Smoking Guns: European Cigarette Smuggling in the 1990’s

This article concerns European cigarette smuggling over the past decade and examines the actors, structures and relationships which facilitated the illicit trade. It discusses the central role played by actors not traditionally associated with organised crime, such as multi-national tobacco companies, Swiss banks and the state security agencies of various Balkan states. It demonstrates how domestic legislation in Switzerland and instability in the Balkans prevented national law enforcement agencies from effectively dealing with this international network at an earlier stage. The article also focuses on the history of local and national law enforcement investigations as well as the integrated multi-national investigation project later initiated by the EU and member states. The article's conclusions suggest that while smuggling actors have successfully adapted to the process of globalisation – financial and state deregulation – law enforcement agencies remain at a disadvantage as they are hampered by the domestic legislation in nation states such as Switzerland and the United States. While cigarette smuggling was and is a major illicit industry, it has not been the subject of much academic scrutiny. This article, based on field research in the Balkans and EU member states aims to contribute to a broader understanding of a problem involving a multiplicity of criminal actors, states and law enforcement agencies.     

Exploitation in Human Trafficking and Smuggling

This article explores the mechanisms that underpin human smuggling and trafficking. It argues for the continued analytical relevance of the distinction between “trafficking” and “smuggling”, as posited by the 2000 UN Protocols. While this distinction has come under sustained criticism from several authors over the last 15 years, it nonetheless continues to capture the essential features of two distinct phenomena (control over a human being vs. illegal entry into a country), and acknowledges the role of agency in smuggling. The paper goes on to discuss three different scenarios that may emerge as a result of the interplay between smugglers and smuggled persons, and it specifies the role of exploitation in each scenario. In addition, the paper offers empirical evidence of the key building blocks of smuggling — namely the search for reliable information and the reaching of an agreement in regard to the service offered — and of how smuggling can turn into trafficking. This work concludes by drawing out the relevant policy implications.     

WOMEN'S PARTICIPATION IN CHINESE TRANSNATIONAL HUMAN SMUGGLING: A GENDERED MARKET PERSPECTIVE*

Despite extensive sociological research on gender and organizations, criminologists have paid insufficient attention to how organizational context and market demands may shape the extent and nature of women's participation in illicit enterprises. This study uses an organizational framework to examine the case of Chinese human smuggling to the United States. Drawing from interviews with 129 human smugglers, we propose a gendered market perspective for understanding the place of women in the human smuggling enterprise. We argue that the limited place of violence and turf as organizing features of human smuggling, the importance of interpersonal networks in defining and facilitating smuggling operations, gender ideologies about work and caregiving, and the impact of safety as an overriding concern for clients combine to create a more meaningful niche for women in human smuggling operations than is found in other criminal endeavors. Our research suggests that organizational and market contexts are significant explanations for gender stratification in illicit enterprises.     

Maritime security and the common interests of India and China

The world has changed dramatically over the years, and being two of the world’s largest and most populous developing countries, India and China should remain in close touch on issues concerning developing nations. Today’s challenges to maritime security increasingly comprise more non-traditional threats, such as terrorist acts against shipping, trafficking in weapons of mass destruction, piracy and armed robbery at sea, illicit transportation in narcotic drugs, psychotropic substances and nuclear substances, and smuggling of people and arms. It is therefore important to intensify cooperation at all levels to address threats to maritime security and safety in a comprehensive manner through bilateral and multilateral instruments and mechanisms aimed at monitoring, preventing and responding to such threats.     

Cocaine,the contras,and the United States: How the U.S. government has augmented America's drug crisis

A study of Washington's connections to Honduran and other contra supporters in the illicit drug traffic shows that such gray alliances for covert operations are themselves a major part of this country's drug problem. It is true that the U.S. has arrested contra supporters on drug charges; but, time after time, these drug arrests have come after the U.S. has ceased to promote the contra faction which those arrested had been supporting. The new Bush drug strategy seems unlikely to affect the window of drug smuggling opportunity opened by Washington's relations with the corrupt Honduran military, and may well open new such windows by new grey alliances with the corrupt right-wing forces in the Andean countries of origin.

