This Liber amicorum honors Petrus C. van Duyne, following his retirement as Professor of Empirical Penal Science at Tilburg Law School. Van Duyne is the founding father and organizer of the Cross-Border Crime Colloquium. The book has been assembled in preparation of the twelfth edition of this colloquium in Tilburg, The Netherlands, in conjunction with Prof. van Duyne's valedictory lecture. It is no coincidence that the contributors to the Cross-Border Crime Colloquia come from all over Europe and beyond. This is also reflected in the title of the book: Usual and Unusual Organising Criminals in Europe and Beyond. The authors and editors not only wish to contribute to the theme of profitable crimes from underworld to upper world, they also want emphasize their great appreciation for Prof. van Duyne's scientific work.

Transnational crime is an increasing national security threat to the United States and to individual citizens around the world. Criminal groups both in the United Staes and abroad operate crime cartels that span national boundaries, but in ways that affect all Americans, and wreak havoc on law enforcement organizations as well as businesses and other entities, such as the stock market. More often than not, transnational crime takes the form of organized crime, and in its many forms is responsible for over-priced goods, unsafe products, environmental hazards, corruption of public officials, the exploitation of women and children, tax evasion, theft and piracy, identity theft, organ smuggling, stock market fraud, drug trafficking, and black market trading in armaments and weapons of mass destruction, among other scandals and forms of misconduct. Because perpetrators often act in collusion with legitimate organizations and other powerful elites, who either cooperate knowingly or unknowingly or are coerced through violence, dealing with the problem is especially difficult. Here, Liddick describes the many groups responsible for transnational crimes, and the nature and scale of their various enterprises. The result is a powerful testament to the globalization of criminal organizations and their danger to American society. From the Russian mafiya to Chinese Triads, from outlaw motorcycle gangs to Latin American drug cartels, the nature and incidence of transnational crime is a serious threat to American security, both at the national and the individual level. Because of America's porous borders, it is relatively easy for criminal foreigners to set up their organizations within the United States Moreover, there are well-established groups already present in the United States that are now capable of operating on a multinational level. While response to the problem has been overdue, recent efforts to address transnational crime include technological innovations and controversial legislation such as the Patriot Act and the Homeland Security Act. But how well will these measures protect Americans from the increasing prevalence of criminal organizations that are capable of carrying out crimes that span the globe? This important book provides an engaging glimpse into the world of transnational crime through an introduction to the various groups involved, true stories of criminal misconduct, and a careful review and evaluation of efforts to address the problem.

The involvement of non-state actors in world politics can hardly be characterised as novel, but intensifying economic and social exchange and the emergence of new modes of international governance have given them much greater visibility and, many would argue, a more central role. Non-state Actors in World Politics offers analyses of a diverse range of economic, social, legal (and illegal), old and new actors, such as the Catholic Church, trade unions, diasporas, religious movements, transnational corporations and organised crime.

"This book brings together research and studies in the fields of organised crime and of 'green criminality' against the natural environment. By bringing the research traditions of organised crime and 'green criminology' into closer proximity and combining contributions on traditional organised crime and ecological crime in one volume, it questions the need to draw artificial dividing lines between criminological sub-disciplines. Including chapters on the illegal trade in cobalt, and in stolen motor vehicles, the illegal dog market, cross-border amber trafficking, deforestation, and environmental harm in the Norwegian industrial salmon farming, the book offers an important rapprochement between studies in organized crime and green criminology, and considers the operational differences between underworld and upperworld criminal economies"--

Contents: Cross-Border Crime; A Relative Concept and Broad Phenomenon; Cross-Border Crime Patterns between Eastern Europe and the European Union; Transnational Organised Crime and Cross-Border Trafficking in Human Beings in the Czech Republic; Multi-Disciplinary and Pro-Active Approach to the Human Trafficking Phenomenon; Trafficking in Migrants: A European Perspective; Drug Trafficking in Poland; Cross-Border Crime Between Finland and Estonia; Organised Economic Crime Problems in the Ukraine; Credit Card Fraud in International Perspective; Fraud Against the European Public Funds; Financial Investigations and Crime-Money; Facts and Myths About Underground Banking; Organised Crime and Money-Laundering; The Proceeds of Crime and their International Recovery in Europe; Extra and Sneaky Legal Evidence in Cross-Border Investigations; Afterword.

This is the story of organized crime's penetration of the islands and the corruption of its high officials during the time The Bahamas become politically independent of Great Britain. It describes secret U.S. Internal Revenue Service operations aimed at American criminals involved in Bahamian-based tax scams and similar crimes. Block paints a devastating picture of a symbiotic relationship among off-shore tax havens in The Bahamas, sophisticated American criminals, and complacent public officials in the United States. During the 1960s and 1970s, the I.R.S. launched major investigations into American organized crime and the subterranean economy of The Bahamas. Block's access to the private papers of many of the key players in these affairs has given him a unique perspective. He has uncovered details of crime, corruption, and bureaucratic infighting within and among the U.S. Treasury and Justice Departments that have been largely unrecognized by previous researchers. Block shows how important links in the international traffic in cocaine were forged in the Bahamas, in full view of American officials. Masters of Paradise raises major questions about American law enforcement officials' commitment to fighting complex international crime during the 1960s and the 1970s. While there have been other studies of tax havens, money laundering, and offshore investigations, Block's access to information and his grasp of its meaning is unique. Professionals interested in the history and sociology of organized crime and the underground economy will find this book eye-opening. General readers interested in organized crime and political corruption will find it absorbing.