What efforts have been taken to control transnational crime, and what are the challenges surrounding these efforts?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Efforts to combat transnational organized crime are typically in the hands of federal agencies. One approach is to form international working groups to collect intelligence, share information, and plot unified strategies among member nations. The FBI belongs to several international working groups: the Eurasian Organized Crime Working Group addresses the transnational aspects of Eurasian organized crime that impacts member countries; the Central European Working Group brings together the FBI and European law enforcement agencies to discuss cooperative investigative matters covering Eurasian organized crime; and the Southeast European Cooperative Initiative coordinates police and customs regional actions for preventing and combating transborder crime. Congress has passed a number of laws that have made it easier for agencies to bring transnational gangs to justice. Title IX of the Organized Crime Control Act is the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO). RICO created new categories of offenses in racketeering activity, including state-defined crimes and federally defined crimes. RICO is designed to limit patterns of organized criminal activity by prohibiting involvement in acts intended to derive income from racketeering, acquire through racketeering an interest in or control over any enterprise engaged in interstate or foreign commerce, conduct business through a pattern of racketeering, or conspire to use racketeering as a means of making income, collecting loans, or conducting business. Some of the challenges surrounding these efforts include that gangs are ready to use violence and are well equipped to carry out threats. The drug trade is difficult due to the shifting alliances and changes of location as well as the fact that the drug trade is an important source of foreign revenue-destroying the drug trade undermines economies of third-world nations. Another problem is that the United States has little influence in some key drug-producing areas. War and terrorism may also make gang control strategies problematic.