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The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has released a new analytical report warning that transnational organized crime has become one of the most complex and rapidly evolving threats of our time. With the advancement of globalization, digital technologies, and growing geopolitical instability, criminal networks are becoming increasingly diverse, flexible, and difficult to track, according to the UNODC press service.
From the Mafia to Cyber Cartels
The report defines transnational organized crime as any serious activity committed by groups for financial or other material gain that transcends national borders. Today, it involves a wide range of actors—from mafias, clans, and drug cartels to cybercriminal networks, armed groups, and even legitimate companies intentionally or inadvertently involved in illicit supply chains.
Some groups, such as street gangs, operate locally, while others, such as the Kompania Bello criminal network, have branches across three continents. Classic mafia structures like Cosa Nostra maintain a hierarchical model, while West African cybercrime groups operate horizontally, bringing together professionals, brokers, and intermediaries, including lawyers and financiers, who help launder proceeds and penetrate the legitimate economy.
Conflicts as a breeding ground for criminal networks
According to the UNODC, armed conflicts not only destroy illicit markets but also create fertile ground for them. The Russia-Ukraine conflict, for example, has disrupted traditional drug trafficking routes, while simultaneously increasing the incidence of online fraud. In the Sahel, criminal groups smuggle fuel to supply armed groups, while in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, armed groups profit from the illegal mining and export of gold.
Some conflicts flare up precisely because of the struggle for control over smuggling routes or gold mines, as is happening in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. As a result, organized crime not only fuels violence but also weakens trust in states, fostering corruption and undermining the rule of law.
Additionally, there has been a rise in cybercrime emanating from Eastern Europe, where individual groups operate in close collaboration with transnational networks and engage in online fraud, financial scams, and blackmail using artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency.
Shadow power: criminal control of territories
Many criminal groups take control of territories by establishing their own rules—a system of "criminal governance." They may operate through violence and intimidation, or they may win the loyalty of the population by providing jobs or maintaining "order" in areas without effective state authority.
In Latin America, such power is overtly visible, while in other regions it operates covertly but just as destructively. Where groups control territory, the illicit economy generates short-term benefits, but in the long term, it destroys public resources and exacerbates inequality.
Some criminal networks infiltrate prisons, turning them into command centers, while others infiltrate ports and logistics hubs to control the movement of contraband goods and launder the proceeds.
Smuggling as the main source of income
The trade in illicit goods and services remains the primary source of profit for criminal networks. This includes drugs, weapons, people, fuel, gold, timber, and wildlife. Drug trafficking remains the core of the global criminal economy, despite the increasing fragmentation of supply chains. Different groups specialize in specific stages—from cultivation and processing to logistics and distribution—forming temporary partnerships.
In many cases, criminals successfully adapt to changes. For example, the illegal fuel trade in the Sahel has grown due to differences in subsidies, while rising global gold prices have stimulated illegal mining and exports. International sanctions have also provided an incentive for new smuggling channels.
According to UNODC estimates, coca and opium poppy plantations continue to expand, with cocaine production reaching record levels by 2023, and Afghanistan and Myanmar remaining the largest opium producers.
New technologies and artificial intelligence
Online fraud has become a multi-billion dollar industry, with large groups from Southeast Asia, Eastern Europe, and Africa operating physical and virtual "deception centers." Fraudsters are increasingly using artificial intelligence to create convincing schemes to defraud individuals and businesses.
The expansion of online gambling and cryptocurrency transactions has facilitated money laundering. In the Mekong region, the casino and virtual asset industry has become one of the main platforms for transnational "laundromat" operations by criminal networks.
Deadly levels of violence
According to UNODC estimates, organized crime claimed approximately 95,000 lives annually from 2000 to 2023—the same number as armed conflict. Latin America and the Caribbean remain the most dangerous regions, with a homicide rate of 19.7 per 100,000 people in 2023, compared to 11.9 in sub-Saharan Africa.
Around 22 percent of all intentional homicides worldwide are linked to criminal gangs, and in the United States, this figure reaches 50 percent. Moreover, the violence is directed not only against competitors or the authorities, but also against civil society: journalists, human rights activists, and entrepreneurs. Between 2020 and 2022, approximately 200 journalists were killed, 20 percent for reporting on crime.
Economic and social losses
Criminal networks undermine the economy, hindering investment and sustainable development. In several Latin American countries, the volume of illicit financial flows from the cocaine trade is comparable to the value of all agricultural exports. In one West African country, losses from illegal gold mining exceed annual government spending on healthcare.
Criminal proceeds fuel corruption, weaken institutions, and fuel a vicious cycle: economic inequality, environmental degradation, and increased violence lead to political instability and further conflict.
A threat to human rights and sustainable development
Organized crime violates fundamental human rights, from the right to life and security to freedom of speech. Human trafficking entails exploitation, violence, and slave labor, while criminal groups' control over territory makes it impossible to protect citizens and undermines trust in the state.
25 years of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime
Following 25 years of operation of the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (Palermo Convention), UNODC identifies ten priority areas for action, ranging from systematic data collection and civil society engagement to strengthening international cooperation and integrating gender and human rights approaches.
The report emphasizes that no single State can address this threat alone, and that the implementation of the Convention remains the primary global instrument for protecting against transnational crime and supporting victims.
