The COVID-19 pandemic has impacts on all aspects of the society, economy and politics - and organized crime is among those affected globally. This panel discusses different aspects of how criminal groups have adapted during the pandemic including the look into the most common modi operandi used by organized criminals in the theft of medicines and medical devices. This trend is amplified by the global pandemic and the war in Ukraine although it has long been a component of the illicit trade in pharmaceutical products. In Italy, which was among the first countries severely-hit by the pandemic, the structures, activities and operations of mafia groups and organized crime groups (OCGs) have also been impacted, particularly their economic activities and trafficking operations. Similarly in Ghana, OCGs have shifted their market focus and re-routed illicit networks, in compliance with the changing landscape. They are also more likely to take advantage of the prolonged economic downturn in the country where there are growing concerns for serious organized crime and deepening issues of terrorism.

Economist, Finance Professional, Policy Analyst and Climate Change Negotiator

Senior Researcher at Transcrime & Adjunct Professor of Methods and Techniques for Criminological Research at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore.

IMF Youth Fellow ll Economist ll Finance Professional ll Policy Analyst

Corporate crime, organizational criminology, corruption in the pharmaceutical and medical sectors. Interest in anti-money laundering research.

Studied International Studies in the Hague, the Netherlands at Leiden University. These studies focused on Africa. Then undertook the Erasmus+ program for the International Master in Security, Intelligence, and Strategic Studies (IMSISS) between Glasgow (University of Glasgow), Dublin (Dublin City University), and Prague (Charles University). There, he became interested in criminal groups and the interrelationship between security and society. His Masters' dissertation focuses on the effects of Covid-19 on OCGs in Italy.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

This panel will discuss the latest research on women in OCGs in Latin America. Speakers will discuss their latest research and the chair will raise various issues.

Freelance video journalist based in Mexico City.

Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Oakland University in Michigan and historian of Mexico, crime, social movements, and gender.

Researcher at the Center of Gender Policies of the Autonomous University of Sinaloa.

Sociologist and historian specializing on violence, gender, and crime in Latin America. Assistant Professor at George Washington University, Global Fellow at The Wilson Center, Author of "In the Vortex of Violence".

PhD in Social Sciences. Master's degree in International Studies. Bachelor in Political Sciences.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

"The Irish organized crime milieu has been recognized for its distinction, derived from its characterization as ‘family gangs,’ its international mobility nature, and the influence of paramilitary groups - while remains understudied. On a transnational level, criminal markets across Ireland and the United Kingdom are highly integrated and adaptable to changing trends and events. However, Ireland is treated as a single market for key criminal trades while the shifts in legitimate trading patterns as a result of Brexit, are likely to have a significant impact on organized crime across both countries.

Looking more closely at everyday criminality, the panel also examines cattle smuggling at the Ireland/Northern Ireland border through the 20th century from a historical criminological perspective. Finally, the panel discusses the long history of politically motivated extremism which is predominantly related to the paramilitary violence of the Troubles. However, there is a fundamental difference in how extremisms are understood depending on the ideological orientation of the individual in question. "

Specialist in transnational organised crime and corruption, in particular in peacebuilding contexts. Senior Fellow at The Azure Forum. Associate at Transparency International Ireland. Practising mediator. PhD from Trinity College Dublin.

DR LYNSEY BLACK

Lecturer in criminology in the School of Law and Criminology, Maynooth University.

DR ORLA LYNCH

Head of Criminology at University College Cork, Ireland

DR JAMES WINDLE

Lecturer in Criminology and Director of the BA Criminology Degree at University College Cork.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Cocaine Hoppers provides empirical evidence to explain the involvement of Nigerians in the international cocaine trade. Investigating the criminogenic environment created by the Nigerian “state crisis”, it traces the geographic, demographic, economic, hist orical, political, and cultural factors that have contributed to the cocaine culture in Nigeria. These elements have led to a society that relies on “ reverse social capital ”, wherein wealth and power are achieved through illegal means solely to benefit the individual. This lively, theoretically grounded study provides an account of Nigerian involvement in global drug trafficking as it has never been divulged before. This book will be appreciated by students, scholars, and public policy practitioners in the criminal justice and criminology space. And eagerly be read by those interested in Nigeria, and problems of African immigrants, and in the international drug trafficking.

Criminologist. Consultant for the Dutch Ministry of Justice

Expert on Italian and foreign organized crime, smuggling and trafficking in human beings, exploitation of prostitution, bonded labor.

Organised Crime / drug trafficking in Latin America and the Netherlands

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

OMCGs have been implicated in a range of organised criminal activities including narcotics manufacture and trafficking, prostitution, firearms trafficking, extortion and money laundering. In this session, four presentations will examine the structure and operation of OMCGs from Australian and Dutch perspectives. The first paper focuses on the micro-level processes of Australian outlaw motorcycle gangs that facilitate crimes of violence and profit. The second presentation examines Dutch OMCG co-offender group composition and its’ association with group and individual level criminal careers. The third paper uses social network analysis to examine co-offending among Australian OMCG clubs. The final paper of this session argues that qualitative research is sorely needed in the study of OMCG offending and draws on examples of offending by members of Australian OMCG clubs.

Professor David Bright is a criminologist and forensic psychologist with the Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation at Deakin University in Melbourne, Australia.

