Why is Disrupting The Mafia So Hard?

The Mafia and organised crime: Why is it so difficult to get rid of it?

• Although there are sophisticated international efforts to crack down on organised crime, the reality is that much of this work amounts to not much more than a drop in the ocean.
• International crime syndicates have flourished during the pandemic, for instance due to lifestyle changes such as increased online shopping, which has enabled a staggering rise of fraud.
• "Organised crime has globalised and turned into one of the world's foremost economic and armed powers," said the executive director of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) back in 2010.
• Instability and power vacuums in badly governed and underdeveloped nations create ideal breeding grounds for crime, as criminals step in when states fail to deliver security and public services.
• In the ten years that have passed since, some victories against organised crime have been achieved and some networks have been disrupted, but the main problems remain largely untackled.
• A 2021 US report found that countries including Afghanistan, China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua, North Korea, Russia, Syria and Venezuela are not meeting the minimum standards to combat human trafficking.