[5] Some scholars may emphasize TOC's role as a product of capitalism and an "illicit counterparts of multinational corporations” by pursuing geographical positions from which to operate shipments, secure markets, and collaborate with trusted criminal entities.
[6][7] Other scholars associate TOC operations as a security risk affecting public safety, human rights, economic stability, government accountability, and exacerbating internal conflicts.
[10] Founding members included police officials from Russia, Austria, Germany, Belgium, Poland, China, Egypt, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden, Switzerland and Yugoslavia.
At the time, the flow of illicit narcotics into its borders was deemed a major risk to the health and safety of Americans, and as a result, enormous resources were spent in the effort to curtail both the supply of and demand for illegal drugs.
In the three decades that followed President Nixon's declaration, drug trafficking served as the dominant form of what the United States and many of its allies viewed as transnational organized crime.
Antonio Maria Costa, former executive director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, effectively summarized the change in TOC over the last quarter century by saying, "as unprecedented openness in trade, finance, travel and communication has created economic growth and well-being, it has also given rise to massive opportunities for criminals to make their business prosper.
"[2] Due to Globalization's impact in reshaping the modern international system, it's cited by scholars as one of the main factors contributing to the growth of TOCs in the late 20th century.
Improvements in coordination for illicit operations decreased the likelihood of detection, and better management of cross-border business ties and outreach for new opportunities through innovations like high-speed travel, telecommunications, and the internet proliferated TOC entities and arranged them into complex criminal networks.
In effect, domestic authorities are less capable of dismantling TOCs without international support, as targeting them in their local jurisdictions could result in a relocation of operations to different regions, countries, and even continents.
This includes the protection of property rights against criminal actions, professionalization of police, and increasing law enforcement capacities to confront organized crime, all of which are common in the transition to a capitalist free market.
[2] In the most recent full-scale United Nations assessment of TOC, conducted in 2010, the executive director states, "there is a lack of information on transnational criminal markets and trends.
Frequent transactions with terrorist groups engaging in asymmetric attacks include the sale of high-yield weapons that can inflict substantial damage to populations, as well as small firearms and common explosives.
Traditionally, motive distinguishes their categorization as terrorist organization's goals are ideological while a TOC entity's objective is to seek profits, and adopting the other's criminal activities is only a means to an end.
Recent scholarship suggests that the intersection between both types of organizations is due to overlapping criminal networks creating hybrid forms of violent actors.
Traditional enterprises (e.g., Yakuza and Russian Mafia) are only likely to get involved in political conflict to secure markets and increase profits since they desire minimal attention from the state.
By comparison, narco-terrorist organizations (e.g., Mexican drug cartels) perform public warnings against perceived enemies through paramilitary violence that resembles an insurgent group targeting government security forces and citizens alike.
[32] According to the UN Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI), combating transnational organized crime relies first and foremost on effective investigative techniques and prosecutorial tools.
[citation needed] followed by CIs refers to individuals who are not willing to testify but who provide information or assistance to law enforcement in exchange for money or lenient treatment for their own crimes and with the promise of confidentiality.
DHS leverages and deploys numerous CTOC resources, while working closely with other federal, state and local agencies, foreign governments and partners in the private sector.
[40] The Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL), an agency of the Department of State, conducts CTOC operations at home and abroad by delivering justice and fairness and by strengthening police, courts, and corrections systems.
[41] INL CTOC efforts include helping foreign governments build effective law enforcement institutions that combat transnational organized crime, everything from money laundering, cybercrime, and intellectual property theft to trafficking in goods, people, weapons, drugs, or endangered wildlife.
INL combats corruption by helping governments build transparent and accountable public institutions—a cornerstone of strong, stable, and fair societies that offer a level playing field for U.S. businesses abroad.
[42] According to the Government Accountability Office in 2001, The National Security Council identified FinCEN as one of 34 Federal entities that it considered to have a significant role in the fight against international crime.
[43] In 2012, the Department of Treasury imposed sanctions on four key transnational organized crime groups: Camorra from Italy, Brothers' Circle from Russia, the Yamaguchi-gumi (Yakuza) from Japan, and Los Zetas from Mexico.
[46] The Ad Hoc Committee was established by the United Nations General Assembly to deal with this problem by taking a series of measures against transnational organized crime.
[48] Recognizing the detrimental impact on its mission[clarification needed], the World Bank made a $1.5 billion pledge in 2011 to help combat TOC in the coming years.
This initiative helps to recover corruption related proceeds by creating an effective and collaborative environment for global law enforcement policy development.
[49] Europol officers hold no authority to conduct arrests but they support EU law enforcement colleagues by gathering, analyzing and disseminating information and coordinating operations.
[49] The Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF), an initiative of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is an inter-governmental body established in 1989 by the Ministers of its Member jurisdictions.
The objectives of the FATF are to set standards and promote effective implementation of legal, regulatory and operational measures for combating money laundering, terrorist financing and other related threats to the integrity of the international financial system.To this end, the FATF developed a number of recommendations that have been recognized by law enforcement agencies around the world as the standard in the combating of TOC; specifically in the fight against money laundering, terror financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.