Crime Law Soc Change (2012) 58:179–194

DOI 10.1007/s10611-012-9377-y

Transnational organized crime challenges

for future research

Klaus von Lampe

Published online: 12 May 2012

# Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012

Abstract This essay and review seeks to assess the state of empirical research on
transnational organized crime, drawing on a review of the English language academic
literature. It identifies major themes and research questions as well as methodological
approaches, and summarizes key findings. It also addresses challenges to meaningful
research, arguing that internationally coordinated research projects will be necessary
in the future to arrive at the insights necessary to inform theory and policy.

Introduction

Ten years after 9/11 the allocation of law enforcement resources appears to be under
review in the U.S. as well as in Europe with the focus seemingly shifting, though
perhaps only slightly, from terrorism back to organized crime. However, in keeping
with the perceived international dimension of terrorism, the attention is not so much
on localized criminal gangs but on transnational organized crime. Indicative of this
trend is the recent reactivation in the United States of the Attorney General Organized
Crime Council (AGOCC), an interagency body that coordinates federal law enforce-
ment activity which had not met for 15 years [79], coinciding with the release by the
U.S. Department of Justice of a “Law Enforcement Strategy to Combat International
Organized Crime” in 2008 [98], and the formation of the “International Organized
Crime Intelligence and Operations Center” (IOC-2) in 2009 [79]. At the same time,
there seems to be an increasing interest on the part of law enforcement officials and
policy makers to seek the advice of scholars. Even more so, there seems to be an
increasing recognition that in order for scholars to be able to give sound advice, they
have to be able to conduct meaningful research. In the U.S., the International Center

Extended and updated version of a paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Society
of Criminology (ASC) in San Francisco in November 2010.
K. von Lampe (*)
John Jay College of Criminal Justice, New York, NY, USA
e-mail: kvlampe@web.de
180 K. von Lampe

of the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) has convened a working group of scholars
and practitioners to discuss research agendas in this area with a view to future funding
activity by NIJ [79, 99]. Indeed, NIJ has released several solicitations in 2010 and
2011 for research projects on international organized crime in general and specifically
on human trafficking. There are indications that a similar development may take place
in Europe, at least on the national level in countries such as the UK and Germany.
Yet, there is no conceptual and methodological framework in place that would
provide orientation and coherence to the research efforts that may be undertaken
should increased funding become available in this area.
The purpose of this paper is to assess the state of research on transnational
organized crime and to outline directions for future research. The perspective adopted
here is not one primarily concerned with policy but with the study of organized crime
as an academic sub-discipline, drawing on a review of the recent English-language
scholarly literature, primarily from the years 2007 until 2010. I am referring to
literature which I consider representative of a broader body of empirical research
without the ambition of exhaustively citing all pertinent publications. I also readily
acknowledge that the studies I am citing would deserve more than the scant attention
they receive within the confines of this review. There are four questions which I try to
answer: (1) What specific topics have been covered by empirical research on trans-
national (organized) crime? (2) What as a result of this research do we know about
transnational (organized) crime to date? (3) What kind of research should be funded
and conducted in the future? and (4) What are the main obstacles for sound research?
In my attempt to tentatively answer these questions I do not adhere to a particular
notion of transnational organized crime. The concept of transnational organized
crime, obviously, has to do with crime somehow transcending international borders,
although this is not necessarily a clear-cut category (see [68, 113]). In addition,
similar to the concept of organized crime, the concept of transnational organized
crime is ambiguous because of the vagueness of the term ‘organized’ [28, 105, 114].
What transcends borders can be criminal activities but also individual, transnationally
mobile offenders, criminal networks and organizations, and the exercise of illegiti-
mate power. In this paper I will take all of these dimensions into account.