---

     

“Behave Like Enraged Lions”: Civil Militias,the Army and the Criminalisation of Politics in Indonesia

Since the end of the authoritarian New Order regime in May 1998, Indonesia has embarked upon a difficult journey towards democracy. One of the key questions raised by the rise of social and political violence in both Java and the Outer Islands since President Suharto's resignation from power is that of the wearing away of the state's monopoly of the means of violence and of its legitimate uses. But the process of the criminalisation of both state agencies and political parties is much older than one would have it. It begun during the late colonial period and gained momentum during the war of independence, in the late 1940s, when army units had to engage in extortion and smuggling to cater for soldiers' needs. Under the New Order, this beam of relationships between the police, the army and criminal gangs was given an official recognition of some sort, hence quasi-legal protection, through the creation of the “System for the Protection of the Environment” (Siskamling). This “system” enabled many petty criminals from the red light districts to join civil and para-military militias and even, at times, to enter public administration. Post-Suharto Indonesia inherited these criminalised “grey areas” between state agencies and the underworld, where one would find numerous masters of violence – people for whom violence is both a way of life and a way of making a living.     

Migrant smuggling and the violence question: evolving illicit migration markets for Cuban and Haitian refugees

Comparing Cuban and Haitian migrant smuggling schemes, this article explores the relationship between violence and the social organization of migrant smuggling, including the smuggling of refugees. Levels of violence, political repression, and ethnic persecution in sending states provide an important context for understanding the origins and organization of this illicit market. Examining the violent threats and acts directed at migrants en route, we argue that violence is not a necessary part of the illicit market for unauthorized migration, attenuated by the social networks, cultural norms, and contractual relationships in which it is embedded.

---

Understanding parrot trafficking between illicit markets in Bolivia: an application of the CRAVED model

The CRAVED model has been used to understand theft variation in a whole host of hot products, including wildlife. Past research, however, has only applied the model at either the theft or illicit market stage to understand why particular products are stolen in high numbers. The CRAVED model has yet to be applied to the trafficking stage of hot products smuggled between illicit markets and, therefore, its applicability at this particular stage remains unknown. Using secondary data from the Los Pozos wildlife market in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, this study applies the CRAVED model to explain why parrot species are trafficked between illicit markets in Bolivia. This research finds that species that are more “available” and less “valuable” are more likely to be trafficked between illicit markets, suggesting that variation at the trafficking stage of the parrot trade can be explained by nearly the same CRAVED concepts as they do at the poaching stage. This study also finds that one-quarter of parrots in the Los Pozos market are trafficked to other cities, of which 99% are to the city of Cochabamba. These findings suggest that shutting down illicit markets and patrolling major roadways between cities can substantially reduce the illegal parrot trade.     

违法所得问题研究

违法所得是指违法所得的一切财物的简称,在诉讼活动中占有重要地位。但是由于立法和理论研究的不足,导致司法实践中违法所得的概念不清、主体不明、数额计算不统一以及程序设计不完善等。因此,有必要对违法所得问题展开实体与程序全方位的研究,完善违法所得的处理机制。     

从保密到安全:数据销毁义务的理论逻辑与制度建构

我国现行立法规定了自然人有请求信息处理者删除个人信息的权利,但这并不等于承认数据生命周期的最后环节是“删除”,因为“删除权”是“信息处理的合法性与必要性基础丧失”的必然结果,而“数据销毁”才是“数据归于消灭”的处理流程末端。数据销毁义务的理论基础在于信息保密方式的扩张,即从维持信息保密状态转向维持数据安全风险的可控性。在数据安全风险评估过程中,倘若义务主体无法保障暂时不使用的重要数据和个人信息处于安全状态,则应当采取适当的数据销毁范式降低数据泄露或非法复原的安全风险。在未来立法活动中,我国应当明确数据销毁义务的义务主体、销毁方式和销毁范围等具体制度内容,完成数据安全立法的“最后闭环”。     

From tong war to organized crime: Revising the historical perception of violence in Chinatown

An analysis of New York City press accounts and official documents from 1894 to 1908 challenges many assumptions about Chinese organized crime in the United States. Contrary to conventional wisdom, this analysis provides strong evidence that Chinese organized crime is neither “emerging” nor “nontraditional” and that it predates, in structure and sophistication, organizations of other ethnic origins later recognized as “modern” organized crime by academics, the media, and the government. A qualitative, document-based case study of the first “tong war” between the Hip Sing Tong and the On Leong Tong (1899–1907) shows that both organizations were heavily involved in a multiethnic social system of organized crime that extended across the United States and to China itself. The turn-of-the-century tongs were involved with police and political corruption, labor racketeering, price fixing, prostitution, gambling, immigrant smuggling, slavery, drug trafficking, and violent crimes. They are still associated with these activities.     

