In August police in Vietnam uncovered an infant trafficking ring which had purchased and resold at least 16 infants, ages ranging from just days to a few months old, leading to further investigations that uncovered 84 suspected trafficking cases across 32 provinces.

In this episode, we delve into the harrowing realities of human trafficking in Vietnam. For more than two decades the country has been a source, destination, and transit point, with a troubling score of 7 out of 10 on the Global Organized Crime Index. Criminal actors involved include local recruitment agencies, family members and acquaintances of victims, and foreign actors such as Chinese and Korean ‘bride recruitment’ brokers. Criminals are increasingly professional, and form closed interprovincial, transnational and international networks.

Vietnam's resilience to human trafficking, more specifically, Victim and Witness Support and especially Non-State Actors scores were critically low in the 2023 OC Index assessment.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speaker(s): Hai Thanh Luong, Research Fellow, School of Criminology and Criminal Justice, Griffith University

Links

Vietnam Country Profile

The Global Organized Crime Index

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

The 'Marengo Trial' lasted years, finally resulting in multiple convictions of the so-called Mocro Mafia, including one of its most infamous leaders, Ridouan Taghi, who was convicted of murder among other things.

Who are the Mocro Mafia? They were born out of the Dutch-Moroccan community in the Netherlands during the 90s, starting with the smuggling of hashish before moving onto the much more profitable cocaine. Its estimated that they control up to a third of the cocaine market in Europe. But they have also left a trail of destruction in their wake, journalists and lawyers have been murdered, bombs have been detonated, many have been killed.

The Mocro Mafia have grown beyond the Netherlands and now operate transnationally, they are active in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, the UAE, Suriname, Colombia and Spain.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, there has been an increase in the 'Criminal Actor' and 'Criminal Markets' score in Western Europe. Criminal markets have increased from 4.06 to 4.48 out of 10. All criminal markets have increased over the last few years in this region, but the largest increase was in the Mocro Mafia's prime market, the cocaine trade, now at 5.77 out of 10 - that is the highest regional score in Europe.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speaker(s): Sarah Fares, Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

OC Index Country profile(s):

Netherlands country profile

Germany country profile

Belgium country profile

Spain country profile

Suriname country profile

UAE country profile

Colombia country profile

Additional Links:

Violence without borders: Why is drug-related violence spilling over into Germany?

The Global Organized Crime Index

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

When we think about the global drugs trade – countries like Colombia and Mexico often come to mind. But according to the Global Organized Crime Index, the country that sits just behind those two is Paraguay. In fact, Paraguay sits 4th globally for levels of criminality, with 7.52 out of 10.

It has really high scores for illicit markets like arms trafficking (9), counterfeit goods (9), Cocaine (8.5), and Cannabis (9). But then if we look at Criminal Actors within the OC Index, again, Paraguay scores incredibly highly across the board, for example state-embedded actors are at 9 out of 10, alongside foreign criminal actors. Overall, its Criminal Actor score is 8.3 out of 10.

Since 2021, Paraguay has seen an increase of 0.82 in levels of criminality, which means it climbed 12 places to 4th globally.

In addition to this, levels of resilience have remained relatively low, at 3.42 out of 10.

Only four other countries have seen a larger increase in the gap between criminality and resilience.

In this episode Thin discusses the situation in Paraguay.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers: Professor Alba Maria González Rolón, former Judge for the first and only court dealing with Organized Crime in Paraguay and member of the GI Network of Experts.

OC Index Country profile(s):

Paraguay Country Profile

Additional Links:

The Global Organized Crime Index

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Welcome to Underworlds with Mark Shaw.

Organized Crime is everywhere, hidden in plain sight. The stories from this world have been mythologised by Hollywood. But the reality can be even stranger and more exciting than fiction.

From the golden age of the American mafia (La Cosa Nostra), to the modern-day cocaine empires, and from the shadowy links between organized crime and terrorism, to the twilight of the Yakuza.

In this series Mark Shaw, the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime delves into non-fiction books about organized crime and the illicit economy with the authors themselves. He asks questions about their background and investigations, but also the challenges associated in writing about this murky world.

Ivory poaching is a problem wherever we find elephants, and that is no different in India. The ivory taken from the Asian elephants has long been prized in both traditional Chinese medicine and also ivory artefacts.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, India has low score for Criminal Actors (4.8), but scores highly for Criminal Markets (6.7), where it sits 16th globally. Ivory poaching falls into the category of Fauna Crimes, here India scores 7.0 out of 10, that places the country 25th globally.

But India also has the highest levels of Resilience (5.42) to organized crime in South Asia.

