Networks of Accomplices

Unruly People ◽

10.5790/hongkong/9789888208951.003.0009 ◽

2016 ◽

Author(s):

Robert J. Antony

Keyword(s):

Local Communities ◽

Criminal Networks ◽

Social Fabric ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Confucian Values ◽

Culture Of Violence

Like other types of criminal organizations, bandits also depended on “outside” help to survive. Chapter 9 explores criminal networks. Although Elizabeth Perry and others have argued that bandits were deeply embedded in the structures of local communities, the author contends that the situation was much more complicated and nuanced. Bandit connections to local communities often were through intermediaries or networks of accomplices that included kinsmen and strangers. Bandits and brotherhoods, indeed, were intrinsic components of the local social fabric; they relied on a vast covert network of spies, fences, yamen underlings, soldiers, commoners, and local gentry for support. Bandits also were part of a vast underground culture of violence and vice that rejected the dominant Confucian values upheld by officials and so-called respectable society.

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The Dilemma of Lawlessness: Organized Crime, Violence, Prosperity, and Security Along Guatemala’s Borders

DttP Documents to the People ◽

10.5860/dttp.v45i3.6495 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 45 (3) ◽

pp. 37

Author(s):

Emily M. Alford

Keyword(s):

Case Studies ◽

Organized Crime ◽

Local Communities ◽

Public Security ◽

Border Control ◽

Security Issues ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Narcotics Trafficking ◽

Mass Murders ◽

Illicit Trafficking

This book presents the reader with both facts and conclusions drawn from three case studies. Authors Ralph Espach, Daniel Haering, Javier Meléndez Quiñonez, and Miguel Castillo Giron focus on the lack of security along Guatemala’s borders and the serious narcotics trafficking, execution-style mass murders, and other severe public security issues that have developed as a result. This research looks closely at the effects of criminal organizations and illicit trafficking within the three particular border municipalities of Guatemala—Sayaxché, Gualán, and Malacatán. The three areas are compared demographically and economically, and through which a deeper analysis is developed on creating better border control through the behaviors of the local communities themselves.

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Criminal networks analysis in missing data scenarios through graph distances

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0255067 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 16 (8) ◽

pp. e0255067

Author(s):

Annamaria Ficara ◽

Lucia Cavallaro ◽

Francesco Curreri ◽

Giacomo Fiumara ◽

Pasquale De Meo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

Incomplete Data ◽

Law Enforcement Agencies ◽

Criminal Networks ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Edge Removal ◽

Graph Distances ◽

Intentional Deception ◽

Node Removal ◽

The Impact

Data collected in criminal investigations may suffer from issues like: (i) incompleteness, due to the covert nature of criminal organizations; (ii) incorrectness, caused by either unintentional data collection errors or intentional deception by criminals; (iii) inconsistency, when the same information is collected into law enforcement databases multiple times, or in different formats. In this paper we analyze nine real criminal networks of different nature (i.e., Mafia networks, criminal street gangs and terrorist organizations) in order to quantify the impact of incomplete data, and to determine which network type is most affected by it. The networks are firstly pruned using two specific methods: (i) random edge removal, simulating the scenario in which the Law Enforcement Agencies fail to intercept some calls, or to spot sporadic meetings among suspects; (ii) node removal, modeling the situation in which some suspects cannot be intercepted or investigated. Finally we compute spectral distances (i.e., Adjacency, Laplacian and normalized Laplacian Spectral Distances) and matrix distances (i.e., Root Euclidean Distance) between the complete and pruned networks, which we compare using statistical analysis. Our investigation identifies two main features: first, the overall understanding of the criminal networks remains high even with incomplete data on criminal interactions (i.e., when 10% of edges are removed); second, removing even a small fraction of suspects not investigated (i.e., 2% of nodes are removed) may lead to significant misinterpretation of the overall network.

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Transnational Cybercrime

Encyclopedia of Criminal Activities and the Deep Web ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-9715-5.ch007 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 108-128

Author(s):

Barbara Jane Holland

Keyword(s):

United Nations ◽

Organized Crime ◽

Drug Trafficking ◽

Transnational Crime ◽

Financial Information ◽

Criminal Networks ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Individual Segment ◽

The United Nations ◽

Organized Crime Groups

Organized crime groups are involved in all kinds of transnational crimes. Lawbreakers can victimize people in other countries through international scams and cyber theft of financial information. Moreover, much of the harm from transnational crimes stems from activities of formal criminal organizations or criminal networks that connect individuals and organizations who undertake specific criminal acts together. According to the United Nations, annual proceeds from transnationally organized crime activities amount to more than $870 billion dollars with drug trafficking producing the largest individual segment of that total amount. One of the most difficult forms of transnational crime to combat is cybercrime. This article will review transnational cybercrime and it's technology.

