Organized Crime Groups in the UK - Essay Example

Introduction The world has witnessed deaths of some of the big fish in governments or in popular circles with no proper explanations where the claims made for executions are dubbed assassinations. Terror gangs often make deadly attacks on innocent victims and what the lay man fails to understand why perpetrators of the victims are often freed with or without trials only for them to commit crimes again. The question the lay man has is whether these gangs are mere criminal groups that operate within their areas of residents but on a closer look and with the evidence of similar crimes committed elsewhere, a shadow of doubt is always cast as to whether the gangs operate within larger scales than that which meets the eye. If this the case then, who operates/ manages the affairs of these groups How are members recruited to join the groups Where do the finances for running the operations come from How are the gangs organized on such large scales to a point of attracting national or regional membership and loyalty to the group's operations The explanations to all the above questions may be hard to get yet apparently, the terror gangs do exist and form exhibit strong bonds that ensures that they operate in the way they desire. Some parts of the world especially Italy- Sicily and the United States of America, have experienced serious issues with the state and rate of crime within some parts of their nations. There seams to be well organized groups of criminal gangs that unleash terror and criminal acts against the masses and from the look of it, these groups may as well remain in operation for unknown periods apparently due to their careful organization. The crimes are operated in the circles of drug dealing where massive amounts of money are made, and other criminal acts like counterfeiting currencies and extortion. These and other forms of crimes have been perpetuated in the said areas by an outlawed secret society known as the Mafia. The mafia is a criminal society that is also known by another name; Cosa Nostra. It is composed of a number of terror gangs that specialize in crime and which are associated through the use of common codes of conduct that stipulates the members' actions. They also share a common structure governing their organization. The terror gangs are each referred to as a 'cosca' or a 'clan' or a 'family'. This criminal society has the widest membership from among Sicilian residents from where it was founded in the late 19th century but it also has audience and substantial following in the United States of America and in Australia. History The history of this criminal society dates back to the year of its initiation in 1812 where Sicily was undergoing through a transition from feudalism to capitalism. It is alleged this was the point at which the idea was conceived. Later when Sicily was then taken over by Italy in 1860, the idea was cemented. This transition period was marked by heavy criminal conduct where groups of bandits and artisan guilds utilized violence in plundering of people's property and as a way of enforcing law. For some reason, the Sicilian state was incapacitated from keeping law and order (Vaksberg 2007p24). The society at this point was predominantly rural and its membership comprised of plantation wardens and smugglers. The traditional setting of the society was only open to men though this rule has relaxed today to incorporate the women as well. The group flourished in the then lucrative citrus export industry in Palemo since the production system was fragile and hence provided an easy means of extortion. By the year 1898, its presence had cropped up into suburbs and the villages that bordered the city. These groups that operated in the suburbs and near the city were in full operation with evidences of criminal activities that included ransom kidnappings and robbery among other crimes. This group did on several occasions suffer organized repulsion from political forces that arose against their operations. In the year 1925, Benito Mussolini who was reigning under the fascist regime decided to eliminate this criminal society for good. He therefore appointed Cesare Mori and gave him the power to completely get rid of the members of this criminal society. Through use of massive crackdown on the members of the society, Cesare managed to repress the society a great deal to a point that the society almost succumbed to his power through out his reign from 1925 through 1929. It was during this reign that some of the society members fled to the United States to avoid persecution. These included Carlo Gambino, and Joseph Bonamo who later became powerful mafia bosses in the New York City (Van Duyne 2007p34). Tables turned with the invasion of Sicily by the Allied troops in 1943. This invasion resulted in the soaring of the rates of crime with banditry and the black market dealership taking massive precedence. This was a result of replacement of Fascist mayors with Allied appointed Mafia members who favoured the activities of the group. With this came a shift in the power base of the mafia from the rural to the urban dominion. There arose another massive crackdown on the American drug dealers in the 1950s that saw a great number of the American Mafiosi imprisoned. The appointment of Fidel Castro to head Cuba, which was notorious for drug dealing, forced Joseph Bonanno to get back to Sicily in1957 to operate his drugs there. Contemporary mafia in Italy is split between their bosses Riina and Bernardo Provenzano who are at the moment behind bars. The group, from its inception till its reign to date has engaged itself with various criminal activities (Gambetta 2000p18). Criminal activities The society has engaged into a number of criminal activities that assist it to make money enough to run all the financial responsibilities it might have. These criminal undertakings are explained below. Trafficking of drugs The society engages itself with drug trafficking activities for example; the mafia based in Sicily has made great amounts of profits from the sale of heroin to southwest and southeast Asia. The American Mafiosi are also engaged in heroin deals. Extortion A very great percentage of the income the mafia in Sicily get comes from extortion where the Mafioso forces the owners of businesses to surrender a percentage of their earnings to them. Both small and large business units have to part with some money the Mafiosi term as protection money to support the activities of the mafia group (Blok and Tilly 2003p67). Others The other means through which this society makes money are taking control of the private as well as the public contracts of roads, buildings, firms for clearing sites, cement plants and other facilities; trafficking of arms to destinations of their choice; production of counterfeit currencies; undertaking ransom kidnappings; robbing people off their property and sharking loans to the businesses in Sicily. At the same time, war had been waged against state officials that failed to favour the activities of the society or who stood in the way of the society members in their wrongdoing. These officials often fell murder victims of the members of this society. The members also forced the voters to vote for the individuals they favoured thus leading to the creation of a body of political leaders rooted in mafia (Albini 2003p43). In order for this society to manage to undertake the above and other unlawful activities that the society engaged itself with, it utilized a system