Organized Crime And Its Consequences On Transition Economy

Organized crime, its impact and the consequences on transition economy in Albania – Drug trafficking

Organized crime threatens peace and human security, violates human rights and undermines economic, social, cultural, political and civil development of societies around the world. It can be seen in different forms, including but not limited to trafficking in drugs, firearms and even persons. At the same time, organized crime groups exploit human mobility to smuggle migrants and undermine financial systems through money laundering. The vast sums of money involved can compromise legitimate economies and directly impact public processes by 'buying' elections through corruption. The aim of this paper is to examine impact of drug trafficking as

The transnational nature of organized crime means that criminal networks forge bonds across borders as well as overcome cultural and linguistic differences in the commission of their crime. Organized crime is not stagnant, but adapts as new crimes emerge and as relationships between criminal networks become both more flexible, and more sophisticated, with ever-greater reach around the globe. There are many different definitions of organized crime in general, that depends on the organization or a country defining it. Most common characteristics though are that organized crime thrives on supplying illegal goods and services for which a large number of people are willing to pay. The goal of organized crime groups is to make money and its members also gain a sense of pride, power, and protection. For the purpose of this paper I will use the definition of organized crime used by United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime since they are the guardians of United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime The country that I will focus on in this paper, Albania, is a signatory state party of this Convention. By that it is obliged to establish criminal offences in regard to this Convention. Lack of precise definition on what is transnational organized crime is due to intention to a broader applicability of the

Reasons for that could be seen in several most important aspects. First of all is income inequality, transnational inequality, geographic vulnerability and political event in recent past in the region. Income inequality is a consequence of socialist past of the region, but high levels of international mobility and large diaspora populations we should look and it from an international perspective. This is also connected to the transnational inequality, since during its past South Eastern Europe sent lots of migrants to other part of world, due to its war past. Some of them came home but some are still working abroad. Those abroad are seeing how other people are living, enjoying better opportunities and economic standard could affect emergence of this inequality, which by its nature can feed criminality. Everyone in the region experience similar economic difficulties and challenges on the local levels, and affect organization in groups who wish to gain better economic stability by illegal actions. Considering geographic vulnerability, Balkans thorough history is placed between East and West powers and competing markets, so that position by itself putted it in place of a trafficking and trade. In recent years it became one of the most known drug trade routes known as a Balkan route. Organized groups took advantage of political situation in the region in past years, as well as