What are some of the most significant transnational organized crime groups, and what kinds of crime do they carry out?

Question

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Answer 1

Asian groups are involved in global criminal conspiracies ranging from extortion and smuggling to arms dealing and human trafficking. Demand for drugs by wealthy urban residents of east Asia has fueled and revitalized organized crime in that part of the world. Nigerian criminal enterprises are the most significant of the African groups and operate in more than 80 countries. They primarily engage in drug trafficking and financial frauds. Due to large populations of ethnic Nigerians in India, Pakistan, and Thailand, these enterprises have direct access to 90 percent of the world's heroin production. The associated money laundering has helped establish Nigerian criminal enterprises on every populated continent. Russian gangs make extensive use of the state governmental apparatus to protect and promote their criminal activities, including frauds and scams. The criminalization of the privatization process has resulted in the massive use of state funds for criminal gain. Criminals have been able to directly influence the state's domestic and foreign policy to promote the interests of organized crime either by attaining public office or by buying public officials. Russian criminal groups are believed to be the main purveyors of credit card fraud in the United States. Mexican gangs are heavily involved in moving drugs and have become large-scale suppliers of narcotics, marijuana, and methamphetamines to the United States. Mexican cartels are the leading wholesale launderers of drug money from the United States-taking in between $19 and $29 billion annually. The main drug cartels operating in Mexico are the Sinaloa Federation, Jalisco New Generation, Los Zetas, the Gulf Cartel, Beltran Leyva, the Juarez cartel, and the Tijuana/Arellan Flix group. These cartels are a constantly shifting landscape of drug activity.