Pubdate: Wed, 14 July 1999 Source: Examiner, The (Ireland) Copyright: Examiner Publications Ltd, 1999 Contact: http://www.examiner.ie/ INTERNATIONAL CROOKS FIND THAT CRIME DOES PAY Mafia style gangs across the world make more money than the entire economic output of countries like Britain or France, the report reveals. The combined wealth of the six biggest crime syndicates is estimated at nearly pounds 1,000 billion a year more than the wealth of all, but the three richest nations in the world. Britain’s annual output is just pounds 800 billion. The gangs’ biggest single source of income is the drugs trade which brings in pounds 250 billion a year, making narcotics a bigger industry than iron and steel or car manufacturing. The UN report also says that criminals are capitalising on globalisation just as much as legitimate businesses. "As the multinational corporations have led the drive to globalise the world’s economy, so the crime multinationals' have been quick to exploit it. "Among the most enterprising and imaginative opportunists are the world’s criminals," the report says. The gangs are also using the Internet to trade in drugs, sex and weapons. Trafficking in women and girls for prostitution is also on the rise. Illegal activity over the Internet is now worth pounds 4.5 billion a year as criminals take advantage of the opening of borders, the removal of currency controls and unrestricted access to computers, adds the report. "The Internet is an easy vehicle for trafficking in drugs, arms and women through nearly untraceable networks," it says. The report suggests that the influence of organised crime now extends beyond national borders. "The Triads in China, the Medellin and Cali cartels in Colombia, the Mafia in Italy, the Yazuka in Japan and the Cosa Nostra in the US are now developing strategic alliances," it says. - --- MAP posted-by: Jo-D