Linkages bw Organised Crime and Terrorism | UPSC Mains: Internal Security & Disaster Management PDF Download

Organised crime is any group with a corporate structure whose main goal is to make money through illegal means, frequently subsisting on intimidation and corruption.

Different Variants of Organised Crime

• Cybercrime: Fraud, hacking, virus generation and distribution, DDoS attacks, blackmail, and intellectual property crime are just a few of the cybercrimes that cyber organised criminals have been involved in.
• Identity Theft: Identity fraud is committed either by utilising stolen documents or by forging official identifying documents like passports and social security numbers.
• Counterfeiting: Compared to other illicit operations like drug trafficking, counterfeiting offers a particularly favourable ratio between prospective rewards and expected hazards.
• Extortion: For organised crime organisations, extortion from businesspeople and industrialists is a frequent source of cash. The insurgency in North-East India is being fuelled by extortion money, which is costing the government a significant amount of money.
• Human trafficking: Sometimes known as the "flesh trade," is a crime that occurs all over the world and involves the use of men, women, and children as objects for sexual or labour-based exploitation.
• Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking: India is wedged between the world’s two largest areas of illicit opium production, the Golden Crescent, and the Golden Triangle.
• Smuggling: India has a vast coastline of about 7,500 km and open borders with Nepal and Bhutan and is prone to large- scale smuggling of contraband and other consumable items.
• Light Arms Proliferation & Trafficking: Its cost in human lives and socioeconomic development of entire regions is unquantifiable. Criminality, armed conflicts, and terrorism are linked to global weapon proliferation.
• Money Laundering & Hawala: Besides Money-laundering, tax evasion and violation of exchange regulations play an important role in merging this ill-gotten money with tax evasion to obscure its origin.
• Contract Killing: The method adopted in contract killings is by engaging a professional gang for monetary consideration.
• Illegal Immigration: Large-scale migration is fostered by the high rate of unemployment in the country and higher wage levels in foreign lands.
• Prostitution and Human Trafficking: Trading in sex and girl-running is a very profitable business in which the underworld plays an important part.

Golden Crescent

• One of Asia's two drug superhighways, known as the Golden Crescent, is situated at the intersection of Central, South, and Western Asia.
• The network's moniker, "Golden Crescent," comes from the mountain ranges that extend into neighbouring Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Golden Triangle

• The confluence of the Ruak and Mekong Rivers, which separates the boundaries of Thailand, Myanmar, and Laos, is where the Golden Triangle is situated.
• It was recognised as one of the world's top opium growers with the Golden Crescent from the 1950s until the Golden Crescent surpassed it in the early 21st century.

Factors Responsible for Exacerbating Organised Crime 

• Government Policy: The actions of organised crime groups are often correlated with the prevailing political ideologies.
  Example: the IPL betting, which has emerged as the preferred pastime of organised crime groups. These groups are making enormous sums of money for themselves by using the government's restriction on betting in the nation.
• Evergreen Activities: Activities that provide a consistent source of income for these gangs because they are always relevant.
  Example: Extortion, money laundering, contract killing, smuggling of weapons, kidnapping, and drug trafficking are a few examples.
• Criminalization of Politics: These gangsters use the wealth and support they receive because of their wealth to fund their own political campaigns.
  Example: The relationship between the political class and the gangsters benefits both sides since the political parties use the gangsters' resources to establish their presence and increase their power.
• Poor cooperation: India's organised crime problem is compounded by law enforcement inefficiency. Since agencies have different agendas and operate in silos, sharing information and coordinating activities is difficult.
  For instance, the 2008 Mumbai terrorist attacks were made possible by a lack of coordination between the Mumbai police and the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS).
• Limited Resources: Indian law enforcement agencies lack personnel,equipment, and autonomy hindering action against organised crime.
• Technology: Organised crime organisations in India are leveraging technology increasingly to carry out their illicit activities, making it challenging for law enforcement to locate and stop them.
  For instance, cybercriminals utilise sophisticated ways to steal money and private information from people and businesses.
• Corruption: Corruption is a major issue in India and frequently plays a role in organised crime. In exchange for bribes, corrupt police officers and government officials defend organised crime gangs.
  For instance, the Indian mining mafia frequently pays off officials to endorse illicit mining.
• Inadequate Legal Framework: Because it only targets people and not criminal organisations or corporations, the current law is insufficient. Conspiracies begin in the shadows, making it challenging to establish them in court.

