The centre organized crime activity is the supply of illegal goods and services to incalculable numbers of citizen customers. It is additionally profoundly included in legitimate trade and in work unions. It utilizes ill-conceived methods of monopolization, extortion, blackmail and tax-evasion to drive out or control legal possession and authority, and to extricate unlawful benefits from the open. Organized crime has extended to a great extent which has even led to corrupt public officials to deflect legislative obstructions.
Meaning of organized crime:
Organised crime is defined as “those involved, normally working with others, in continuing serious criminal activities for a substantial profit, elsewhere”. Organized Criminals are the ones who work together in order to do some heinous crimes like murder, extortion, terrorism or tax evasions, they work for a particular duration until and unless their motive has been achieved.
Organized crime has a vast group and has a cluster of subordinates, specialists and many more transient members including an extended network of disposable associates. Numerous bunches are in hone free systems of criminals that come together for the duration of criminal activity, acting completely different parts depending on their aptitudes and skill. Organized Criminals make utilize of pros who give a benefit to them in terms of service and even to those of criminal gangs.
Characteristics of organized crimes:
According to the President’s Commission on organized Crime 1986, organized crime is the collective result of the commitment, knowledge and actions of three components :
i) The Criminal groups;
ii) The Protectors; and
iii) The Specialist support.
Characteristics of the Criminal Group:
1. Continuity:
These criminal groups do not restrict themselves over the lives of any individuals be it there leader even, they only believe in survival.
2. Structure:
The structure of these criminal groups can be both highly structured or can be even fluid; their ranks are based on the powers and authority they hold.
3. Membership:
Membership in these criminal groups is totally based on common traits such as criminal background or with having common interests. The potential members required to be scrutinized in order to join the troop and to even prove their loyalty to these groups.
4. Criminality:
The continuity of criminal activity is of utmost importance for these criminal groups for generating income. Some activities such as supplying illegal goods and services directly produce revenue, while others including murder, intimidation and bribery contribute to the groups ability to earn money and enhance its power. The criminal group may be involved both in legitimate as well as illegitimate business activity at the same time.
5. Violence:
Savagery and the risk of violence are a fundamental portion of criminal groups. The viciousness or threat of it is utilized against the individuals of the group to keep them in line as also against the pariahs to ensure the economic interface of the group. Members are anticipated to commit, condone or approve rough acts.
6. Power/ Profit Goal:
The individuals of the criminal groups point at expanding the group’s benefits. Political control is achieved through the debasement of public authorities, counting legislators and political officials. The criminal group keeps up control through its association with the “protectors” who defend the bunch and its benefits.
Protestors:
The protestors are the one amongst us only, the corrupt public officials, attorneys and businessmen who directly or indirectly support these criminal groups by protecting them or funding them for their own benefits. The criminal groups secretively rely upon these corrupt public officials or businessmen.
Organized Crime Support:
1. Specialist Support:
Organized criminal groups and their defenders depend on skilled people or bolster to assist the criminal groups on an adhoc basis. They are in any case considered part of composed wrongdoing. The specialists include pilots, chemists, arsonists, hijackers, shooters etc.
2. Social Support:
Social support includes public authorities who request the support of composed criminal figures; business leaders who do trade with organised crime figures on social occasions and thus depict the criminal gather in favourable or exciting conditions.
Types of Organized Crime:
- Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking
- Smuggling
- Money Laundering and Hawala
- Terrorism and Narco-Terrorism
- Contract Killing
- Kidnapping for Ransom
- Illegal Immigration a large number of Indians are working
- Prostitution
Problems in Control Efforts:
(a) Inadequate Legal Structure:
There are several challenges in combating organized crimes. To begin with, are inadequate laws to control or suppress organised crime.
Being a continuing conspiracy, the incidents of organised crime are dealt with under the general conspiracy law and relevant special Acts. The existing law is lacking as it targets people and not the criminal bunches or criminal enterprises. Conspiracies are brought forth in obscurity and demonstrating them in a court of law could be a herculean assignment.
(b) Lack of Resources and Training:
The state government are responsible for the investigation of cases, their prosecution and the setting up of criminal courts; failure to do so leads to an increase in crimes. The organized criminals are scrutinized and trained in a very ruthless manner which is beyond the reach of the training of our police personnel.
(c) Lack of Co-ordination:
India does not have a national-level agency to co-ordinate with the state/city police organisations or central enforcement agencies, for suppressing organized crimes. Further, there is no agency to collect, collate, analyse, document and function as a central exchange of information relating to international and inter-state gangs operating in India and abroad. Similarly, there is no system of the sustained pursuit of selected gangs at the national and State level. Apart from the lack of institutional framework, there are problems of coordination between the Central Government and the State Governments and between one State Government and another State Government due to differences in political perceptions.
(d) Criminal, Political and Bureaucratic Nexus:
There have been a fast spread and development of criminal gangs, armed Senas, drug mafias, smuggling gangs drug peddlers and economic lobbyists within the nation which have over a long time created an extensive network of contacts with the bureaucrats, government functionaries, politicians, media persons and democratically elected individuals at the local level. A few of these syndicates to have universal linkages, counting with the foreign intelligence agencies.
(e) Dual Criminality:
These criminals do not restrict to national boundaries, they are planned in one part of the world and executed in the other. Different nations have different legal systems which create great difficulty in suppressing these crimes.
Organized Crime is a domestic problem and, when unchecked, it assumes a transactional character. Organized crimes develop as countries allows it to succeed. The battle against organised transnational crime could be an imposing errand, but increased public consciousness, increasing governmental concern and commonly subordinate interface of the international community do give us a ray of hope.
This article has been written by Nidhi Mishra, LLM student at ILS Law College, Pune.
Also Read – White-Collar Crime In India – Detail Analysis
