INTERNATIONAL CROOKS FIND THAT CRIME DOES PAY

Mafia style gangs across the world make more money than the entire economic
output of countries like Britain or France, the report reveals. The combined
wealth of the six biggest crime syndicates is estimated at nearly pounds
1,000 billion a year more than the wealth of all, but the three richest
nations in the world. Britain’s annual output is just pounds 800 billion.
The gangs’ biggest single source of income is the drugs trade which brings
in pounds 250 billion a year, making narcotics a bigger industry than iron
and steel or car manufacturing.

The UN report also says that criminals are capitalising on globalisation
just as much as legitimate businesses.

"As the multinational corporations have led the drive to globalise the
world’s economy, so the crime multinationals' have been quick to exploit it.

"Among the most enterprising and imaginative opportunists are the world’s
criminals," the report says.

The gangs are also using the Internet to trade in drugs, sex and weapons.
Trafficking in women and girls for prostitution is also on the rise.

Illegal activity over the Internet is now worth pounds 4.5 billion a year as
criminals take advantage of the opening of borders, the removal of currency
controls and unrestricted access to computers, adds the report.

"The Internet is an easy vehicle for trafficking in drugs, arms and women
through nearly untraceable networks," it says.

The report suggests that the influence of organised crime now extends beyond
national borders. "The Triads in China, the Medellin and Cali cartels in
Colombia, the Mafia in Italy, the Yazuka in Japan and the Cosa Nostra in the
US are now developing strategic alliances," it says.