LINKAGES OF TERRORISM AND ORGANISED CRIME (01:13 PM)

• ORGANIZED CRIME DEFINITION
• Organized crimes have been defined differently by different agencies:
• 1)These are the unlawful activities of the members of a highly organised, disciplined association engaged in supplying illicit goods and services for instance loan sharking, Racketeering, Prostitution, gambling etc
• 2)A continued criminal conspiracy with an organised structure driven by greed, that derives its success from the use of fear/intimidation, corruption or even violence.
• COMMON CHARACTERISTICS ACROSS DEFINITIONS
• 1)Motivation/Goals: Non-ideological motivation, The motivation is only pecuniary.
• 2)The organized groups exhibit continuity over a long period.
• 3)Use of tactical and strategic planning.
• 4)Governed by rules and codes for example: The code of secrecy.
• 5)Restriction on membership. There will be some rules for recruitment, Usually a loyalty test i.e. membership is not open to everyone.
• 6)Use of force and intimidation.

INDIAN DEFINITION OF ORGANIZED CRIMES (01:52 PM)

• The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999  defines organized crime(OC) means s aany continuing unlawful activity by an individual, either singly or jointly, either as a member or on behalf of an organized crime syndicate by using violence or the threat of violence or intimidation or other unlawful means to gain pecuniary benefits or undue economic or other advantage for self or any other person or promote insurgency.

TERRORISM (02:00 PM)

• There is no unanimous consensus on the definition of terrorism, However, there are 19 international instruments dealing with terrorism.
• Despite the absence of an international definition, attempts have been made to define it. According to the EU terrorism is the unlawful use of violence and intimidation especially against civilians in the pursuit of political aims.
• According to START(Study of Terrorism) a terrorist event is defined as the threatened and the actual use of illegal force and violence to attain a political, economic, religious or social goal through fear, coercion or intimidation.
• According to the UNGA, Certain activities are considered to be terrorist if they are intended to provoke a state of terror in the general public, group of persons or particular persons for political purposes.

DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TERRORISM AND ORGANIZED CRIME (02:10 PM)

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN ORGANIZED CRIME AND TERRORISM (02:49 PM)

• Their common enemy is the state.
• Rule-based order.
• Use of fear, intimidation and even violence.
• Both present an asymmetrical threat to the state.

LINKAGES BETWEEN TERRORISM AND ORGANIZED CRIME (03:21 PM)

• THEORETICAL/CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
• The theoretical linkage between the two tries to explain how and the extent to which organized criminal group and terrorist group interacts.
• Their relationship could be put on a spectrum that demonstrates how crimes and terrorism effectively form a continuum.
• There are four types of relationships on this continuum:
• a)Alliance/cooperation.
• An alliance occurs when criminal groups cooperate with terrorist groups and vice versa. This can be a one-time occurrence or a short/long-term alliance depending upon the reason and the reason could be the sharing of expert knowledge for example: The knowledge of bomb-making or operational support. For example: Access to smuggling routes.
• b)Operational motivation
• These are efforts on the part of either group to bring each other's tactics in-house. For example: Terrorist groups can accelerate their focus on criminal activity like Drug trafficking conversely criminal groups can engage in propagandising.
• c)Transformation
• One group may engage in the activity of the other and may add newer objectives to itself such that the nature of this group starts to change.
• d)Convergence
• It refers to the transformation of tactics and motivation of a group to the extent that its criminal and terrorist nature converges into a single entity making it extremely difficult to differentiate between the two.
• RELATIONSHIP THROUGH CASE STUDIES. (03:41 PM)
• A)TERRORISM AND DRUG TRAFFICKING
• 1/3rd of the global revenues of all organized crimes together are generated solely through drug trafficking.
• According to the World Drug Report 2023, one in every 17 people worldwide had used a drug in 2021.
• Cannabis continues to be the most used drug. Several terrorist groups are increasingly involving themselves in the drug trade. For example, Boko haram is associated with the smuggling of heroin. Alshabab is associated with heroine smuggling.
• The bulk of global illicit opium production comes from Myanmar.
• B)TERRORISM AND WEAPONS TRAFFICKING
• Terrorists are increasingly using automatic weapons and there is a growing concern that organised criminal groups are assisting terror groups in terms of arms supply. The AK 47 has become a preferred choice because it is easy to buy in a parallel criminal market.
• C)Terrorism and trades in collectable items.
• Cultural properties are not only important for revenue generation but also have symbolic representation. Terrorist groups have attacked this symbolic representation in the past to lower the morale of people and also symbolised cultural cleansing. For example: The 2001 attack on Bamiyan statues in Afghanistan.
• In contemporary times terrorist groups are increasingly using the collectables to fund their operations.
• D)TERRORISM AND HUMAN TRAFFICKING
• Human trafficking is an attractive incentive for terrorist groups."Soliciting prostitution, Organ trade, and Slave trade present an attractive market while victims can also coerced into forced marriages, begging honey trapping etc.
• According to the UNODC a majority of victims of trafficking are females.
• Terrorists also systematically carry out human trafficking to achieve strategic objectives.For example, using children and women as human shields, Foot soldiers etc.
• Women can also be used for propagandising and recruitment. For example: ISIS targeted Yezidi women in Iraq.
• E)TERRORISM AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY THEFT
• The illicit market in pirated commodities is quickly surpassing the global narcotics trade. According to the OECD, In 2013 trade in pirated goods constituted 2.5% of the world trade.
• Several terrorist organizations in Africa were responsible for contraband tobacco trade valued at 1 billion dollars in 2016 alone.
• F)TERRORISM AND USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES
• In 2015, ISIS was thought to be the richest terrorist group because it controlled a number of oil-producing areas.
• Al Shabab in Somalia is engaged in the sale of Charcoal.

The topic for the next class: Challenges with respect to Organised crime in India, Cyber Security.