Transnational organized crime

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Transnational organized crime "will be a defining issue of the 21st century for policymakers - as defining as the Cold War was for the 20th century and colonialism was for the 19th. Terrorists and transnational crime groups will proliferate because these crime groups are major beneficiaries of globalization. They take advantage of increased travel, trade, rapid money movements, telecommunications and computer links, and are well positioned for growth." --Louise I. Shelley, Director and Founder, Transnational Crime and Corruption Center. [1][2]

"Bangkok Declaration" - April 2005

"If States failed to confront the growing threats of terrorism, weapons of mass destruction and organized crime, and the thorny question of new manifestations of evil, such as cybercrime and money laundering, international criminal gangs would bring the challenge to them," Antonio Maria Costa, Executive Director of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime told the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, April 25, 2005. [3]

"Greatly concerned by the expansion and dimensions of transnational organized crime, terrorism and any existing links between them and by the increasing sophistication and diversification of the activities of organized criminal groups, the Eleventh United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice today [April 25, 2005] unanimously adopted the 'Bangkok Declaration', addressing those matters, as well as issues such as trafficking in human beings, money-laundering, corruption, 'cybercrime', restorative justice, and the root causes of crime (document A/CONF.203/L.5)." [4]

Quotes

"While organized crime is not a new phenomenon today, some governments find their authority besieged at home and their foreign policy interests imperiled abroad. Drug trafficking, links between drug traffickers and terrorists, smuggling of illegal aliens, massive financial and bank fraud, arms smuggling, potential involvement in the theft and sale of nuclear material, political intimidation, and corruption all constitute a poisonous brew—a mixture potentially as deadly as what we faced during the cold war." --R. James Woolsey, Former Director of Central Intelligence and Transnational Threats Project Steering Committee Member, CSIS. [5]

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