In this episode we discuss an AI-driven technology developed specifically to help combat ivory poaching in India.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers: Sharada Balasubramanian, independent environmental journalist.

Links:

(Article) ‘Hawk-eyed: India is fighting its ivory poachers with a powerful tech weapon’

ECOSOLVE project

Wildlife Trust of India (WTI) - Kerala Forest & Wildlife Department takes official charge of ‘HAWK’ to Combat Wildlife Crime

OC Index Country profile(s):

India Country Profile

Additional Links:

The Global Organized Crime Index

The Observatory of Illicit Economies in Central and South Asia (CSA-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Ukraine (9/10) and Russia (8.5/10), alongside the former Soviet states of Moldova and Belarus, have some of the highest scores for arms trafficking in the Global Organized Crime Index.

This is due to the significant levels of weapons and ammunition left over at the end of the Soviet period.

In addition to the high levels of arms trafficking across this part of Europe, Central and Eastern Europe has the highest scores for state-embedded actors on the European continent (Russia, 8.5/10; Ukraine, 8/10).

Since Russia's full scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Western nations have sent weapons to Ukraine to aid in its struggle, but there are concerns that these weapons could leak out into the illicit markets of Europe and end up in the hands of organized crime.

Currently there is no evidence of this, the Ukrainian government has put in strict measures to prevent this from happening.

In this episode, we look at the war in Ukraine, and arms trafficking.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers: Daniel Brombacher, Director of the Europe Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Links:

(Paper) Smoke on the Horizon: Trends in arms trafficking from the conflict in Ukraine

OC Index Country profiles:

Ukraine Country Profile

Russia Country Profile

Moldova Country Profile

Belarus Country Profile

The Global Organized Crime Index

GITOC - The Observatory of Illicit Markets and the Conflict in Ukraine (UKR-Obs)

GITOC - The Observatory of Organized Crime in Europe (EUR-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

The Netherlands is an important global trading hub, with Rotterdam being one of the worlds largest container ports in the world. The country's high quality infrastructure and the well known liberal approach to drugs makes the Netherlands attractive to organized criminal groups. And those originating in the Western Balkans have long been active in the Netherlands.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, the Netherlands has high levels of foreign criminal actors with 6 out of 10 - an increase of 1.50 in just two years – only Bangladesh and Afghanistan have seen larger increases.

Alongside that, the levels of cocaine and synthetic drugs are extremely high - for cocaine the Netherlands sits 21st globally with 7.5 out of 10, and for synthetic drugs it’s even higher at 8 out of 10 – which is 15th globally.

In today’s episode we’ll look at the impact of organized criminal groups from the Western Balkans on the Netherlands, and their involvement in the illicit drugs trade.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers:

Ingrid Gercama, Investigative Journalist writing about the environment, politics, and conflict, mostly from the Balkans and Africa.

Links:

Article - Western Balkan criminal groups are important players in the Netherlands.

SEE-Obs - Risk Bulletin #18

Paper - Transnational Tentacles: Global Hotspots of Balkan Organized Crime

Paper - The cocaine pipeline to Europe

OC Index Country profiles:

Netherlands country profile

Albania country profile

Montenegro country profile

Serbia country profile

Bosnia & Herzegovina country profile

North Macedonia country profile

The Global Organized Crime Index

GITOC - South-Eastern Europe Observatory (SEE-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

The largely unregulated taxi industry in South Africa has long been associated with violence., as taxi associations clash with one another over control of lucrative routes. Taxi-related violence ranges from shoot-out at taxi ranks to targeted hits on influential players in the industry, often sparking retaliatory killings, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of taxi operators and innocent bystanders.

According to the Global Organized Crime Index, mafia-style groups such as those operating in the taxi industry, are a prevalent criminal actor in South Africa - with a score of 7.5 out of 10, placing the country 5th out of 54 on the African continent.

South Africa also sits 6th in the world for extortion and protection racketeering, and the mafia-like taxi associations are major contributors to that, as they extort their drivers and attack rival modes of transport.

Overall, South Africa’s criminality score is very high at 7.18 out of 10, placing it 7th out of 193 countries.

Presenter: Thin Lei Win

Speakers:

Rumbidzai Matamba, Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Links:

The business of killing: Assassinations in South Africa

The Shadow Economy: Uncovering Cape Town's Extortion Networks

The politics of murder: Criminal governance and targeted killings in South Africa

OC Index Country profiles:

South Africa country profile

The Global Organized Crime Index

GITOC - The Observatory of Illicit Economies in East and Southern Africa (ESA-Obs)

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime