Organised Crime and Terrorism - Essay Example

? Organized Crime and Terrorism: This has widely been referred to as the information age but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that it could be the age of terrorism too. Since, September 11, there has been a continuation of what the former American President George Bush referred to as the ‘war on terror’. With this declaration, there has always been a heightened awareness on the security front especially in the Western nations. Even the smallest safety scares have made it to the news courtesy of a paranoia that has been created on issues relating to security. The terrorists have improved their tactics too. It was not long ago that airliners were not allowing people on board who carried toothpaste with them because of the fear that some explosive elements might be contained therein. The same case applies to other ordinary things like clothing. Today there are mandatory strip searches at airports to sniff out even the most hidden explosive or weapon before it gets into the plane. Even shoes and other ordinary things, considering the Reid case, have been used in an attempt to cause terror. Of course in this case it was a shoe bomb. As the terrorists have become adept with their clandestine activities, so have countries and especially security agencies. They have introduced sweeping measures like surveillance on suspicious targets, wiretapping of mobile phones belonging to suspects among other measures. In general, the focus of governments has moved from its previous reactive state to a more pro-active state where the gathering of intelligence is the new battleground between these two foes. These and many others shall be the focus of this paper. There shall be a special focus on the U.K and the legislative options that have been introduced to sniff out this new threat (Campbell 2013). There has been wide ranging legislation that has been introduced in the United kingdom to curb terrorism and organized crime, both of which are very much evolving situations. The rate at which such legislation has been introduced, not only tells of the severity of these crimes but also the extent to which the government is ready to go to ensure that the citizens are safe. Since the Blair premiership the laws that have been introduced include the Anti-terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001, the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005, the Terrorism Act 2006 and the Counter- Terrorism Act 2008. This flood of legislation is a reflection of the speed at which this threat is evolving (Hanman 2013). Governments have had to put in place, at times controversial measures to ensure that no terrorist slips through the dragnet. One of these controversial measures is wiretapping. Basically, the police are allowed to listen in on conversations of people that they suspect to have intentions of causing terror or any other harm on great scale (Barrett 2013). There has been an assessment of the role and effectiveness of wiretapping in the wake of several terror related activities. This form of intelligence gathering has been found to be very effective. There are several ‘wanna-be’ terrorists in the U.K. Most of them are Muslims of Pakistani origin. Several of them make multiple trips to their native countries to receive training mostly offered by Al-Qaeda, the Taliban among other groups. The credentials of wiretapping therefore are not what is under debate here. There are much more serious issues (The Guardian 19th march 2009). As a case officer, I would recommend wiretapping so as to obtain even more information about these terrorist sympathizers and their intentions. We already have the mobile number (07097911156) of Hector from the from Tinkers mobile phone. Wiretapping is allowed under the anti-terrorism laws as a last ditch measure to ensure national security. The only grey area as pertains its use is the fact that until very recently, information obtained thus was not admissible in court (The Guardian 6th February 2008). By listening in on conversations by Hector there is a great likelihood that we shall get even more information about the larger network in which they belong and therefore can get several other local and foreign targets which can also be followed up. This wiretapping can be done clandestinely from the abandoned and defunct business premises that Hector used to operate. This effort is also likely to bear forth invaluable information concerning the MPC and its operations. All this information is very necessary because, as it has come to be realized, terrorists work in groups, they are rarely ‘lone wolfs’ (Martin 2010). However, as wiretapping has been in the past however, it has from time to time been faced with legal challenges. It is certainly permissible in the case of terror suspects but where should one draw the line? There has been a large outcry from the public who feel that this effort to contain terrorism would instead be interfering with the individual freedoms as citizens. If such a system is misused, rogue officers would listen in on conversations of people other than terrorists, something along the lines of what happened recently with Murdoch’s News of the World (Wilkinson 2006). There is the other issue of surveillance. This is a time tested and proven method of gathering intelligence. The basic mode of operation is that there are a few officers who are assigned to such suspects who then follow them around and seek to find out about their intentions from the activities that they engage in. A discreet way of doing this is attaching cameras or other recording equipment in the residences of such people so as to watch them or listen in on them. This is different from wiretapping since it does not happen on the phone (). Surveillance of both suspects would work very well. There is an opportunity in the case of Hector to do the surveillance from the unused building under his flat. This is after all an individual who seems to operate under the radar. Very few records about him exist, except the gas and electricity accounts that are under his name. The only known detail about him must therefore be used for maximum benefit (Russo 2013). Surveillance is also allowed in such cases. This is a case of national security and everything possible must be done to ensure that it is not in jeopardy. There are several cases in which surveillance has worked very well. There is the case of the terrorists who were caught after purchasing dangerous levels of a fertilizer which was to be used to build a fertilizer bomb. They ended up buying what they thought was fertilizer from a secret agent. They were then arrested just as they planned to carry out their murderous act. This is proof enough that surveillance does work. There have been several other threats that have been thwarted owing solely to surveillance (Langan 2004). Surveillance however, by itself cannot be the panacea to this huge challenge. The suspects might be followed around but since they already are aware, from Tinkers detention at the airport that they might be under surveillance, they might cease their activities for a while until the waters are clear again. They might disappear altogether as has happened severally (Peachey 2013). Surveillance faces the same challenges that wiretapping faces in any democratic society. The citizens feel that this might be an infringement on their personal space. Therefore, surveillance must be used strictly for the purposes for which it is intended in this case. Police and agents in this case must put suspects under surveillance as a last resort and not merely at the slightest suspicion (Welch 2012). Penetrating terrorist cells is the final arena that I shall seek to cover in this essay. This is a very important step because it seeks to thwart the plans even before they are created. Organized crime today uses big business as a cover up and also as a source of financing. The reasons are simple. These attacks have to be planned meticulously and no cost is spared to ensure that their cover is not blown up. For instance, after terrorists realized that it was no longer feasible to use Pakistanis to carry out their acts, they moved on to using naturalized British citizens of Pakistani origin. Not to arouse the suspicion of the authorities, they have to be flown around circuitously through several countries before they arrive in Pakistan for weapons and bomb making training. This costs a lot of money (Albanese 2009). The first step in uncovering any possible money laundering syndicate is to trace Hectors account at Northern Gas, which is a/c 2209a1. Then an effort has to be made to find out which means he uses to settle his bills. It is likely that the money trail will reveal contributions to the MPC. After this has been established, there shall be an opportunity to track several other people who make contributions to this organization and identify them as persons of interest too. The other important step is to raid the flat of Hector immediately since after realizing that he cannot access Tinker through the usual channels, mail and telephone, his suspicion will be aroused and he might decide to start covering up his tracks before the police appear. It is possible that some information of interest shall be obtained from his residence. If his place of residence appears to be unknown, Northern Gas can provide the locality of the account registered under his name (Mallory 2011). Tinker was arrested at Heathrow meaning he was travelling. There is no power on the part of British agencies to act in foreign lands. Therefore, the state must explore the option of liaising with authorities in his destination country and seek to have their co-operation in this case. This is an important cog in this ever-turning wheel because most of the time harmless people leave the country and return indoctrinated and dangerous. Re-opening an investigation into the operations of Molody Communications and closing the company up altogether should also be on the table (Grabosky 2010). By and large, it is clear that the terrorist threat is one which Britain and several other countries are yet to contain properly. The main reason is because, in many ways, this form of crime and terrorism caught the authorities by surprise. There have been efforts by both authorities and governments to stay on top of this threat and they finally seem to be bearing some fruit. Initially, the focus was on arresting terrorist plans before they were carried out. Now there is much further reaching intention. This is to weed out extremist intention itself. To this end, several methods have been employed to provide the necessary intelligence. The ones discussed above are surveillance, wiretapping and penetration of terror cells. All these are legislatively enabled. The success they have brought to the war on terror is unprecedented. However, focus now needs to shift to other forms of terrorism that are evolving today, most notably cyber crime and hacking. References Martin, G. (2010) Understanding Terrorism, London: SAGE Publications. Slann, M. and Combs, C. (2009) Encyclopedia of Terrorism, New York: Infobase Publishing. Campbell, L. (2013) Organized crime and the law, United Kingdom: Hart Publishing. Grabosky, P. (2010) Crime and terrorism, California: SAGE Publications Ltd. Mallory, S. (2011) Understanding Organized Crime, New York: Jones & Bartlett Publishers. 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(2009) Organized Crime in our Times, London: Prentice Hall. Wilkinson, P. (2006) Terrorism vs. Democracy, New York : Routledge. Encyclopedia of Terrorism,(2003) SAGE Publications Read More