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	CIAO Focus, August 2003: Transnational Criminal Activities
	Criminal Network Transnational criminal activity is the most important focus for law enforcement in the world community. A coherent and effective response from both law enforcement and intelligence communities is urgently required. To this end, the United Nations has declared transnational crime to be its highest priority. Globalization has had a profound impact on the world economy, and transnational criminals make use of its advantages. Information technology and the rise of international travel have had tangible benefits for society, but they have also facilitated criminal efforts and, as such, have posed new problems for law enforcement. The list of transnational criminal activities is daunting in its variety: theft of intellectual property, cyberfraud, bank fraud, the production of counterfeit products, terrorism, drugs, illegal arms sales, trafficking in women and children, alien smuggling, and that is just to name a few of the more notable examples. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent, the threats posed by transnational criminal acts are on the rise. Cooperative efforts to track finances and assets of transnational criminal groups are underway, as evidenced by the freezing of $115 million in al-Qaeda assets, but more is needed. This month, CIAO focuses of transnational criminal activities. From CIAO's database: Crushing Crime in South East Europe: A Struggle of Domestic, Regional and European Dimensions Transnational Organized Crime: The Caribbean Context Global Issues: Volume 6, Number 2, August 2001 Criminal Revolution: Fiction or Reality? Terror Enterprise: Organisation, Infrastructure and Resources Understanding Balkan Organized Crime: A Key to Success in Iraq? Outside Links*: NATO http://www.nato.int/ UNODC http://www.unodc.org/pdf/crime/training/typologies.pdf (PDF) UNODC http://www.unodc.org/unodc/world_drug_report.html UNODCCP http://www.undcp.org/odccp/crime_prevention.html Financial Action Task Force, OECD http://www1.oecd.org/fatf/ IMoLIN http://www.imolin.org/ Transnational Crime and Corruption Center, American University http://www.american.edu/traccc/index.htm Nathanson Centre, York University http://www.yorku.ca/nathanson/Publications/Bin%20Laden.htm * Outside links are not maintained. For broken outside links, CIAO recommends the Way Back Machine [http://www.archive.org/].