DOJ to Increase Focus on Organized Crime as Security Threat

Earlier this week, Attorney General Michael Mukasey announced the US Department of Justice will be increasingly targeting international crime groups, which have been called “mobsters without borders,”^[1] as these groups have become an growing threat to homeland security. “These international criminals pose real national security threats to this country,” said Mukasey during a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. ^[2]

Mukasey underscored that such groups have gained influence in the global markets and have been shown to provide support for terror groups. Perhaps even more importantly, international criminal syndicates have become more sophisticated and flexible than their predecessors, such as La Cosa Nostra. Mukasey pointed to several recent cases, many with links to Russia and the former Soviet republics, involving a variety of markets, including cigarettes, oil, clothing, and pharmaceuticals.^[3] One such example is that of alleged arms trafficker Viktor Bout, arrested in Thailand in March, who reportedly provided weapons to various groups designated as terrorist organizations.^[4]

A recent assessment of the organized crime threat indicated that criminal syndicates “control significant positions in the global energy and strategic materials markets,” reported Mukasey, who added, “[t]hey are expanding their holdings in these sectors, which corrupts the normal functioning of these markets and may have a destabilizing effect of US geopolitical interests.”^[5] These groups also reportedly launder billions of dollars through the US, exploit the internet via eBay scams,^[6] and flood email with spam and viruses that can be used for identity theft.

Mukasey is taking action by reviving the Organized Crime Council, a group of senior law enforcement officials, which disbanded after notable successes against traditional organized crime over a decade ago. This group and other law enforcement entities will work to identify and target global crime groups and their command structures. There will also be an increased focus on interagency cooperation, with the State Department and Department of Treasury being called upon to assist with tasks such as denying visas and imposing sanctions.^[7]

For more information on transnational and organized crime operations, as well as law enforcement actions against these activities, see the Transnational Crimes Blog.


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[1] Randall Mikkelsen, “Mobsters without borders” are global threat: U.S., Reuters News, April 24, 2008 (available online at www.Reuters.com), quoting FBI Deputy Director John Pistole.

[2] Id.

[3] Id.

[4] Id.

[5] Id.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.