Linkages of Organised Crime with Terrorism 

• Multidimensional: Linkages between terrorism and organized crime are convoluted and multitudinous, resulting in a serious threat to not only national peace and security but also international harmony.
• Activities Involved: Even though organised crime engages in a variety of activities, its connections to terrorism come from the illegal trafficking of drugs, weapons, and people as well as money laundering.
• Links: Conglomerates of organised crime require clients and couriers who can smuggle goods like drugs, weapons, and people across borders. Established through Over Ground Workers (OGWs).
• Global Network: At both the national and international levels, there are connections between the two in India.

Narco-Terrorism

• Dual Character: The very concept is of a dual nature, depending on whether the emphasis is put on drug trafficking or on terrorism. However, it might be argued that the difference in emphasis matters little since the concept of narco- terrorism can be seen as a mid-way convergence of two phenomena drug trafficking and terrorism.
• Narco-Terrorism and Kashmir: Pakistan has started to fund terror organisations by pushing narcotics and drug money into J&K and Punjab.
  1. The Afghan variety of drugs is being pumped into Kashmir, via Pakistan, which is further pushed into Punjab via Jammu.
  2. Army intelligence sources are also said to have established strong links between Kashmiri terrorists and drug trafficking in Punjab.

Terror Financing

• The global war on terrorism constricted the flow of financial support to terror groups and, to circumvent international measures, transnational terrorist organizations moved deeper into the sphere of organized crime.
• The recently formed criminal groups that do not have stability in terms of cash flow see cooperating with terrorist groups as a way of achieving high profits.
• After thoroughly analysing and monitoring the linkages between terrorism and organized crime the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) pointed out that the profit from criminal activity used to finance terrorist acts, and that the arms trade and money laundering, as forms of organized crime, have become an integral part of terrorism.

Human Trafficking 

• The link between terrorism and drug trafficking: It has been a matter of analysis for a long time, but only recent activities by ISIS and Boko Haram have drawn the attention of the international community to human trafficking.
• Revenue Collection: Currently, human trafficking is not only a method of collecting revenue for terrorist organizations but also a way to achieve other objectives, such as an increase of workforce,  sexual abuse, intimidation/harassment, etc.

Laws Governing Organised Crimes in India

• Brings organized crime under ordinary criminal law.
• Eliminates the need for special state legislations, such as the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act, 1999.
• Uniform punishment for attempting or committing organized crime; severity depends on whether death is involved.

Preventive Laws

• National Security Act, 1980: The National Security Act is one of them, and it allows for the detention of those who are "acting in any manner prejudicial to the defence of India, the relations of India with foreign powers, or the security of India."
• Prevention of Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, 1988: The Prevention of Criminal Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act regulates drug traffickers.

Other Laws

• Foreign Exchange Management Act of 2000 (FEMA): It intends to codify and update the foreign exchange laws to promote international trade and payments as well as to support the steady growth and upkeep of the Indian foreign exchange market.
• PMLA (Prevention of Money Laundering Act) of 2002: Thus, officers with integrity and professional competence should be deployed in vulnerable areas to organised crime and given a three-year tenure.
• UAPA (Unlawful Activities Prevention Act) of 1967: It prohibits Indian citizens and organisations from committing crimes. It enabled authorities to address threats to India's integrity and sovereignty.

 International Initiatives

• Resolution 2482 of the UNSC: As part of resolution 2482, which was approved in 2019, the Security Council urged Member States to address the connections between terrorism and organised crime by enacting policy measures.
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime: The United Nations formed the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (UNTOC) as a global agreement against transnational organised crime in 2000.