An Exploration of the Attributes of Organized Crime - Research Paper Example

n American countries like Mexico and Colombia are commonly regarded as organized crime aspects as they explicitly violet the legal administrations of the respective countries so as to gain monetary wise. Some of the international organizations referred to as the mafias include the Albanian Mafia, the Black Mafia, the Russian Mafia, the Japanese Yakuza and the Chinese Triads (Abadinsky, 2010). The United States Organized Crime Control Act in 1970 defines organized crime as an unlawful activity carried out by highly organized and disciplined association.

Statistics have it that the number of people involved in organized crime in the United Kingdom is approximated to be over 38, 000 involving more than 6000 groups (Haller, 1991). Organized crime is normally associated with several illegal activities such as illegal gambling, assassination, bombing, blackmailing, oil smuggling and arms trafficking. This type of crime also has extreme effects on political corruption mostly in areas experiencing political instability like the Middle East. Such criminal organizations are normally associated with large amounts of money some of which is used to bribe government officials in an effort to avoid prosecution.

Organized crime has also been linked with massive roles in people smuggling and human trafficking. The Yamaguchi-Gumi, the Russian Mafia and the ‘Ndrangheta have been identified as the most powerful and prolific organized crime groups all over the world (O’Kane, 1992). Despite the Russian being the largest criminal group, the main problem being faced by the existing law enforcement is its ability to point out the members of such organizations now that most people engage in organized crime activities claiming they are members of these mafia groups yet in the real sense they are out to gain respect and spread fear.

Latin America has been identified as the base to the most violent and influential drug cartels all over the world. This area has been heavily associated