International Crime: Threats and Why It Must Be .....

International crime activity is a major growing threat to the economic and business activities in the United States, and impacts the day-to-day quality of life and well being of the people in the United States. As scary as this may sound, it is an even major threat to the political and economic stability of many developing countries that could succumb under the control or influence of international crime organizations. The extraordinary threat to other countries and the overwhelming impact on businesses and the lives of American citizens require strong, constant and the most advanced and sophisticated law enforcement action by the law agencies of those countries and specially by the United States as the leader of the world.

Common examples of international crime activity include drugs and arms trafficking, money laundering, smuggling of human beings and contraband of property items. Several agencies of the United States have developed strategies and have undertaken coordinated efforts to prevent the growth, counter the spread, and punish international crime activities. These actions have been conducted both here in the United States as well as through cooperation with foreign law enforcement agencies. The need for cooperation and concerted action among international law enforcement agencies is highlighted by the fact that international crime organizations have access to and benefit from the use of increasingly advanced technology tools, and have an abundance of money, weapons and personnel resources in order to intimidate, threaten and if necessary execute those who may be identified as creating obstacles to their illegal operations.

The persistence of international crime activities is exacerbated by the globalization of the economy and by the impact of modern improvements in logistics, information technology, transportation and flows of physical goods, paper money, and people. As society and governments benefit from the quantum leap improvements we have had recently in these areas so do the crime organizations. These organizations now have access to - and can afford to buy- the most advanced information technology tools as well as a cadre of specialists (finance, legal, banking, logistics) whom can be easily bought or coerced into advising and designing new schemes to either hide from or evade legal restrictions. And of course, they have access to exorbitant amounts of profit (including cash!!!) that can be used to corrupt or influence political and government decision-makers and even law enforcement personnel.

Some people in the United States may think that international crime activities are limited to events overseas and that therefore they are protected from the consequences of the spread of international crime organizations or from the lack of legal action against international crime activities. They couldn’t be more wrong: international crime affects the individual lives of American citizens living here in the US, it also affects the businesses operating here, it affects our financial organizations, and it is a threat to the security and stability of our institutions and our way of life. Additionally, international crime affects not only our citizens locally but it affects the well being and the political stability of other countries, primarily developing countries, whose institutions, political leaders, and economic enterprises are even more susceptible and vulnerable to the destabilizing effects of corruption and influencing that international criminal organizations exert.

Some specific examples of international crime activities which although perpetrated outside of our country have a significant impact on our local citizenship include: dollar currency counterfeit, commercial espionage of American companies and its products or services, intellectual property rights theft, money laundering, and the newest and perhaps most threatening activity: high technology crimes such as computer hacking, privacy information theft and identity stealing. Any of these criminal activities –even when perpetrated outside our borders- has the potential to impact the individual lives of US citizens and create havoc and substantial financial and quality of life losses.

Other examples that impact not necessarily the economic wallet of the American citizen but our moral and ethical values include smuggling of human beings (in an effort to enter illegally the United States), or trafficking of women and minors for bondage and/or pornography abuses.

The Department of Justice along with other US agencies and in cooperation with international law enforcement agencies and individual country law agencies is conducting strategies and specific programs to prevent, counter and punish those involved in international crime activities. Every American citizen needs to strongly support and ask for renewed and strengthened enforcement efforts against international crime organizations. International crime activity is against the law, it causes terrible consequences to the overall population, and it affects the economic and political stability and security of many countries.