Size and scope of the tobacco trade on the darkweb

Globally, tobacco is responsible for the death of approximately 6 million individuals per year. In reaction, governments have enacted tobacco control policies that cope with the harmful effects of the drug. However, these policies have also created geographic price disparities and increased the effort needed to purchase legal tobacco products. The result was the creation of a new illicit tobacco market. While tobacco smuggling continues through conventional avenues, a new generation of traffickers have turned to a different source for the illicit distribution of tobacco – the internet, specifically the darkweb. The purpose of this paper is to describe the size and scope of illicit trafficking of tobacco on cryptomarkets, and the diverse types of tobacco-related products available on the cryptomarkets. Our analysis will provide guidance for policymakers, researchers, and all interested in the illicit trade of tobacco.     

CORRELATES OF PRISON DRUG USE An Evaluation of Two Conceptual Models

This study, essentially an extension of the recent work of Akers et al., represents an attempt to evaluate the utility of two theoretical paradigms in accounting for illicit drug use in a prison setting. Based on self-report data obtained from a sample of 273 adult felons who were confined in a medium security penitentiary, the analysis presented demonstrates that virtually all of those inmates who reported drug use within the prison had also used drugs prior to their confident. Thus, contrary to the implications of the “deprivation model,” but fully consistent with those of the “importation model” this particular pattern of prison behavior is clearly not a direct function of the conditions of confinement. Instead, while the structure of the prison may well influence the probability that those who have used drugs prod to con/unmet will continue to do so while in prison, drug use appears to be an example of a type of behavior within the prison which is best predicted by preprison socialization and experience.     

Smuggling wildlife in the Americas: scale,methods, and links to other organised crimes

International wildlife trafficking has garnered increased attention in recent years with a focus on the illicit trade in ivory, rhinos, and other animals from Africa and Asia. Less is known about trafficking in the Americas. By conducting a systematic review of academic literature, popular accounts, and government reports, this case study attempts to identify the scope and methods of wildlife trafficking in the Americas and its connections to organised crime. Unlike arms or drug smuggling, individual operators with minimal connections to other criminal activities dominate the trade. Most perpetrators work independently and have expertise and interests in legitimate businesses involving animal products. Methods of concealment are frequently rudimentary and little appears to be known about primary trafficking routes. Overall, wildlife smuggling in the Western Hemisphere appears to be a small-scale activity, small in its aggregate amounts, and strongly linked to legitimate businesses operating in a low risk and technologically narrow environment.     

中国对外贸易国家安全制度重构

《对外贸易法》在我国对外贸易中具有防范国家安全威胁和维护国家安全的重要作用。然而,反观美国《1962年贸易拓展法》以及《关税及贸易总协定》《服务贸易总协定》和近期生效实施的部分区域自由贸易协定有关国家安全制度的立法模式,我国《对外贸易法》相关条款的“两分法”模式存在明显不足。根据“总体国家安全观”,我国有必要制定具有“时代性”特点的对外贸易国家安全制度。     

Youth Gangs — A Special Problem

Beginning in the mid-1980s, some youth gangs with origins in the large urban centers of Los Angeles, Miami, Chicago, Detroit, and New York, became major criminal entrepreneurs in the supply of illicit drugs. In a very short time, many of these gangs have developed intrastate and interstate networks for the purpose of expanding their highly profitable participation in the state, regional, and national illegal drug sales market. Significant levels of violence and related criminal behavior have accompanied this phenomenon. Youth have always been distributors and sellers of drugs within their local peer groups, whether these groups were informal or organized as “gangs.” Most youth who are involved with illicit drugs have not had direct contact with drug dealers. Their street, school, or neighborhood suppliers have been friends and acquaintances. The onset of domestically-produced drugs or drug compounds presented an opportunity for youth to be in control of the supply. Domestically grown marijuana represented such an opportunity. Clandestine laboratory-produced methamphetamine and PCP increased it. And, finally, domestically-manufactured “crack” or “rock” cocaine opened the floodgates for serious youth participation in the huge profits available through illicit drug trafficking.     

