie gang members had a history of organised crime offending. But this finding is problematic in that it relies on apprehension data. Not all apprehensions will result in a court appearance or caution, or a finding of guilt. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1401980528593555463"}"></div></p>
<p>Importantly, bikie gang members are subjected to over-policing and targeting. The failed prosecution rate for outlaw gang members charges is much higher than the general population rate on data available both in the <a href="https://justice.act.gov.au/independent-review-effectiveness-act-policing-crime-scene-powers-and-powers-target-disrupt">ACT</a> and <a href="https://www.police.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/2018-12/Task%20Force%20Bletchley.pdf">Queensland</a>. </p>
<p>For example, the failed prosecution rate for bikie gang members in Queensland is 23%, compared to 6% for the general population. In the ACT, the rate is 27% compared to 4%.</p>
<p>Queensland <a href="https://research.bond.edu.au/en/publications/an-examination-of-outlaw-motorcycle-gangs-and-their-involvement-i">government data</a> shows outlaw motorcycle gang members were found guilty of just 0.17% of all reported offences in the state from 2008 to 2014. This accords with a separate 2016 <a href="https://www.publications.qld.gov.au/dataset/taskforce-organised-crime-report">taskforce in Queensland</a>, which noted:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>On any view of all the statistics, [outlaw motorcycle gangs] account for a very small proportion of the overall reported crime in Queensland – definitively, less than 1%.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>In 2019, we <a href="https://justice.act.gov.au/independent-review-effectiveness-act-policing-crime-scene-powers-and-powers-target-disrupt">conducted a review</a> of the criminal activity of all current outlaw motorcycle gang members in the ACT. We found they were guilty of 0.06% of all reported ACT offences between 2000-2019.</p>
<h2>The role of the gang structure in criminal enterprise</h2>
<p>One could fairly have expected broader involvement of bikie gangs to been uncovered Operation Ironside’s three-year, landmark investigation. Yet of some <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/AGICC%20-%20OMCG%20patch%20Identification%20Chart.pdf">44 clubs</a> in Australia, to date only the Comancheros and Lone Wolves received any specific mention. </p>
<p>One reason for this is that bikie gangs do not usually engage in organised crime as a collective unit. Rather, their threat arises from small numbers of members conspiring with other criminals for a common purpose. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi621">systemic review </a> of relevant research by Australian Institute of Criminology in March 2021 found if bikie gang members are involved in crime – especially organised crime, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>it appears that they tend to operate in small, loose networks that may include other [outlaw motorcycle gang] members but also individuals who are not members.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>A <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10611-018-9771-1">2018 study</a> noted individuals within the group were more likely to interact with other criminal groups and freelance for common criminal purposes. </p>
<h2>What are the big organised crime threats?</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/annual-reports/australian-criminal-intelligence-commission-annual-report-2019-20">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> says around 70% of Australia’s serious and organised criminal threats have an offshore base or linkage. </p>
<p>Operation Ironside has shown just how attractive Australia is to overseas criminal groups other than just bikie gangs, with groups such as the mafia, Asian and Eastern European crime groups are now operating in Austalia’s criminal markets.
