The Impact of the Capture of Leaders of Criminal Organizations on the Labor Market: Evidence from Mexico

This paper estimates the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market in municipalities where these organizations operated between 2004 and 2006. The difference-in-difference analysis compares different employment outcomes in cartel locations and the rest, before and after the capture of cartel leaders. The results show that captures caused a decrease in nominal wages and paid employment in cartel municipalities. Using Economic Census Data, I find that captures also caused a fall in the number of establishments and had a negative impact on other establishment outcomes. This document focuses exclusively on the impact of the capture of leaders of criminal organizations on the labor market until 2011 without studying other possible consequences, and thus does not make an integral assessment of this policy

Cartels and militias in Brazil in the system of modern hybrid wars

Aim. The aim of this work is to determine the mechanisms of the destructive influence of criminal organizations on the Brazilian State and the acceleration of their evolution under the influence of the narco-industry. Methodology. The study was conducted on the example of Brazilian criminal organizations and using The Trilateral Continuum "crime-terrorism-state". The methods of systemic and comparative analysis, synthesis, generalization and interpretation of the results were used. The mechanism of the destructive influence of criminal communities on the Brazilian State is revealed, The Trilateral Continuum is improved, and an explanation is given for the effect of the acceleration of the evolution of criminal communities under the influence of the narco-industry. Research implications. The results of the study significantly expand the understanding of the influence of criminal communities on the state, and also reveal the interdependence of the crisis of the capitalist system and the growth of the narco-industry which accelerates the evolution of criminal organizations.

On a Continuum of Roles: Women as Key Socialization Actors of Other Women in Al-Shabaab

In current research the role of women in terrorist organizations has remained largely underexposed. This article responds to the call to draw attention to the active women's role in terrorist organizations by uncovering how women in terrorist organizations, specifically Al-Shabaab, socialize with other women who enter or change roles within the organization. This has been done through a literature review, which integrates the insights drawn from papers on the role of women in terrorist organizations with current knowledge on organizational socialization. The research shows that women are active in a wide array of roles and that they should not only be viewed as passive victims. Furthermore, women already familiar with the terrorist organization are especially important for the socialization of female newcomers and their role in maintaining the terrorist organization should not be ignored. The article also sheds light on how the theory of organizational socialization could be improved. As the results provide a better understanding on how socialization might differ depending on the degree of autonomy the newcomer has and what insights it might provide for other criminal organizations.

Effects of Social Media on Security-Agenda Setting in Nairobi City County, Kenya

Social Media (SM), its reach, impact, and potential in a globalized world are no longer contested; it has affected people’s lives, regarding its use and misuse. Groups of gangsters, terrorist associations, non-state actors with bad intentions and rebellious including Gaza, Al-Shabaab, routinely utilize social media websites like Facebook, Twitter Instagram, and WhatsApp to disseminate propaganda, recruit and inspire their sympathizers as well as instill fear in the members of the public and claim their terrorist attacks. This study aimed to identify the effects of social media on security agenda setting to introducing new technologies for use by the security agents to enhance and improve security. It was informed by Agenda-setting Theory and Technological determinism to help see how technology has affected human activity and thought. The study was conducted in Nairobi City County on social media users and security agents. The researcher used a descriptive research plan. The validity test was conducted through a pilot study and specialists’ judgment and reliability through test-retest strategy. The data was gathered using semi-organized surveys and analyzed both quantitatively and qualitatively. Quantitative information was examined through descriptive statistics which incorporates; frequencies, percentages, mean, standard deviation among others. Qualitative information was be analyzed using themes. The findings show that social media has a significant influence on security agenda setting in Nairobi City County. Different social media sites, such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and WhatsApp play a significant role in the spread of information and fight against crime in Nairobi County. They help in mobilization, data gathering, and analysis. Their contribution is affirmed by inferential analysis outcome, which shows that both dependent and independent variables are positively and significantly related. The study recommends the DCI’s office, through the ICT ministry, County government, and National government to reduce chances of youth recruitment by criminal organizations via social media by using different platforms, such as Facebook to learn much about gang affiliations and identify whether their comments or pictures shared are meant to attract or convince unsuspecting people. A similar approach can be applied by law enforcers within Nairobi County to reduce cases of youth recruitment through social media by criminal organizations. The government is also recommended to prevent such social media mobilization that spreads false information by enforcing criminal sanctions and hefty penalties for any offenses or suspected spread of information that can trigger insecurity within the scope area.