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Borderland Battles

10.1093/oso/9780190849146.001.0001 ◽

2019 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Annette Idler

Keyword(s):

Central Government ◽

Physical Violence ◽

Community Members ◽

Short Term ◽

Dynamic Interactions ◽

Social Fabric ◽

Goods And Services ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Security Challenges

Borderlands are like a magnifying glass on some of the world’s most entrenched security challenges. In unstable regions, border areas attract violent non-state groups, ranging from rebels and paramilitaries to criminal organizations, who exploit central government neglect. These groups compete for territorial control, cooperate in illicit cross-border activities, and provide a substitute for the governance functions usually associated with the state. Drawing on extensive fieldwork with more than six hundred interviews in and on the shared borderlands of Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela—where conflict is rife and crime thriving—this book provides exclusive firsthand insights into these war-torn spaces. It reveals how dynamic interactions among violent non-state groups produce a complex security landscape with ramifications for order and governance both locally and beyond. These interactions create not only physical violence but also less visible forms of insecurity. When groups fight each other, community members are exposed to violence but can follow the rules imposed by the opposing actors. Unstable short-term arrangements among violent non-state groups fuel mistrust and uncertainty among communities, eroding their social fabric. Where violent non-state groups engage in relatively stable long-term arrangements, “shadow citizenship” arises: a mutually reinforcing relationship between violent non-state groups that provide public goods and services, and communities that consent to their illicit authority. Contrary to state-centric views that consider borderlands uniformly violent spaces, the transnational borderland lens adopted in the book demonstrates how the geography and political economy of these borderlands intensify these multifaceted security impacts.

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Criminal Networks

The Oxford Handbook of Social Networks ◽

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780190251765.013.37 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 615-632

Author(s):

Chris M. Smith ◽

Andrew V. Papachristos

Keyword(s):

Social Network ◽

Social Network Analysis ◽

Network Analysis ◽

Social Relationships ◽

Criminal Behavior ◽

Theoretical Orientations ◽

Criminal Networks ◽

Future Directions ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Criminal Groups

Social network analysis identifies and explains criminal behavior and criminal groups as an outcome of social relationships that are structured beyond the characteristics of individuals engaged in crime. This chapter takes stock of research using social network analysis to study criminal organizations and groups of criminals, considers the innovations in measuring criminal groups, discusses the limitations of criminal network data, and classifies theoretical orientations used in the field. The chapter discusses the implications of criminal networks research on policy and intervention efforts. The chapter concludes with a proposal for future directions to advance inquiry into criminal networks.

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Cocaine

10.1215/9781478021957 ◽

2021 ◽

Keyword(s):

Drug Policy ◽

Illicit Drugs ◽

Moral Economy ◽

Local Communities ◽

The Self ◽

Criminal Organizations ◽

Moral Economies ◽

Drug Traffickers ◽

Depth Interviews ◽

Ways Of Life

The contributors to Cocaine analyze the contemporary production, transit, and consumption of cocaine throughout the Americas and the illicit economy's entanglement with local communities. Based on in-depth interviews and archival research, these essays examine how government agents, acting both within and outside the law, and criminal actors seek to manage the flow of illicit drugs to both maintain order and earn profits. Whether discussing the moral economy of coca cultivation in Bolivia, criminal organizations and drug traffickers in Mexico, or the routes cocaine takes as it travels into and through Guatemala, the contributors demonstrate how entire ways of life are built around cocaine commodification. They consider how the authority of state actors is coupled with the self-regulating practices of drug producers, traffickers, and dealers, complicating notions of governance and of the relationships between economic and moral economies. The collection also outlines a more progressive drug policy that acknowledges the important role drugs play in the lives of those at the urban and rural margins. Contributors. Enrique Desmond Arias, Lilian Bobea, Philippe Bourgois, Anthony W. Fontes, Robert Gay, Paul Gootenberg, Romain Le Cour Grandmaison, Thomas Grisaffi, Laurie Kain Hart, Annette Idler, George Karandinos, Fernando Montero, Dennis Rodgers, Taniele Rui, Cyrus Veeser, Autumn Zellers-León

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Alexandra Zbuchea, World Heritage Sites, Local Communities and Tourists

PLURAL. History, Culture, Society ◽

10.37710/plural.v8i2_8 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 8 (2) ◽

pp. 77-90

Author(s):

Alexandra Zbuchea

Keyword(s):

Local Development ◽

Well Being ◽

World Heritage ◽

Local Communities ◽

Subjective Well Being ◽

World Heritage Sites ◽

Social Fabric ◽

Heritage Sites ◽

Heritage Site ◽

The Impact

World Heritage Sites are justifiably considered as valuable cultural and economic resources of a place. Previous research was dedicated to identifying the impact of world heritage sites on local development, as well as their ability to interact with local communities and to attract tourists. The present analysis describes the social fabric around the World Heritage Sites, aiming to understand better how these sites connect with various actors for identifying lines of sustainable management for these heritage sites. The study pinpoints that social interactions are very important in this context and that there is a shift towards two-way relationships between heritage and local communities, public administration, resident businesses, and tourists as well. Heritage site management should consider increasingly more its social value, the local social fabric, communities’ ideals, and subjective well-being, locals’ and tourists’ stories, the voices, characteristics, and interests of multiple stakeholders.

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