United Nations Report on Globalization of Crime

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime recently published a report on The Globalization of Crime A Transnational Organized Crime Threat Assessment.

The report examines a range of transnational criminal activities, including human trafficking, the heroin and cocaine trades, cybercrime, maritime piracy and trafficking in environmental resources, firearms and counterfeit goods.

From the introduction:

"The growth of global crime is a threat to the rule of law, without which there can be no sustainable world development. Transnational criminal markets crisscross the planet, conveying drugs, arms, trafficked women, toxic waste, stolen natural resources or protected animals’ parts. Hundreds of billions of dollars of dirty money flow through the world every year, distorting local economies, corrupting institutions and fuelling conflict. What people all over the world wish each other at the beginning of a new year, health, peace and prosperity, is what transnational organized crime markets destroy, bringing instead disease, violence and misery to exposed regions and vulnerable populations."