How Did The Yakuza Globalize Organized Crime

Just as Russian organized crime is transnational, the Yakuza of Japan have expanded their operations in parts of Asia and Latin America. The yakuza differ from other ethnic based organized crime groups because they are slightly accepted by Japanese society. As Japan has modernized, the Yakuza have expanded their criminal activities. Many Yakuza started using legitimate businesses as fronts for the illicit funds they were generating with crime. Another method used by the Yakuza to evade law enforcement is speaking in archaic Japanese or slang. Almost all crime committed in Japan is driven by the Yakuza. The United States has a vested interest in gathering intelligence on the Yakuza since their crimes of counterfeiting, narcotics, sex slave trade,

There is no doubt that both Russian organized crime and the groups fueled by Asian influences are at the top of the list. As Russian organized crime first emerged west in the 1970s, fellow Eurasian countries attached themselves, and America is now left to battle Russian organized crime as a Eurasian front. The Russian groups, still placed in the former Soviet Union profit through international tax evasion schemes, while still continuing to forever use corrupt officials to embezzle Russian government monies. As the Eurasian syndicates heavily advance in the game of healthcare fraud, auto insurance fraud, investment fraud, money laundering, drug trafficking, extortion, auto theft, and the interstate transportation of stolen property, as well as, increase human trafficking actives; this Mafia poses the destabilization threat to emerging political institutions and economies of Russia (FBI, 2016). As Russia destabilizes, the threats of National security to America

Although the largest known gang in the world has been identified as being the Yamaguchi Gumi; Russian organized crime still seems to be have a slightly greater threat to America. The organized crime threat to America these days, essentially revolves around revenues. Both organized crime groups are involved in drug trafficking, human trafficking, and sophisticated white-collar based fraud schemes; so the question is which organization costs America more money? Although the Yakuza is reported to be the most centralized organized crime network in the world; as the Japanese government continues the enforce the laws against the Yakuza, the centralized structure of their crime organization has attributed to the extremely large amount of international revenue the Yakuza has profited. The Yakuza’s number one group, the Yamaguchi Gumi, has an estimated annual revenue of $6.6 Billion. The Russian mafia, who sits opposite the Asian entities on the organized crime spectrum, not only have a strong hold in drug trade and human trafficking, the hold a low key threat of gaining access to nuclear capabilities, and have already been assessed to have taken over 12% of the world’s heroin trade; estimating Russian organized crime to compile a yearly revenue of $8.5 Billion (Matthews,