Once a Soldier,Always a Soldier: A Typological Analysis of Military Delinquency Based on the Military-cum-Social Problem of Soldiers/Bandits in China, 1890s to Early 1950s

In traditional or Old China, (especially from the 1890s through 1940s), soldiers seemed to enjoy “unlimited” opportunities to engage in bandit activities (e.g., looting villages, setting civilian houses on fire, extorting landlords, abducting and trafficking children, gang raping women, etc.). One important factor that allowed these armed personnel to commit various criminal acts was that China did not have an integrated military system before the 1950s. Therefore, state managers usually could not supervise (let along regulate) the behavior of soldiers. Given that an institutionalized system that could put soldiers under state control was missing, it was not surprising that when soldiers were sent to a certain battlefield that villages, rural towns, and cities surrounding that combat zone were always raided and looted by soldiers turned bandits. Unlike those “wicked” soldiers who became involved in various social evils related to banditry, hundreds of thousands of “good” bandits in Old China joined regular troops. This “righteous act” basically was connected with the fact that almost all bandits, as desperados, lived in a “Darwinian” world. Since this world is governed entirely by the law of competition (i.e., only the “strongest” and the “smartest” could survive), leaders of bandit gangs usually could not ascertain whether they can continue doing those “businesses” that do require investment in the foreseeable future. As a result of this uncertainty, joining regular armies (if this “application” was officially approved by the authorities) was normally the “best choice” for armed bandits (whether they were core members or followers). In other words, becoming a part of government troops usually allowed chiefs and adherents of bandit gangs to enjoy miscellaneous benefits (such as formal military rank, social position, and state-controlled resources like stipend, ammunition, and weapons). As these benefits include the elements of legitimacy and economic security, “big brothers” of bandit blocs generally wished that their personal troops could be transformed into part of the formal troops in order that the marginalized and illicit status of such private troops be terminated. In this paper, the issue of military delinquency will be explored; by using the interactive relationship between Chinese soldiers and Chinese bandits during the period of late-nineteenth to mid-twentieth centuries as an example, the goal of this article is to examine those socioeconomic contexts that provide military personnel with opportunities to perpetrate antisocial or criminal behaviors. Four “Big Jobs” will be performed in this paper: first, the structural factors which, before the 1950s, gave Chinese soldiers opportunities to commit bandit acts will be addressed; then, the environmental causes that motivated marginalized populations (chiefly males) to join bandit gangs will be listed. After these two issues have been inspected, the connection between soldier-bandits and bandit-soldiers will be analyzed. The implications of this relationship will be summarized in the final section.     

浮动抵押逸出担保物权体系的理论证成

具有担保功能的权利,并非都是担保物权。如果一项权利既不符合担保物权的特征,亦有违物权法的基本原则,就不属于担保物权。对比浮动抵押与担保物权的特征可以发现,浮动抵押有担保功能但并非担保物权。在民法典编纂背景下,宜将浮动抵押从担保物权体系剔除。考察比较法资料,结合“charge”的词源语义,遵循语言翻译的忠实严谨原则,宜将“floating charge”译为“浮动担保”而非“浮动抵押”。至于浮动担保何去何从,相对合理的方案是将其嵌入合同法域,规定于我国民法典合同编之“合同的担保”章节,以此彰显民法典的体系性与逻辑性。     

Balancing Security and Democracy, and the Role of Expertise: Biometrics Politics in the European Union

What is the relationship between security policies and democratic debate, oversight and rights? Does coping with security threats require exceptions to the rule of law and reductions of liberties? The inquiry that follows tries to answer such questions in the context of the European Union and takes the case of biometric identification, an area were security considerations and the possible impact on fundamental rights and the rule of law are at stake. Some hypotheses are explored through the case study: “securitisation” and “democratisation” are in tension but some hybrid strategies can emerge; the plurality of “authoritative actors” influences policy frames and outcomes; and knowledge is a key asset in defining these authoritative actors. A counter-intuitive conclusion is presented, namely that biometrics, which seems prima facie an excellent candidate for technocratic decision-making, sheltered from democratic debate and accountability – is characterised by debate by a plurality of actors. Such pluralism is limited to those actors who have the resources – including knowledge – that allow for inclusion in policy making at EU level, but is nevertheless significant in shaping policy; it explains the central role of the metaphor of balancing security and democracy, as well as the “competitive cooperation” between new and more consolidated policy areas. The EU is facing another difficult challenge in the attempt at establishing itself as a new security actor and as a supranational democratic polity: important choices are at stake to assure that citizens’ security is pursued on the basis of the rule of law, respect of fundamental rights and democratic accountability.