<a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mexican-drug-cartels-on-rise/news-story/c28395bd2d23fde4c5b530b4929a4f36">Mexican drug cartels</a> are also moving into Australia’s lucrative methamphetamine market. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-bikie-beat-up-why-we-shouldnt-confuse-crime-lords-with-boofheads-on-bikes-18896">The great bikie beat-up: why we shouldn't confuse crime lords with boofheads on bikes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>So when it comes to organised crime, we need to look beyond simple generic responses, such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/criminalising-conversations-australias-damaging-love-affair-with-consorting-laws-53633">consorting laws</a> — that theoretically stop bikies from interacting with each other — and bring a more nuanced approach to fighting organised crime. </p>
<p>Bikies make good headlines and are seen as the “usual suspects”, but we also need to look at the data to support our policy, legislative and investigative decisions.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157425/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy has previously received funding from the Australian Capital Territory Government to conduct an independent review of its responses to organised crime.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gaelle Brotto has previously received funding from the Australian Capital Territory Government to conduct an independent review of its responses to organised crime. </span></em></p>Outlaw motorcycle gangs have been the prime target in Australia’s fight against organised crime in recent years. But the idea all members of bikie gangs are criminals is incorrect.Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond UniversityGaelle Brotto, Assistant Professor Criminology and Criminal JusticeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1623422021-06-09T01:44:18Z2021-06-09T01:44:18ZThe ‘most significant’ police operation in Australian history — how it worked and what it means for organised crime<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/405016/original/file-20210608-19-1tq1khx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP/Victoria Police/supplied</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Federal Police made <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/08/world/australia/operation-trojan-horse-anom.html">global news</a> this week with the revelation its <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">Operation Ironside</a> helped sting organised crime gangs around the world. </p>
<p>This was part of a broader, three-year operation with the FBI and other law enforcement agencies. Home Affairs Minister Karen Andrews <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/mass-raids-arrests-across-australia-after-police-sting-dismantles-encrypted-app-used-by-criminals-20210607-p57yya.html">described it</a> as the “most significant operation in policing history here in Australia”.</p>
<h2>How did it start?</h2>
<p>Operation Ironside started with an investigation and closing down by the FBI of a company called <a href="https://www.unodc.org/unodc/en/untoc20/truecrimestories/phantom-secure.html">Phantom Secure</a> in 2018. </p>
<p>The Vancouver-based company provided modified Blackberry phones that operated on an encrypted network that could not be decrypted or wire-tapped by police. These devices were used exclusively by criminal networks to conduct various criminal enterprises on a global scale. </p>
<p>Clients included the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-40480405">Mexican Sinaloa drug cartel</a> and the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle gang in Australia. Some 20,000 devices were believed to be in use at the time the company’s CEO, Vincent Ramos, was arrested in February 2018.</p>
<p>Next, the AFP and FBI worked together <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20799201-operation-trojan-shield-court-record">to fill the void</a> left by Phantom Secure with a new encrypted device named <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-06-08/fbi-afp-underworld-crime-bust-an0m-cash-drugs-murder/100197246">AN0M</a>. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/how-an-app-to-decrypt-criminal-messages-was-born-over-a-few-beers-with-the-fbi-162343">How an app to decrypt criminal messages was born 'over a few beers' with the FBI</a>
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<p>Under <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/world-57394831">Operation Trojan Shield</a>, police distributed AN0M among criminals, using a confidential human source — a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jun/08/how-the-fbi-and-australian-police-gained-a-front-seat-view-of-underworld-workings-in-90-countries">convicted narcotics importer</a>. This source had been working with FBI agents since 2018 in exchange for the possibility of a reduced sentence for other charges he was facing.</p>
<p>This source has previously distributed Phantom Secure devices and agreed to distribute the devices to his existing network of distributors and clients.</p>
<p>As the AFP explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>You had to know a criminal to get hold of one of these customised phones. The phones couldn’t ring or email. You could only communicate with someone on the same platform.</p>
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<p>Little did criminals know that law enforcement and the source had built a master key into the existing encryption system. This master key surreptitiously attached to each message, enabling police to decrypt and store messages as they were transmitted. So, AN0M was a Trojan horse, not with Greeks inside, but law enforcement.</p>
<h2>Australia’s role</h2>
<p>Court records <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20799201-operation-trojan-shield-court-record">unsealed this week</a> provide a fascinating insight into how the operation unfolded. </p>
