ABSTRACT
The turnover of the global criminal economy is roughly estimated at one trillion dollars, of which narcotics may account for about half. Around 4 percent of the world's population takes illegal drugs, from inhaled solvents to the Asian betel nut. Five main commodities are dominant: opiates such as heroin (14 million users worldwide), cocaine (14 million), amphetamine-type stimulants (30 million), hallucinogens (25 million) and cannabis (140 million) [1]. Up to half a trillion dollars are laundered through the world's financial systems every year. The OECD estimates that the criminal drug industry costs its member states over $120 billion per year, with the USA alone accounting for $76 billion [2]. Furthermore, global organised crime is evolving, embracing new markets and new technologies, and moving from traditional hierarchies towards more flexible, network-based forms of organisation. To an extent, the legitimate world is a victim of its own success: globalisation of the legal economy has also globalised the underworld, prosperity fuels the demand for many illicit services, and improved policing ironically forces criminals to become more organised to survive.