Conclusion

Cyberspace offers immense benefits and opportunities as well as considerable threats and hazards. It is routinely exploited by a variety of adversaries, aggressors, and predators: hostile states; political extremists and terrorists; businesses practising commercial espionage and theft; individuals and criminal organizations undertaking financial fraud and trafficking in people, armaments, and narcotics; and individual so-called ‘nuisance’ hackers. The efficient and effective response to these threats and hazards is what cybersecurity is all about. The idea that cybersecurity could also have a larger, more comprehensive, and progressive goal might seem to some to be fanciful: an unrealistic and other-worldly response to the very real possibility of encountering substantial harm in and from cyberspace. Yet, the threat/response dynamic, compelling though it is, is surely not all there is to say about cybersecurity: it should be possible for cybersecurity to have a larger goal than the endless pursuit of (defensive) advantage over an adversary. If cyberspace can be valued as much as feared, then the broader purpose of cybersecurity could be not only to disable threats as they arise but also to enable the positive opportunities offered by the information revolution. Cybersecurity must also address the ordering (i.e. safety, security, and governance) of nothing less than a global digital ecosystem that is taking shape rapidly and beneficially, at every level and in every field of human activity. It is both possible and necessary to combine both perspectives—protection from and progress towards—in one account, as this Handbook of Cybersecurity has shown.

Cocaine

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

Theoretical and applied problems of counteracting organized groups and criminal organizations that are formed on an ethnic basis in Asia, Africa and Australia

Formation by the Ukrainian state of a multi-vector mechanism of counteraction to organized groups and criminal organizations formed on an ethnic basis is impossible without understanding the essence of this problem, relevant statutory concepts and classification and separation of features of organized ethnic crime, which are important for law enforcement and the main effective factor in such activities is to guarantee the security of citizens and the integrity of the state from criminal encroachments of organized groups and criminal organizations that are formed on an ethnic basis. It is stated that today among domestic scientists there are no comprehensive studies of organized groups and criminal organizations, which are formed on an ethnic basis. At the same time, such comprehensive studies are absent in European and American. researchers. Although the latter have positive isolated changes in this area. The main attention and efforts of researchers are attracted to large-scale organized ethnic groups. Based on a comparative legal study of foreign experience in Asia, Africa and Australia in combating crimes committed by organized groups and criminal organizations formed on an ethnic basis, the possibilities of introducing positive foreign experience in the work of law enforcement agencies of Ukraine have been identified. It is noted that the importance of our scientific intelligence, first of all, is that in practice, law enforcement agencies engaged in combating organized groups and criminal organizations that are formed on an ethnic basis, had the opportunity to have an idea of ​​this negative phenomenon. The article also emphasizes the peculiarities of collecting, analyzing, accumulating and storing information exchange for its convenient and effective use by law enforcement agencies of different countries in detecting, documenting and investigating crimes committed by organized groups and criminal organizations formed on an ethnic basis.

Transnational organized crime as a modern phenomenon: definitions and main features

The article analyzes the current situation in the world from the standpoint of the spread of such a negative phenomenon as transnational organized crime. It has been proven that by reducing the time of entry into another country, and in EU countries also by eliminating the need for customs control, it is easier for criminals not only to quickly and unhindered to get, so to speak, to another part of the hemisphere, but also to move, hide or hide goods, weapons, etc. In addition, a powerful impetus to criminal activity was given by globalization, the development of modern technologies, in particular, methods, techniques, programs used in modern banking, facilitated the implementation of international criminal agreements, and the electronics revolution gave criminals, including criminal organizations, access to new means and methods of obtaining funds.It is substantiated that transnational organized crime is one of the highest levels of criminal evolution, a qualitatively new form of crime organization, their antisocial, illegal activities go beyond the territory and jurisdiction of one state, and the subjects are sustainable criminal organizations, whose activities and spheres of influence applies not to one but to several countries, neighboring states, regions, etc. They operate in different regions of the world, have a certain specialization, use various methods, techniques (blackmail, intimidation, corruption schemes), and are united by a common goal - to obtain a very high (maximum) profit while ensuring minimal risk.