| Abstract: | Effective leadership is a crucial component in organisational success. This also applies to criminal networks that have the added challenge of operating in a high-risk hostile environment. While criminal networks commonly employ communicative and structural practices meant to buffer leadership from exogenous threats, there has been little empirical examination as to their effectiveness. In this article, we review the research literature on the various approaches that profit-oriented illicit networks employ to protect their leaders. We then present sociometric and qualitative data from a previously unexamined drug-trafficking network (the Prada cocaine-trafficking network) as a case study on leadership protection tactics employed by illicit entrepreneurial networks. Results of our analysis are discussed in the conclusion, along with study limitations and areas for future research. |
