CONCLUSIONS

• Organized crime is not a new criminal issue, its origin is

it dates back to the late 19th century; however, in the current times
due to a variety of factors such as: globalization
economic, the expansion of markets, the new technologies of the
information, neoliberal policies and the fall of the socialist camp
Eastern Europe has caused organized crime to become
converted into a very complex transnational issue.

• The seriousness of the problem lies in the complexity of these.

organizations and their activities, their global penetration and their threat to
democracy and legitimate economic development

• Globalization has been the fundamental cause of the rushed

development of organized crime, as a consequence of its
essential characteristics, namely: the expansion of markets,
capitalist accumulation that expands to points at which
previously did not exist its development was very nascent,
disappearance of the Nation-State as it was previously conceived,
weakening of regulations, significant advances
technological, the increase in transportation and telecommunications; the
national economies increasingly open to trade and the
investments, the existence of a global financial system, with controls
weak, which has led to an increase in money laundering and corruption without
without which organized crime cannot survive.

• Transnational criminal organizations have

fed and feedback from this process, they have been able to extract
benefit from the growing number of international trips, from the increase of
emigration and from the reduction of border controls. The
increase in poverty and policies aimed at social exclusion
of large sectors of the population, causes in many countries these
sectors are drawn towards the production of illicit goods and has
get involved in organized crime as a way of life.

• Organized crime diversifies its activities, which it carries out in

In all parts, there is almost no country in the world that is not one of a
in one way or another subject to its influence with greater or lesser intensity and by
Supposedly in some countries they are more active than in others. The groups
criminals develop more complex business networks, conglomerates
illegals that mix with legitimate businesses, organized crime
needs to invest in the legal economy to achieve its survival and
development.

397
 ORGANIZED CRIME 398

• The costs of organized crime are not exclusively monetary.

these organizations attack political structures, the State of
Law, the global economy, the social order, and human rights.
Both in developed and developing countries, they are corrupt.
high and middle level officials.

• Organized crime is characterized by affecting in a way

simultaneously, directly or indirectly various legal goods,
generally collective legal goods, as well as individual ones. The
spheres in which organized crime has the most impact are the
drugs, money laundering, human trafficking, and human trafficking
humans, the illicit trade of raw materials such as amber,
enriched uranium, art trafficking, car theft, the
arms trafficking and piracy.

• Organized crime needs to have a special relationship with power.

Political, however this is achieved in a mature stage of his
development, this influence begins with the most related sectors
like the Police and in general the organs of the criminal system
Subsequently, a closer relationship with power is established.
economic 'legal' and the political, where there are reciprocal services between
both sectors and where certain activities are 'accepted' and therefore the
organized crime is gradually penetrating the economy and the
politics. In certain countries, it is observed that organized crime
becomes a source of financing and enrichment of the
political elite and its agents of social control.

• The concept of organized crime is very controversial and in one way or another
there has been a great variety of interpretations about its
characteristics. However, several international documents and
especially the International Convention against Organized Crime
Transnational held in Naples in November 1994 and others
international documents linked to the positions of institutions
specialized in the subject and doctrine especially in States
Together they have helped to create a consensus about the
fundamental characteristics that must be present in it,
for us, the following are essential: profit motive,
group activities and permanence (continuity over a period)
more or less important in terms of time), self-renewal, structure and
hierarchization, although the latter tend to make more and more
flexible.

• Although there are certain authors who tend to confuse Organized Crime
And terrorism are phenomena that, although frequently...
They intersect, but are essentially different. Terrorism does not meet the
characteristics that are present in organized crime,
especially regarding the profit motive. Crime
economic also differs from organized crime, although here the
 CONCLUSIONS 399

trends are that the borders between one and the other are increasingly blurred
more.

• The concept of mafia is often confused with that of crime.

organized, however most specialists on the subject do
they refer to the mafia as the specific organization that adopts crime
organized and has often been called for historical reasons
with this name. There are different models of mafia, their structures are
various, however their most significant current characteristic is its
flexibility and its size that is not as large as in others
previous eras, it also gathers other characteristics like the
the entry of its members, always in a selective manner, use of means
like violence and corruption; Its emergence is present in a
concrete social, cultural, and historical context.

• Although it is a controversial issue, it seems inevitable that solutions will be developed.

specific both in Criminal Law and in Procedural Law
Penal for the criminal control of organized crime. The countries and the
the international community needs to coordinate its criminal policies and
try to homogenize the legislations as much as possible. It is essential
that the legal models and policies designed are respectful of
the fundamental principles of criminal law and criminal procedure. No
there can be an exceptional criminal law to combat crime
organized, that in addition to being unfair and discriminatory would end
perverting the entire criminal system.

• The reforms from a substantive point of view are aimed at: a)

introduce penalties for being a member of a criminal organization b)
introduce penalties for conspiracy or analogous forms that in practice
They signify a postponement of the penalty c) to introduce into the legislations the
called money laundering or asset whitening d) use of measures
like confiscation to prevent the enrichment of these
criminals.

• In the procedural order, new methods of police investigation using

better intelligence services, new procedural instruments
like the undercover agent, the controlled delivery, the electronic surveillance,
police infiltration, reward mechanisms for the repentant or
collaborators with justice, all of this under strict supervision and control
judicial.

• The crime of drug trafficking is a crime of abstract danger, in which

the legal good health is protected. It is probably the crime that has
gives rise to greater international legislation and where more reforms have
occurred in the Penal Codes in the last 20 years, however, the
the results of this way of confronting the crime have not yielded at least
 Organized crime 400

globally the results that were expected. Criminal policy in

As for drugs, it has so far been characterized by putting
greater emphasis on repression than on prevention. It is necessary
analyze the damage caused by drugs with greater objectivity from
the sociological and cultural point of view, evaluating all the
implications and damages for society.

• It is necessary to analyze drug trafficking with more objectivity.

theme of consumption and small distributors that until the
moment has been the fundamental target of repressive activity and try
to place greater emphasis on the prosecutorial activity of the large and
trafficking media. We must pay attention to the prevention of
consumption and dependence, the reduction of supply and demand of
illegal drugs, the limitation of social harm and the limitation of damages to
health.

• After drug trafficking, human trafficking and smuggling are the

crimes of organized crime that are currently of greater concern to the community
global and that given its strong social causes caused by the
high degree of inequality and imbalance between countries
industrialized and underdeveloped countries have no solution to
In the short term, the global trend is for these crimes to continue.
increasing.

• The Protocols annexed to the Convention against Crime

Organized crime related to Trafficking and Human Trafficking has contributed significantly
important to create a legal framework that adequately addresses these
crimes, protecting the victims, with a special emphasis on the
prevention and properly pursuing traffickers.

• Money laundering is the bridge that connects the illicit economy with the
legal. This crime attacks the Public Treasury and the socio-economic order.
affecting the interest rate, promoting the outflow and the inflow
capital out of control and causing other problems in the
economy. The legal framework recommended by the Conventions
International developments have fostered significant legislative advancement, without
however, the preventive and control measures have not been the
sufficiently efficient, these mechanisms need to be improved.

• Finally, it is important to prioritize criminological research.

about these criminal modalities and especially about crime
organized. In the Spanish-speaking world in general the
criminological investigations and criminal doctrine have not provided the
sufficient attention to this important issue.