of a bureaucratic structure through which the directions pertaining to the effective running of these money obtaining activities were passed on to the members. Since the society was formed by a composition of 'clans', these were headed by the clan boss, who had a second in command who took up his duties in his absence and assisted with the control of the group. The second in command was assisted by crews of approximately10 soldiers who were led by a selected person. These were in turn assisted by the group of associates that was comprised of the individuals who assisted this society but did not form part of the membership. These were mostly made up of the prospecting Mafiosi and the corrupt officials. In addition to the management structure, the society had managed to gain political support in favour of their activities from those government officials that were affiliated with the society (Arlacchi and Ryle 2003p46). These officials assisted them to avoid prosecution during crackdowns and eased their execution of their activities. They also maintained the code of silence that restricted members from cooperating in any way with the police in case of arrestment. In any case, their initiation ceremony that entailed a lot of symbolism and warnings against bickering ensured that the society remained secretive of their activities and their secrets. They went to as far as putting down guiding rules they called 'the ten commandments' that directed their daily conduct and their roles to the call of duty. Organized crime in the United Kingdom Taking a look at the contemporary United Kingdom gives an insight into the world of organized crime. There is the evidence of organized crime in the day to day living as can be seen in the newspapers, TV shows and even books carrying the theme of organized crime. The head perpetrators of the organised crime in the United Kingdom have, like all other major stakeholders in the commercial sector, embraced the opportunities created by globalization. Globalization has led them to create liaisons with their foreign counterparts in crime to make their criminal acts work out a bit more smoothly for them (Bennett and Holloway 2004p9). This organized crime is often the cause of untold suffering and desperation for the victims that get tangled into it. It is manifested through forced prostitution that is well organized by groups of people who call themselves pimps. It is also manifested through human trafficking mostly directed against children and women; drug addictions in institutions of learning and street corners; illegal immigration of the perpetrators to prospective areas where the businesses can boom; car hijackings, burglary, e.t.c. Statistics developed in the United Kingdom by the NCIS annual report have indicated that approximately 8.5billion Euros makes the proceeds that are received from illegal drug dealing in a given year of which 56% of organized crime groups contribute to trafficking of drugs. A total of 52 murders were linked to organised crime in the UK in the year 1999 while reports from the UK institutions dealing with finances indicated 14,500 fraudulent deals that involved the police in the same year. Statistics from the NCIS annual reports also indicted the presence of 930 groups organized around crime in the United Kingdom. The apparent driving force behind the organized crimes in the United Kingdom as reported by the National criminal intelligence service is the making of profits. This 'business venture' has become a big business that has expanded to international domains and is extremely sophisticated but which results into the creation of misery among the victims. It has found its way into all occupations as it encompasses all categories of persons in its operation e.g. it is found among the music artistes; lawyers, politicians, bankers and teachers among the many people covered by the undertaking. Most of the organized crimes groups in the United Kingdom flourish under smuggling of tobacco and alcohol. They have switched from trafficking of drugs since this pauses a greater risk of a heavier penalty for the drug traffickers as compared to the smugglers. The trafficking of humans has also been increasing among the organized crime groups found in the UK. These humans end up being used as drug peddlers or are forced into prostitution once they are lured into the UK (Smith 2005p32-35). Comparison of the mafia and organized crime in the United Kingdom There appears to be a very great similarity between the undertakings of the mafia and those of organized crime in the United Kingdom. We find out that in both cases, it is usually carried out with the intention of making great amounts of money for the perpetrators. At the same time, both categories utilize criminal acts and violence in a bid to meet their demands. This explains their inclination towards criminal acts in the acquisition of money to support the undertakings of both the groups. It is worth noting that the organized crimes in the United Kingdom have deviated to a lesser degree from the mainstream organisation of the mafia group. The organized crimes groups in the United Kingdom work within their own capacities and hardly come up together to work as one large group. In the case of the mafia, loosely associated groups or clans amalgamate at some point and they share a similar code of conduct in their operations. This is a major difference that practically distinguishes the two groups. Notable also is the broad geographical area covered by the mafia while the organized crime groups in the United Kingdom utilize a narrower coverage though they are embracing the effects of globalization to widen their criminal activities (Varese 2001p67) Conclusion From the discussion above, I can confidently declare that the organized crime groups in the United Kingdom work in very similar ways to the mafia society displaying similar means of attaining funds for their operations. Criminality is the main way through which these organized crimes get their funding from but its consequences almost always impact negatively on the victims of their criminality causing great suffering and in extreme cases loss of lives to these victims. Though the operations of both the above said groups are very similar, the scope of their operations as well as that of their solidarity differs a great deal with the mafia group displaying a greater sense of solidarity made possible through the adoption of a common code of conduct. In this sense, the proliferation of the numerous organized crime groups in the United Kingdom cannot significantly take the term 'mafia' to describe their nature. References Arlacchi, P. & Ryle, M. (2003) "Mafia business, The mafia ethic and the spirit of capitalism" McGraw-Hill Ryerson P46 Albini, J. (2003) "The American mafia, Genesis of a legend" Manchester University PressP43 Blok, A. & Tilly, C. (2003) "The Mafia of a Sicilian village, a study of violent peasant entrepreneurs" CAB International PP67 Bennett, T & Holloway, K. (2004) "Gang Membership, Drugs and Crime in the UK" oxford university press Gambetta, D. (2000) "Mafia, The price of distrust" sscnet.ucla.edu P18 Hall, R. & Biersteker, J. (2002)"The Emergence of Private Authority in Global Governance" Chicago university presspp12-13 Smith, D. (2005) "The mafia mystique" Routledgepp32-35 Vaksberg, A. (2007) "The Soviet Mafia" Rdda barnen P24 Varese, F. (2001) "The Russian mafia, private protection in a new market economy" Sage P67 VAN DUYNE, P (2007)"Organized crime: corruption and power" Sage p34 Read More