Research topics

There is a growing body of research on transnational organized crime. A number of

new publications are added every year. Among the 120 recently published academic
books, book chapters and journal articles on organized crime listed in the “Publica-
tion Monitors” that appeared in the 2010 volume of the journal Trends in Organized
Crime, I counted 32 publications focusing on transnational organized crime.
Most publications address one particular type of crime. Traditionally, drug traf-
ficking has received the most attention by scholars (see [25]), and it is still the focal
point of some highly significant research efforts. For example, an interview-based
study in the UK conducted by the Matrix Knowledge Group [61] has produced a
wealth of data on the structure and functioning of the international drug trade which
continue to be analyzed in follow-up studies (see, e.g., [16]), and an international
consortium of researchers has provided a sweeping analysis of the global heroin
Transnational organized crime challenges for future research 181

market [73]. However, the transnational crime receiving the most attention over the
past few years is not drug trafficking but human trafficking, as evidenced by a
number of monographs (see, e.g., [21, 75, 77, 84, 88]), research reports (see e.g.
[72, 78, 96, 107]), edited volumes (see, e.g., [13, 26, 30, 82]) and special issues of
academic journals (see, e.g., [8, 121]). Human smuggling, sometimes empirically
overlapping with human trafficking (see, e.g., [46]), has also received some attention
(see, e.g., [89, 124]). Another prototypical transnational crime has emerged in recent
years as a consistently researched object of study: the illegal cigarette trade (see the
previously published papers compiled by Antonopoulos and Van Duyne [6]). A
number of other transnational crimes are addressed more sporadically, such as
trafficking in stolen motor vehicles (see, e.g., [32]), trafficking in stolen arts and
antiquities (see, e.g., [9]), trafficking in protected wildlife (see, e.g., [122]), traffick-
ing in arms (see, e.g., [92]), trafficking in nuclear material (see, e.g., [55]), illicit
waste disposal (see, e.g., [60]), fraud (see, e.g., [3]), serial burglary (see, e.g., [100])
and organized cybercrime (see, e.g., [38]).
Apart from research focusing on a specific type of crime, there are also some
studies which look at transnational crime in a particular geographical region (see, e.g.,
[40, 62]) or with respect to a particular country (see, e.g., [59]).
Finally, there are some studies that focus on the transnational activities of specific
criminals or criminal groups. At the center of attention may be particular individuals
(see, e.g., [65]), ethnic groups (see, e.g., [91]), illegal enterprises (see, e.g., [112]), or
criminal associations (see, e.g., [104]).
Overall, this means that on the map of transnational crime there are still many grey
areas but one would be hard pressed to point out any white spots where so far no
research has been conducted at all.

Data sources

All means of data collection common in the social sciences can, and have been,
utilized in the study of transnational organized crime. Roughly three means of data
collection can be distinguished: observations, interviews and the retrieval of infor-
mation stored electronically or on paper. Often, different types of data sources are
combined in the same research project.
Participant observations have been rare and, of course, are not without risk. A daring
approach was adopted in a study of smuggling and border corruption in Georgia, where
researchers posed as smugglers for the purpose of participant observation and covert
interviewing [54].
An ever-increasing number of studies draws on offender interviews, partly
achieving impressive sample sizes. Some interview-based studies rely on
imprisoned offenders, others succeed in interviewing transnational offenders
outside of prison settings. Among recent studies drawing on interviews with
incarcerated offenders, the ones by Decker & Townsend Chapman [22] with 34
drug smugglers in U.S. prisons, Desroches [24] with 70 drug traffickers incarcerated
in Canadian prisons and Matrix Knowledge Group [61] with 222 imprisoned drug
traffickers in the UK stand out in terms of sample size and the depth of analysis.
Studies drawing on interviews with non-incarcerated offenders are commonly based
182 K. von Lampe

on the mobilization of existing direct or indirect social relations or the exploitation of

chance encounters, and usually have much smaller sample sizes than prison-based
studies (see, e.g., [5, 7, 39, 44, 45, 95, 123]). Other studies draw on victim interviews,
particularly for research on human trafficking (see, e.g., [18, 23, 48, 71]), or on expert
interviews, including but not limited to interviews with law enforcement officials
(see, e.g., [27, 41, 122]).
Official documents, namely criminal files, intelligence data and internal case statis-
tics, have served as the data source for a number of research projects (see, e.g., [53, 56,
67, 91, 103, 110, 112]). Finally, most studies on transnational organized crime rely at
least in part on open source data, some exclusively so (see, e.g., [85, 109]).