<p>In October 2018, the source distributed 50 devices to targets in Australia. In this test phase, Australian police saw 100% of the AN0M users were using the app for criminal activity. </p>
<p>Intercepted conversations also showed targets were willing to provide the devices to senior members of organised crime groups overseas. So, a global criminal investigation was now underway. </p>
<p>Since October 2019, the FBI has catalogued more than 20 million messages from a total of 11,800 devices in more than 90 countries. The top five countries where AN0M devices are currently used are Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Australia, and Serbia. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/5kq5VeHRvV0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">AFP officers talk about Operation Ironside.</span></figcaption>
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<p>With the assistance of Europol - the European Union’s law enforcement agency — the FBI identified more than 300 transnational organised crime groups using the AN0M devices for criminal enterprises.</p>
<p>The sophistication of the criminal operations is revealed by the fact criminal organisations compartmentalised their activities with multiple brands of hardened encrypted devices. </p>
<p>For example, some users assigned different types of devices to different parts of drug trafficking transactions. In some instances, AN0M was used for the logistics of the drug shipments, but <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/technology/organised-crime-hangs-up-on-ciphr/news-story/33d0696a5c4d3b5574dbd6cfdfbeb0bb">Ciphr</a> or <a href="https://www.zdnet.com/article/sky-ecc-denies-police-have-cracked-encryption-messaging-platform/">Sky</a> were used to coordinate the concealment of the illicit proceeds. </p>
<p>This compartmentalisation shows how connected the encrypted communications device industry is to organised criminal activity.</p>
<h2>Implications for Australia</h2>
<p>The haul from Operation Ironside is impressive. </p>
<p>It has led to the arrest of 224 offenders on 526 charges in every mainland Australian state. Since 2018, 3.7 tonnes of drugs, 104 weapons, A$44,934,457 million in cash, and assets worth millions of dollars have been seized.</p>
<p>The AFP also responded to 20 threats to kill, potentially saving the lives of innocent bystanders, with intelligence referred to state police. For example, last week, police rescued <a href="https://www.news.com.au/national/nsw-act/crime/former-bikie-dillon-mancuso-rescued-after-allegedly-being-kidnapped-in-sydney/news-story/455f340571c29063a746c965ca2ec8b1">former bikie Dillon Mancuso</a>, who was allegedly snatched from his Sydney home by a group of armed men.</p>
<h2>The challenge ahead</h2>
<p>But the operation has also shown how Australia has become a destination of choice for transnational organised crime groups. </p>
<p>In its annual report, the <a href="https://www.acic.gov.au/publications/annual-reports/australian-criminal-intelligence-commission-annual-report-2019-20">Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission</a> notes about 70% of Australia’s serious and organised criminal threats are based offshore or have strong offshore links.</p>
<p>There is also a strong market for illegal drugs. As <a href="https://www.afp.gov.au/news-media/media-releases/afp-led-operation-ironside-smashes-organised-crime">AFP Commissioner Reece Kershaw acknowledged</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Organised crime syndicates target Australia, because sadly, the drug market is so lucrative. Australians are among the world’s biggest drug takers.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Examples of this are the <a href="https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/mexican-drug-cartels-on-rise/news-story/c28395bd2d23fde4c5b530b4929a4f36">Mexican drug cartels</a> expanding into Australia’s lucrative methamphetamine market.</p>
<p>Law enforcement should be congratulated for the outcome of this operation — but this is far from the end of their work. While we have dealt transnational organised crime a heavy blow, the war will continue as law enforcement seek to stay one step ahead in the race against organised crime.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162342/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Terry Goldsworthy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The haul from Operation Ironside is impressive. But it has also shown how Australia has become a destination of choice for transnational organised crime groups.Terry Goldsworthy, Associate Professor in Criminology, Bond UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1557592021-02-23T08:39:41Z2021-02-23T08:39:41ZMelbourne finally has a Crown royal commission — is this going to stop crime and gambling harm?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385707/original/file-20210223-13-1xhjiuo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Dodge/AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Victorian government has announced a <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/royal-commission-crown-melbourne">Royal Commission</a> into Crown Melbourne, following the damning findings of the <a href="https://www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/la/papers/Pages/tabled-paper-details.aspx?pk=79129">Bergin inquiry</a> into <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/crown-not-suitable-to-hold-licence-for-sydney-casino-inquiry-finds-20210209-p570uv.html">Crown’s Sydney casino licence</a> earlier this month. </p>
<p>The inquiry found Crown Sydney Gaming was “not a suitable person” to operate the Sydney casino. </p>
<p>It also found Crown Resorts was “not suitable to be a close associate of the licensee,” pointing to the infiltration and exploitation of Crown’s Melbourne and Perth operations by “criminal elements, probably including international criminal organisations”.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-suitable-where-to-now-for-james-packer-and-crowns-other-casinos-154938">'Not suitable': where to now for James Packer and Crown's other casinos?</a>
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<p>Last week, the Western Australian government announced an <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2021/feb/17/crown-resorts-to-face-wa-casino-inquiry-as-pressure-grows-on-more-directors-to-resign">inquiry</a> into the operations of the Perth casino. Now, it is Victoria’s turn. </p>
<p>The Victorian royal commission will look specifically at the suitability of Crown Resorts Ltd (the parent company) to be the operator of the Melbourne Casino. The <a href="http://www.gazette.vic.gov.au/gazette/Gazettes2021/GG2021S083.pdf">terms of reference</a> are narrowly oriented towards Crown’s compliance with Victorian law and regulation, rather than focusing on regulation more broadly. </p>
<h2>What about existing regulation?</h2>
<p>The royal commission appears to be a vote of little confidence in the <a href="https://www.vcglr.vic.gov.au">Victorian gambling regulator</a>. The Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation has at least three inquiries already underway into Crown. These include a review of the Bergin findings and a <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/no-answers-from-urgent-crown-casino-probe-one-year-later-20200908-p55tl4.html">review announced</a> after <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/gangsters-gamblers-and-crown-casino-how-it-all-went-wrong-20190725-p52aqd.html">2019 media revelations</a> about links to organised crime. These is also a <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/government-announces-crown-casino-review">regular review</a> of the casino licensee, brought forward from 2023. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crown Casino in Melbourne." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385742/original/file-20210223-24-17fuwmc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">The Victorian government called the royal commission on Monday.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Michael Dodge/ AAP</span></span>
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</figure>
<p>Then again, in her report, Commissioner Patricia Bergin recommended regulation of casinos should be undertaken by an independent casino commission. She also said this body should be armed with the powers of a standing royal commission. </p>
<p>The logic here is conventional regulators lack the power to properly inquire into, and demand evidence of, the workings of a business that is a magnet for criminal involvement and money laundering. </p>
<h2>Don’t forget pokies</h2>
<p>Of course, any proper investigation into gambling regulation needs to look far beyond what happens in casinos. </p>
<p>Poker machines in Australia’s clubs and pubs take about <a href="https://responsiblegambling.vic.gov.au/about-us/news-and-media/latest-edition-australian-gambling-statistics-2019/#:%7E:text=total%20casino%20expenditure%20in%20Australia,a%207.1%20per%20cent%20increase">$A13 billion</a>) from punters every year, more than twice the $A5 billion lost at casinos. Much of what is lost at casinos goes into poker machines. Harm and money laundering are also endemic in suburban pubs and clubs. </p>
<p>Crown, perhaps more than other gambling venues, is a locus of gambling harm. It has more than 2,600 poker machines, each making about $A170,000 per year, or <a href="https://www.crownresorts.com.au/CrownResorts/files/09/09b9547d-9e41-4d83-962f-09c0efbe7757.pdf">$A462.7 million</a> in total, as Crown’s annual report reveals. The “high rollers” are the cream on top of the profitable “grind” of the main floor — the term casino operators apply to their regular customers. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Poker machines" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/385745/original/file-20210223-19-uny8xp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption">Crown’s gaming machines make more than $460 million a year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">www.shutterstock.com</span></span>
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<p>Across Australia, there are <a href="https://www.qgso.qld.gov.au/statistics/theme/society/gambling/australian-gambling-statistics">nearly 200,000</a> poker machines operating in other casinos and suburban clubs and pubs. These are also magnets for <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-13/wilkie-says-clubs-non-compliant-with-money-laundering-laws/11958254?nw=0">money laundering</a> and tax evasion. This might be at a smaller scale individually, but in the aggregate, is it as big a problem as those identified at Crown.</p>
<p>This is easiest in NSW, where poker machines have a “<a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/poker-machines-used-to-launder-cash-and-avoid-tax-20200617-p553fs.html">load-up limit</a>” of $A7,500. Laundering drug profits, or some cash-in-hand payments, is as easy as a quick visit to the local club. </p>
<p>So, any scrutiny of Crown’s suitability surely needs to consider how the casino addresses its legal obligation to provide gambling responsibly. </p>
<p>There is certainly evidence this is a significant issue for Crown. It has previously been <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/27/crown-casino-fined-300000-in-victoria-for-poker-machine-tampering">fined</a> for tampering with poker machines and <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-03-27/regulator-takes-action-against-crown-casino/10945328#:%7E:text=Melbourne's%20Crown%20Casino%20has%20been,industry's%20Victorian%20regulator%20has%20said.">reprimanded</a> by the Victorian regulator for not taking harm minimisation seriously. </p>
