About Organized
Crime
Organized crime, in the
U.S. and around the world, is a critical concern of the law enforcement community.
The cooperation among these organized criminal enterprises in recent years
has allowed them to greatly increase the scope and magnitude of their illicit
activities. Our world has seen widespread and unprecedented political, economic,
social, and technological changes in the last two decades. Organized criminal
enterprises have been quick to take advantage of the opportunities created
by these changes to satisfy their greed and lust for power.
The cost to communities
and individuals, in terms of pain and suffering caused by the violence and
exploitation associated with these organizations, is incalculable. Also the
damage to society resulting from these criminal organizations and their influence
on labor unions, political institutions, financial markets, and major industries
is immeasurable. In fact, a look at the economic impact alone gives a glimpse
of the importance of this issue. The Center for Strategic and International
Studies, Global Organized Crime Project, Financial Crimes Task Force estimates
global organized crime reaps profits of close to $1 trillion per year.
The FBI's fight against
organized crime is unlike other criminal programs. Instead of focusing on
these crimes as individual events, the FBI's Organized Crime Program targets
the entire organization responsible for a variety of criminal activities.
The FBI has found that even if key individuals in an organization are removed,
the depth and financial strength of the organization often allows the enterprise
to continue.
The dismantling or disruption
of major international and national organized criminal enterprises is an
area of FBI expertise. The FBI is uniquely qualified to dismantle organizations
because of the experience, training and expertise of its agents in targeting
criminal enterprises as opposed to individual criminal acts, the broad Title
18 and Title 21 statutory jurisdictions at its disposal, the FBI's presence
throughout the country, and its history as a methodical and thorough investigative
agency.
1) We must employ a
methodology that yields maximum impact with our limited counter- organized
crime resources;
2) We must pursue targets
which have direct ties to significant national and international criminal
enterprises and systematically dismantle those enterprises;
3) We must remain flexible
enough to pursue regional organized crime groups conducting significant
racketeering activity; and
4) We must ensure that
our targets are permanently dismantled or significantly disrupted.
The mission of the FBI's
Organized Crime Program is to eliminate criminal enterprises which pose the
greatest threat to the American society. This mission will be accomplished
through sustained, coordinated investigations and the utilization of the
criminal and civil provisions of the Racketeer
Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) Statute, as set forth in the FBI/ Department of Justice, Organized
Crime/Drug Enterprise National Strategy. These criminal enterprises include
traditional, well-entrenched organizations such as La
Cosa Nostra and Italian Organized Crime, Eurasian
Organized Crime, African Criminal
Enterprises,
and Asian Criminal Enterprises.
The Organized Crime Section
at FBI Headquarters, in conjunction with field office Executive Management,
is responsible for the overall coordination and support of all organized
crime investigations. The Organized Crime Section also determines program
investigative priorities, assesses training needs, formulates budgets, recommends
resource allocation, and conducts liaison and training in direct support
of the overall Organized Crime Program.
Through historical investigations
and criminal intelligence gathering, the FBI has identified various criminal
enterprises which tend to restrict membership to criminals of ethnicity similar
to that of current members. Therefore, in order to efficiently and effectively
target these identified criminal enterprises, the responsibilities of the
Organized Crime Section of the FBI are divided among the following Units:
Each of the FBI's 56
Field Divisions, located in the major cities around the country, has responsibility
for investigating criminal enterprises active within its own territory under
the guidance of the FBI's national strategy. In addition to Special Agent
personnel, the FBI Organized Crime Program utilizes joint task forces with
other federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies. These task forces
allow the FBI to pool resources of various agencies, taking advantage of
the efficiencies of each of these agencies to combat organized crime.