The five major themes in the study of transnational organized crime

Research on transnational organized crime is guided by research questions that can be

roughly grouped around five themes: (1) the specifics of individual transnational
offenders, (2) the modus operandi and logistics of transnational (profit-oriented)
criminal activities, (3) the organization of offenders engaged in transnational criminal
activities, (4) the role of established criminal groups such as Italian mafia-type
organizations or Chinese Triads in the commission of and control over transnational
criminal activities, and (5) the geography of transnational organized crime. Often,
more than one theme is addressed within one study. For example, research on illegal
markets may encompass the analysis of patterns of activity, the way illegal goods are
transported, stored and exchanged, as well as the patterns of interaction that link
illegal market participants along a spectrum ranging from purely market based trans-
actions and network based transactions to transactions within hierarchical, vertically
integrated organizations (see, e.g., [92, 112]).
Arguably the smallest meaningful unit of analysis in the study of transnational
organized crime is the individual offender. Just as is the case with ‘organized
criminals’, individual ‘transnational’ offenders are severely under-researched, al-
though personal characteristics may help explain key aspects such as the emergence
and structure of criminal networks ([66, 81]). The lack of interest in the individual
offender as an object of study is in stark contrast to the field of criminology in general
where many theoretical frameworks center around offender characteristics. Interest-
ingly, in the somewhat related field of terrorism studies, there is a significant body of
literature on the psychology of offenders (see, e.g., [10, 90, 93, 106]).
A study which focuses on individual transnational offenders is that by Kleemans
and de Poot [52] on criminal careers in organized crime (see also [51]). Many of the
cases they analyze pertain to cross-border crime. Kleemans and de Poot found that
organized criminals tend to be older than the general population of offenders, a
finding that corresponds to other studies of transnational crime which likewise show
that transnational crime is often linked to specific opportunity structures that can best
be exploited by individuals embedded in legitimate social and business networks and
with easy access to logistically important sectors such as transportation and banking
(see, e.g., [22, 24, 53]).
Some research has focused on gender, mainly examining the role women play as
perpetrators (see, e.g., [15, 50, 91, 127]) and victims (see, e.g., [41, 48]) of
Transnational organized crime challenges for future research 183

transnational crime. Overall, however, the influence of gender on the transnational

organization of crime and criminals also remains an under-researched issue. As Jackie
Turner and Liz Kelly have observed, there is a “peculiar absence of a gendered
perspective in the discourse on organized crime generally” [97].
It has often been pointed out that ‘organized crime’ can be understood either in
terms of the organization of criminal activities or in terms of the organization of
criminals (see, e.g., [20, 34, 57]). While both perspectives have some merit, it may
indeed make more sense to first look at criminal activities. As Joe Albini [2] has put it
many years ago: “Criminal groups are dynamic entities, not static ones. As such, they
change with the nature of the criminal acts they commit“. Yet, relatively few
researchers have made an effort to analyze the nature of transnational criminal
activities from that angle. The logistics of transnational crime are seldom at the center
of attention (see, e.g., [16, 56, 92]) outside of the small but growing cluster of
literature dealing with transnational organized crime within the framework of situa-
tional crime prevention (see, e.g., [12, 19]).
The insights gained from these studies by necessity tend to be highly crime-specific.
More general patterns emerge across the range of smuggling activities, pertaining to
certain smuggling strategies, e.g. the use of official border crossing points versus
moving contraband across the ‘green border’, or the embeddedness in the cross-
border movement of people versus the embeddedness in the cross-border movement
of commercial goods [113]. From the scant research that is available it seems, for
example, that the smuggling strategy, the size of contraband shipments, and the size
and diversity of offender networks are closely related (see, e.g., [31, 110]).
A recurring theme in the academic literature is the question about how
‘organized’ organized crime, respectively transnational organized crime, is.
Are transnational crimes committed by criminal organizations or by autono-
mously acting offenders that may or may not be cooperating with other
offenders on a continuous basis? There seems to be a growing consensus
among scholars that typically offender structures resemble ‘networks’ rather
than ‘organizations’ (see, e.g., [11, 47, 117]). In many cases, however, the emphasis
is not so much on a close examination of these networks but on simply refuting the
notion promoted by sensationalist media that criminal organizations in the true sense
of the word, commonly and ambiguously dubbed ‘syndicates’ or ‘mafias’, are
involved. The little research which provides in-depth analyses of transnational of-
fender structures offer a more differentiated picture, one which covers a broad
spectrum ranging from individual offenders flexibly using and expanding networks
of criminally exploitable ties to offenders integrated into more continuous, vertically
and horizontally differentiated organizational entities. However, the most typical
forms of cooperation appear to be that of partnerships and small enterprises with
two or three core members and ephemeral employer-employee relations, on the one
hand, and market-based transactions between independent actors, on the other (see,
e.g., [1, 11, 22, 24, 45, 56, 69, 70, 91, 108, 110, 123]). It is not clear from the
available, contradictory evidence if there are trends going in one direction or the
other, for example Colombian drug trafficking groups evolving from cohesive,
complex organizations into smaller, more fluid structures [22], or whether this is a
misconception rooted in media created myths about the nature of the infamous ‘drug
cartels’ of the 1980s and 1990s [47].
184 K. von Lampe