<h2>Too big to fail?</h2>
<p>Crown is touted as a large employer, a contributor to tax revenue, and <a href="https://www.smh.com.au/national/victoria/victorian-premier-warns-crown-could-lose-melbourne-casino-licence-20210223-p574x9.html">a major entertainment and tourism venue</a>. </p>
<p>It may be all of these things, but as far as employment goes, the <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/labour/employment-and-unemployment/labour-force-australia-detailed/latest-release#industry-occupation-and-sector">Australian Bureau of Statistics</a> tells us gambling activities across Australia employed 26,000 people in November 2020, while the creative and performing arts employed 50,000. </p>
<p>As a contributor to tax revenue, <a href="https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/economy/government/taxation-revenue-australia/latest-release#data-download">the Bureau of Statistics</a> also says Crown contributed less than 1.0% of Victoria’s state tax revenue in 2018-19, or about $A228 million. Lotteries contributed more than twice that, and poker machines in clubs and pubs nearly five times as much. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/not-suitable-where-to-now-for-james-packer-and-crowns-other-casinos-154938">'Not suitable': where to now for James Packer and Crown's other casinos?</a>
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<p>It’s entirely possible the net value of the operation to Victoria may be overstated, to put it mildly. </p>
<h2>First steps</h2>
<p>On Monday, the Victorian government <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/royal-commission-crown-melbourne">said it would</a> “legislate” later this year to “give effect to any findings of the royal commission”. It also said it had started work to set up an independent casino regulator. </p>
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<p>This would be a solid step, but it also needs to encompass the regulation of all forms of gambling. There is no doubt Crown’s malfeasance in Melbourne and Perth went apparently undetected for so long because regulation was under-powered, under-resourced, and frequently undermined by political parties of both major persuasions. </p>
<p>There is also no doubt legislative and regulatory breaches by suburban pokie pubs and clubs are going undetected. There is ample <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/16066359.2017.1314465">evidence</a> the requirements to protect people harmful gambling habits are not being met, including by <a href="https://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/woolworths-alh-gambling-inducing-fined-033011899.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAAuQU3dCIXTPwRpQmPQakXUaiQuUZOE_tct_e-xdvIx7kcGtsM8YCRjmPixEMhswa-dV6120fvCNbE9587MaqZNKG-DJVEP1b_XsSZVaG-vVeKEqyad8pjpEwpphWxzNFRSjlqGWXaMJYScWAgqcbAawfrJ-4ItzWsMP5AOnvRgb">Australia’s largest operators</a>.</p>
<h2>What happens next?</h2>
<p>Melbourne’s Crown royal commission needs to report back by August. This is an ambitious timeline. </p>
<p>In the meantime, it will be fascinating to observe how Crown remakes itself, as has been <a href="https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/crown-needs--root-and-branch--change--says-chairman.html">promised</a> by chair, Helen Coonan, who is now also <a href="https://www.afr.com/companies/games-and-wagering/coonan-s-pay-up-1-8m-as-crown-sinks-to-120m-loss-20210218-p573kh">CEO</a>.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-has-a-long-way-to-go-on-responsible-gambling-101320">Australia has a long way to go on responsible gambling</a>
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<p>Even more fascinating will be whether the other inquiries, reviews, and assessments also now underway actually produce any real change. </p>
<p>Only when the regulator, the system of regulation, and the legislation that underpins it all are robust, suitably powered, and properly resourced, will there be real change. </p>
<p>Until then, we can expect periodic scandals to engulf gambling operators, and the machinery of gambling harm production to grind on.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/155759/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Charles Livingstone has received funding from the Victorian Responsible Gambling Foundation, the (former) Victorian Gambling Research Panel, and the South Australian Independent Gambling Authority (the funds for which were derived from hypothecation of gambling tax revenue to research purposes), from the Australian and New Zealand School of Government and the Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education, and from non-government organisations for research into multiple aspects of poker machine gambling, including regulatory reform, existing harm minimisation practices, and technical characteristics of gambling forms. He has received travel and co-operation grants from the Alberta Problem Gambling Research Institute, the Finnish Institute for Public Health, the Finnish Alcohol Research Foundation, the Ontario Problem Gambling Research Committee, and the Problem Gambling Foundation of New Zealand. He was a Chief Investigator on an Australian Research Council funded project researching mechanisms of influence on government by the tobacco, alcohol and gambling industries. He has undertaken consultancy research for local governments and non-government organisations in Australia and the UK seeking to restrict or reduce the concentration of poker machines and gambling impacts, and was a member of the Australian government's Ministerial Expert Advisory Group on Gambling in 2010-11. He is a member of the Australian Greens.
</span></em></p>The royal commission needs to report back by August. This is an ambitious timeline.Charles Livingstone, Associate Professor, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.