Associate Professor, Faculty of Creative Industries, Education & Social Justice, Queensland University of Technology

Manages the Australian Institute of Criminology’s Serious and Organised Crime Research Lab

Sjoukje van Deuren is a PhD candidate in criminology at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Her research interests include outlaw biker clubs, organized crime, and domestic violence.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

This book is the outcome of an analysis and reflection on crime risks and financial criminal activity taking place in European professional football in recent decades. Its main goal is to discuss some relevant criminological issues in relation to the financing and ownership of professional football clubs and the transfer of players. As the title suggests, the book covers both the outrageous business patterns and habits – and the associated high risk of financial crime – that have manifested themselves in this line of industry, as well as our inclination to turn a blind eye to these developments (like an ostrich with its head in the sand).

Roland Moerland is Assistant Professor of Criminology and Law at Maastricht University and the Director of the Forensics Criminology and Law Master Program.

WIM HARDYNS

Professor of criminology in the Department of Criminology, Criminal Law and Social Law at Ghent University, Belgium and member of the Institute of International Research on Criminal Policy (IRCP)

HANS NELEN

Professor of criminology at Maastricht University (UM). He is also the director of the Maastricht Institute for Criminal Sciences (MICS) and has been chair of the Centre of Information and Research on Organised Crime (CIROC) since 2017.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

At this session, we will present articles published in a recent issue of the journal Anti-Trafficking Review, which focused on the theme ‘Traffickers’. The issue explored the characteristics, motivations, and modus operandi of those convicted or suspected of human trafficking, their relationships with victims, their treatment in the criminal justice system, and more. Dr Caitlin Wyndham will speak about the profile of traffickers in Vietnam. Dr Nerida Chazal will speak about women convicted of trafficking in Australia. Dr Marika McAdam will speak about traffickers in other countries and regions, such as Italy, United States, Malaysia, and others. All speakers will reflect on what these findings mean for prevention of trafficking and prosecution of offenders.

Independent international law and policy adviser; trafficking in persons; smuggling of migrants; international law; human rights.

DR NERIDA CHAZAL

Online Course Facilitator for the Bachelor of Criminal Justice and the Bachelor of Psychological Science and Sociology. Nerida's research examines human trafficking, modern slavery and gender violence.

BORISLAV GERASIMOV

Communications and Advocacy Coordinator at the Global Alliance Against Traffic in Women and the Editor of Anti-Trafficking Review. 

DR CAITLIN WYNDHAM

Experienced leader committed to addressing social exclusion, inequality and human rights violations. Caitlin has been involved with Blue Dragon Children’s Foundation since 2003, and is focused on strategy, evidence-based programming, evaluation and research and stakeholder liaison as a senior staff member.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

In this session, Oleksii Serdyuk and Anna Markovska will present their paper on the level of war-time organized criminal activity in Ukraine by using media reports and anecdotal evidence from Kharkiv and Odesa. After this intervention, André Duffles Teixeira Aranega will present his findings on the ‘crime-conflict nexus’ to demonstrate the interconnections between the dynamics of cross-border illicit economies and the Russo-Ukrainian conflict. After that, Mr. Aranega will provide his standpoint on emerging security implications as a result of the war. The session will conclude with a presentation by Aleksandras Dobryninas and Maryja Šupa, who will speak about how and why the issues of organized crime and criminal operandi are absent in Lithuanian public discourse.

Professor of Criminology at Utrecht University, The Netherlands and co-founder of CIROC.

Professor of Sociology, Chair of the Department of Criminology at the Institute of Sociology and Social Work, Faculty of Philosophy, Vilnius University, Lithuania.

Master's Student, International Relations Institute of the Pontifical Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro (IRI/PUC-Rio).

Associate Professor in Criminology, Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) and specialised in organised crime, Ukraine, transition, police reforms and legitimacy.

Head of the Research Laboratory for Psychological Support of Law Enforcement, Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, Ukraine and Lieutenant Colonel of Police.

Researcher in technology and crime at the Department of Criminology, Vilnius University, Lithuania.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

This session, moderated by Fatjona Mejdini, will be dedicated to understanding the threats posed by illicit flows to maritime and port security. More specifically, panelists will discuss how and why illicit trade manifests in port premises and along rivers. Starting from the international perspective, prof. Sergi will illustrate international cocaine flows, and present some of the findings of her research on ports in the Global North. The session will then continue with a presentation on the main findings of the recently published report "Port Holes, exploring the Maritime Balkan Routes" by authors Ruggero Scaturro and Walter Kemp. Kristina Amerhauser will instead present the risks posed my illicit traffics along the Danube River. 

Professor at the University of Essex in the UK where she lectures on criminology, organised crime and crimes of globalisation.

Programme Manager at the GI-TOC conducting research on organized crime and corruption in the Western Balkans.

Director of the South Eastern Europe Observatory, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.

Analyst for the Global Initiative against Transnational Organised Crime conducting research on the Western Balkans, and on Italian mafia-related issues.

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Assassinations, or contract killings, have been largely used by criminal groups as a form of criminal governance: to exert territorial control and control of their illicit markets, targeted violence was commonly seen as the modus operandi by many groups. However, increasingly, the spill over of these gang turfs have affected victims from civil society. Individuals standing for political office, activists defending lands from corporate or criminal encroachment, and journalists uncovering unsavoury truths. The list of victims of contract killings is long and global. The panel will present Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC)’s database, the Global Assassination Monitor, a unique database that monitors contract killings around the world. It will also discuss the current state of contract killings in the academic literature. The panel will finish with a practical recommendation of community-based responses on this widespread form of crime in Colombia.

Ana Paula Oliveira, Analyst, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Felipe Botero, Head of Colombia Programmes, Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime

Nina Kaysser, Senior Analyst, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime

Mohammed Rahman, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, Birmingham City University

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Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime