Asian Transnational Organized Crime and Its Impact on the United States: Developing a Transnational Crime Research Agenda

• NCJ Number: 213310
• Author(s): James O. Finckenauer; Ko-lin Chin
• Date Published: November 2004
• Length: 146 pages
• Grant Number(s): TDL#1700-215
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)

Annotation

This study prioritized areas for research on Asian transnational organized crime (TOC); assessed its impact on the United States; identified relevant data and information sources in Asia; and determined potential Asian research partners and institutions.

Abstract

The study found little consensus among Asian authorities on the main TOC problems. Whereas the Asian authorities give high priority to traditional organized-crime activities--gambling, extortion, prostitution, etc.--the American authorities focus on transnational crime. Asian authorities do not link local or regional crime groups with TOC. Further, the Asian respondents saw no connection between organized crime groups and terrorists. Asian authorities viewed TOC networks in the region as highly specialized, with any overlapping of criminal activities being mostly in the transportation of goods or people. This report recommends that future collaborative research address trafficking in women and children, human smuggling, and drug production and trafficking. These TOC activities are likely to continue to have the most impact on the United States and its interests in the region. It also recommends that this research be bilateral (primarily with China) and multilateral. A variety of potentially willing research partners are identified, and their strengths and weaknesses are assessed. A strategy for implementing the research agenda is proposed. The research for this report included 4 months of interviews and field observations with experts in eight Asian sites: China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, the Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia. Those interviewed included law enforcement officials, policymakers, and scholars, as well as American officials working at each site. Meetings were also held with Asian crime experts in the United States. Other sources of information were surveys and analyses done by local Asian researchers, an analysis of relevant U.S. indictments, and a literature review. 3 tables, 1 figure, 52 references, and appended supplementary information and methodological details