Related to the question of the structure of transnational criminal enterprises is the

question of their cross-border mobility, respectively their ability as organizational
entities to overcome international borders as well as cultural and language barriers.
There are different understandings that can be found in the academic literature.
According to one view, transnational organized crime groups operate on an interna-
tional scale, searching for the most lucrative opportunities for crime and the safest
sanctuaries for evading prosecution (see, e.g., [63]). Another widely held view
associates transnational organized crime with criminal organizations that operate
from home bases in third world and transition countries which, because of weak or
acquiescent governments, serve as ‘safe havens’ (see, e.g., [115, 119, 120]). Both of
these two perspectives suggest that transnational organized crime is characterized by
highly mobile, vertically integrated criminal enterprises with offenders systematically
crossing borders in the execution of crimes and in eluding law enforcement. Simi-
larly, there is the assumption that criminal organizations can expand fairly easily by
establishing ‘branch offices’ in other countries along trafficking routes, typically
embedded in diaspora communities (see, e.g., [87, 119]). A third perspective links
transnational organized crime more to locally based offenders that are connected on
the basis of contractual relationships instead of the subordination under a centralized
command structure (see, e.g., [36, 37]). There is some research for example in the
area of drug smuggling (see, e.g., [80, 123]) and in the area of human trafficking and
human smuggling (see, e.g., [11, 43]) which supports this latter view. A recent study
of the cross-border mobility of three large-scale cigarette smuggling operations adds
another facet to the overall picture of the cross-border networking of offenders. The
three examined groups implemented strategic decisions to establish new trafficking
routes in unfamiliar territory. The members of these groups had no direct knowledge
of the respective countries, nor did they speak the language or had personal contacts.
Instead of acquiring the necessary knowledge and crossing borders themselves, all
three smuggling groups chose to recruit individuals who in turn recruited other
individuals and businesses with a presence in the respective target countries [112].
Closely linked to the discussion of the organization of transnational criminals is
the question of the role of established criminal groups in the commission of and
control over transnational criminal activities. Often the discussion is flawed by the
failure to analytically distinguish between illegal enterprises engaged in profit-
making crimes and non-economic structures which are only indirectly connected to
profit-making crime by providing criminal entrepreneurs with, for example, status,
support, and mechanisms for non-violent conflict resolution [35]. When offenders
involved in transnational crime are suspected of membership in a criminal association
such as an Italian mafia-type organization, the Russian and Georgian vory v zakone or
a Chinese triad it would be a mistake to jump to the conclusion that these associations
as organizational entities and not just individual members, are engaged in transna-
tional criminal activities (see [14, 35]). Accordingly, research into the involvement of
these non-economic criminal organizations in transnational crime have found either a
limited role, namely in terms of extorting transnational criminal enterprises, or having
no role at all (see, e.g., [42, 91, 116, 125]). Little research has been conducted so far
to examine media allegations of criminal organizations extending their spheres of
control across borders [14, 29, 104], or of criminal organizations rooted in different
countries coming to agreements over exclusive spheres of influence [118]. From
Transnational organized crime challenges for future research 185

