Is a rigorous definition of organised crime necessary?

The classic 1972 film, The Godfather, amongst countless others, helped shape popular perception of the term ‘organised crime’: rich, powerful men of exotic ethnicity, often with political connections, commanding vast underworld empires and violently eliminating rivals. Although perhaps not entirely fictional, this portrayal is somewhat glamorised (like much portrayed in the mass media) and leads to misconceptions. The reality is quite different and much more difficult to define.

There is no clear-cut and universally accepted definition of organised crime. In the United States, the view of an all-powerful nation-wide Mafia syndicate held sway amongst scholars, lawmakers and law enforcers alike for many years following the testimony of turncoat Joe Valachi at the 1951 Kefauver hearings. However, as years went on and criminal demographics changed, the definition became wider, encompassing other actors such as outlaw biker gangs and drug cartels.[1] The UK Threat Assessment of Organised Crime uses a looser definition, preferring to refer to networks of various individuals coming together to engage in criminality rather than more formally organised groups.[2] So should we define organised crime as a specific phenomenon, or should we take a more ‘if it looks like a duck and it quacks like a duck’ type of approach?

Undoubtedly, part of the problem is that criminal groups are numerous and extremely varied. Returning to The Godfather, the first thing that comes to many people’s minds when organised crime is mentioned is the idea of ‘traditional’ crime syndicates engaged in a kind of formal gangsterism. These groups often have cultural roots which transcend mere criminality, a classic example being the Sicilian Mafia or Cosa Nostra. The Mafia, which is thoroughly entrenched in Sicilian culture, politics and society, uses initiation rituals and codes of honour (albeit morally very flexible ones) to create loyalty and allegiance amongst its members. This has made its longevity a defining factor: the Mafia have been around since the 19th century. Meanwhile its well-defined hierarchical structure has allowed it to control its territory like a state within a state (maintaining local law and order) despite frequent setbacks like arrests and imprisonment.[3] The Japanese Yakuza and Chinese Triads are similar examples.

But these are certainly not the only groups we can refer to when considering organised crime. Prisons are an ideal arena for criminal networks to develop. Considering that a large number of serious offenders are grouped together in a confined space, it is to be expected that gangs would form, controlling activities like drug dealing and extortion within the prison walls, as well as exerting considerable influence outside. In May 2006, a wave of violence struck the Brazilian city of Sao Paolo, with dozens of police officers and their families being murdered in targeted killings. The violence was organised by leaders of the PCC, a local prison gang, using cell phones smuggled into correctional facilities.[4]

Crime is often perpetrated by organised groups as it would be very difficult, if not impossible, for individuals to commit certain crimes on their own. These crimes require a division of labour to be efficient. Take for example the international cocaine trade: coca plants are first grown then processed into cocaine by farmers, before being sold to traffickers, who may subcontract another group to take care of the physical logistics of actually moving the product across borders. It is then sold to wholesalers, who in turn sell it on to retailers who sell the end product to the consumer.[5] It would be hard to imagine any one individual managing the cocaine trade from production to consumption – hence the necessity of a network. Many other illegal activities, such as human trafficking, require the collaborative effort of different specialists; for instance, to forge documents.[6] Thus certain crimes may be considered to be organised by default. The best examples of the cocaine trade are the Colombian and Mexican cartels.

A more modern variation of organised cartels is the infamous Nigerian scam. Thousands of emails are sent to recipients who are promised a substantial but non-existent sum of money in exchange for paying a (relatively) smaller ‘processing fee’ of some kind. Although significantly less violent than the cartels, these fraud rings are often sophisticated, large-scale operations requiring specialists in IT and money laundering.[7] This emerging form of criminality also demonstrates how organised crime evolves and adapts to different situations; in this case, the onset of the Information Age.

Street gangs may sometimes be considered forms of organised crime. This was a key aspect of Steven Levitt&