A Credible Threat to International Security - Transnational Crime

[Humphrey Bogart]

Lately, I have been doing a lot of reading on the subject of criminal organizations.  I finished reading a book this weekend called McMafia.  Its a very good book and I believe it brings forth some ideas which should be considered for the future.

That is, the credible threat posed to international stability by criminal organizations.  It has been estimated that organized crime now makes up almost 15% of the worlds GDP Source: http://www.ted.com/talks/misha_glenny_investigates_global_crime_networks.html

With this in mind, the question I am posing to the forum relates to the growth and proliferation of transnational criminal networks and how you believe this will affect future Canadian Forces operations.  My experience with this is purely Academic and I am hoping that with the very credible knowledge-base that exists on this forum perhaps we can shed some light on this topic i.e. Counter-Narcotics operations in Afghanistan etc...

 

[TimBit]

Well for one thing the US Services, particularly the Army, have a problem with gang members joining to gain weapons knowledge and combat experience.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/justicelawlegislation/a/gangs.htm (Not a reliable source but quoting an FBI report I have seen and am now too lazy to find).

Then there is the history of weapons trafficking and/or smuggling, for example Viktor Butt. So yeah sure, big threat! Which is why it is one of CSIS's big 5 priorities!

 

[Humphrey Bogart]

Yes I have seen that report you are talking about, particularly gangs such as MS-13 which are already very violent, now they have seasoned war vets filling their ranks.  These guys are not afraid of the cops, and they will kill them if necessary.

 

[MaDB0Y_021]

Yes I have seen that report you are talking about, particularly gangs such as MS-13 which are already very violent, now they have seasoned war vets filling their ranks.  These guys are not afraid of the cops, and they will kill them if necessary.

Are you talking about the report called "Gangland"? Because yeah, they joined the USMC, and the Army. Most of them are Pvts and Junior NCOs. That's intense.

 

[Sprinting Thistle]

In your research the nexus you should look at is the close relationships established between transnational criminality and terrorist organizations.  I've posted elsewhere on this subject.  The two are combining their resources, suppport systems, and lines of communication to enable their own operations.  The coordination of their efforts blurs the lines between policing and military operations creating challenges for security organizations. 

 

[pbi]

Well for one thing the US Services, particularly the Army, have a problem with gang members joining to gain weapons knowledge and combat experience.

Before we throw any stones at US forces, we might want to cast our minds back a few years, to a time when we had a number of people in our own ranks with gang and crminal associations: I served alongside a couple of them. We also had our share of "inside job" weapon thefts in those day: the list of missing weapons in the late 1980's was quite shocking.

That said, we're already dealing with an arm of the trans-national crime octopus in the form of the narco folks in Afgh, and their symbiotic relationship with terror organizations and insurgency. If something like that was to really get a foothold here in Canada, my bet is that we would very quickly become involved. From what I have seen of our police forces over the years, they are simply not oriented, manned, trained or prepared to take on a threat of that size and nature (I include the RCMP in that broad generalization).

A platoon-sized group of half-decent terrorists, funded with Gucci kit and training by crime dollars, would very quickly tie any Cdn police force up in knots, and probably cause high police casualties very quickly. I don't think it would be very long before SOFCOM and then conventional forces would get engaged.

Cheers

 

[Old Sweat]

As one who has had considerable experience in dealing with support to law enforcement agencies, including in certain national security matters, I concur with PBI's statements. There have been well documeted cases of members of organized crime "gangs" joining the CF and there was a disturbing number of thefts of weapons and equipment.

As for the capability of police to cope with an organized para-military gang, that is not really with their scope. Police rightfully seek to resolve incidents without bloodshed, and only use deadly force as a last resort. Even a large metropolitan police service may well be unable to deploy more than a section's worth of officers with specialized training and equipment. Even these officers could be at a disadvantage when faced with the type of threat PBI cited.

 

[pbi]

As for the capability of police to cope with an organized para-military gang, that is not really with their scope. Police rightfully seek to resolve incidents without bloodshed, and only use deadly force as a last resort. Even a large metropolitan police service may well be unable to deploy more than a section's worth of officers with specialized training and equipment. Even these officers could be at a disadvantage when faced with the type of threat PBI cited.

And I'm happy that our police, as a rule, follow an approach like that in most cases, as opposed to drawing down the second tey get out of their cars. But there is a gap.

What we lack in Canada, IMHO, is a true "gendarmerie" (the RCMP's French title notwithstanding).The Mounties shed their original paramilitary nature a very long time ago.  Despite the isolated efforts of large police forces here and there to develop a "heavy" capability (buying AFVs, etc), we have no real equivalent to the French Gendarmerie, the German GS, or the Italian Carabinieri.  While we could argue that maybe we don't really want or need an intermediate force like that, this capability gap has probably contributed to the Army's extensive engagement in ALEA, public order and security operations over the last century and a half. (I was once briefed by a LEGAD that in the history of Canada having control of its own land forces, there have been over 100 instances of the military being called in to help maintain public order).

Heavily armed and violent criminal organizations are nothing new: the booze runners during US Prohibition were very well armed and I have read that there were exchanges of  MMG fire on Lake Erie between the US LEA cutters and the runners' boats.

As the world security environment evolves, we might want to consider if we have the right mix of domestic security capabilities to meet the threat.

Cheers