what is known as a result of this research it does not seem that there is a trend towards
a globalization of control of criminal activities exerted by established criminal
organizations.
Finally, a research question that has been addressed in the academic literature is the
geography of transnational crime. This relates to the geographical distribution of
conditions favorable to the emergence and continued existence of transnational
criminal groups, and of conditions creating opportunities for transnational crime, as
the product of various natural, social, economic and political factors. Some theoret-
ical propositions have been advanced in this area without having been followed up so
far by much empirical research.
Passas, for example, has pointed out “criminogenic asymmetries” between
countries in terms of “structural discrepancies, mismatches and inequalities in the
realms of the economy, law, politics and culture” to explain incentives and opportu-
nities for cross-border crime [76]. A number of authors have argued that the geog-
raphy of transnational crime, specifically of smuggling, is largely a mirror image of
the geography of legal trade routes (see, e.g., [4, 64, 122]), which is somewhat at odds
with the notion that transnational criminal networks tend to be embedded in diaspora
communities (see, e.g., [11, 19, 50, 74, 101, 119]). There is also the notion that
transnational criminal groups are most likely to be found operating in countries or
places where corrupt or weak law-enforcement provides a “low-risk environment”,
and more generally where socio-political conditions are conducive to large-scale
criminal activity [119] (see also [27, 94]).
Overall, there is a tendency in the study of transnational organized crime, similar to
the study of organized crime in general, to undermine conventional wisdom propa-
gated by journalists and policy makers. The picture that emerges from empirical
research is more complex, often more mundane, though not necessarily less serious in
its consequences, than popular imagery of ‘global mafias’.

Problems of research on transnational organized crime

While the study of transnational organized crime is a fairly dynamic field, there are a
number of problems hindering the emergence of a cumulative body of knowledge and
the development of coherent theoretical frameworks. First of all, studies tend to lack
detail regarding the modus operandi and logistics of transnational criminal activities and
the nature of offender structures. In-depth analyses on how exactly crimes are committed
and how exactly the relations between offenders are shaped are the exception rather than
the rule. The kind of research that tends to provide the most detail are interview-based
studies (see, e.g., [22, 24, 123]) and studies analyzing data, including wiretap-
transcripts, generated in extensive criminal investigations (see, e.g., [67, 70]).
A second major problem with most research on transnational organized crime is that
only one end is examined, typically the situation in the destination country of some form
of trafficking. The assessment of the nature of activities and offender structures in source
countries and transit countries is often a matter of mere speculation. One exception to
this rule is a study conducted by Zhang and Chin on human smuggling from China to the
United States [126]. In this research, funded by the National Institute of Justice in the
U.S., field observations and interviews were conducted in New York, the point of
186 K. von Lampe

destination for most undocumented migrants, Los Angeles as an important entry

point into the U.S., and in Fuzhou, China, the main point of origin.
A third obstacle towards knowledge accumulation and theory building is the
narrow focus of most studies in that they do not allow comparisons across space
and time. Even in the case of multi-national research projects where transnational
crime is examined within the same research framework, there is a problem with the
congruence and compatibility of data because of differential access to data owners.
For example, a study of synthetic drugs trafficking in Amsterdam, Barcelona and
Turin [33], while producing highly valuable insights, was limited in its comparative
dimension because the research groups studying, respectively, the situation in each
city did not have the same kind of access to market insiders. A similar problem can
arise when local researchers differ in their capacity to obtain data related to transna-
tional crime from government agencies or the private sector. Of course, in this respect
the problem may not only be one of differential access to data sources, but also one of
differential existence of data in the first place. There are, for example, considerable
differences in the scope and quality of data collected and processed by law enforce-
ment agencies [40, 83, 102]. Likewise, the general willingness of governments to
cooperate with researchers may vary [17].
A fourth problem which affects the study of transnational organized crime as well as
of organized crime in general is the lack of compatibility of research. Differences in the
units of analysis, or a lack of clarity about the units of analysis, and more generally
differences in the conceptual and theoretical frameworks that guide research stand in the
way of building a cumulative body of knowledge on transnational organized crime.

Future research on transnational organized crime

Against the background of existing research and the problems the study of transna-
tional organized crime has encountered, a few cautious comments can be made about
the directions future research should take. First of all it needs to be stressed that there
are no insurmountable obstacles for access to data on transnational organized crime.
While, for example, it may be difficult to interview transnational criminals, past
research has demonstrated that such interviews are possible under favorable circum-
stances, and provided researchers have the necessary skills and social capital.
Secondly it is important to note that future research does not necessarily have to
shift its focus in order to be innovative. In fact, it would be highly valuable to
replicate previous research. Often, generalizations are made from particular studies
far beyond their historical and geographical scope. That is why even in areas of
transnational crime where a relatively large number of studies exist, such as drug
trafficking and human trafficking, there is still a need for additional research, espe-
cially when the ambition is to go beyond description to the development and testing
of more general theoretical propositions. For this purpose, studies in the area of
transnational organized crime have to be embedded in a comparative framework. In
the end, deeper theoretical insights into aspects such as the logistics of transnational
criminal activity or patterns of transnational criminal cooperation can only be gained
by comparing phenomena across different contexts, defined, for example, by the type
of crime or the socio-political environment. There are a whole host of issues which
Transnational organized crime challenges for future research 187

would need to be investigated more systematically and more consistently in this

respect. More emphasis has to be placed, for example, on studying the cross-border
mobility and cross-border networking of individual offenders. Little is known so far
about the choices offenders make in exploring and exploiting transnational opportu-
nities for crime [113]. Likewise, there is little understanding of the relative impor-
tance of migration and trade flows in shaping the geography of transnational crime
beyond a general assumption that migration and international trade are facilitating
factors. The same is true for the assumed role of weak states and failed states as safe
havens for transnational criminals operating in a globalized world [119]. While the
notion of safe havens can claim a high degree of plausibility, little research exists on
how this relates to the emerging global security regime which restricts rather than
increases the mobility of actors from these regions [86].
The third major point I want to make has to do with the institutionalization of
research. In order to comprehensively examine a particular transnational crime
phenomenon there is a need for combining multiple sources of data and multiple
research sites in one and the same project, encompassing, for example, source, transit
and destination countries for an illicit good. Such multi-national research projects
have potential benefits beyond their immediate purpose in that they are likely to
promote the development of more standardized, and more refined terminologies and
conceptual frameworks, which in turn will be valuable for research and theorizing on
transnational organized crime, and organized crime more generally. Yet, there are few
researchers today who would be in a position to conduct such research effectively.
This is not a matter of a lack of expertise but has to do with the problem of
establishing and maintaining contacts to relevant data owners that could be activated
within the time constraints of a normal funded research project where clear deadlines
are set and a need to closely synchronize research efforts in different countries arises.
To overcome these shortcomings research on transnational organized crime requires
more continuity. Continuity means, first of all, an ongoing research process which
contributes to a cumulative body of knowledge. But it also means that networks of
researchers can grow to combine resources from different areas of specialization and
different academic disciplines, and from different countries. Most of all, continuity
means that relations of trust can develop between researchers and data owners outside
the scientific community. This pertains to offenders as interviewees as well as to law
enforcement agencies and relevant business sectors. For example, in order to obtain
access to law enforcement data in this security sensitive field of study, trust and a
positive attitude towards social scientific research on the part of law enforcement
officials are typically preconditions for data to become available to researchers. This
poses more of a challenge in some countries, such as China [17, 58], than in others,
for example the Netherlands [49], still nowhere does there seem to be an automatism
between requests for data access and the granting of access to official data. This
means that compared to the status quo the funding of research in the area of
transnational organized crime has to become more permanent, and more internation-
ally coordinated with a view to continuous institutional support as well as continuous
support for thematically focused research projects.
At the same time, another challenge exists in this field of research in particular
because it is potentially politically sensitive: the need for independence from outside
influence. Apart from direct political interference in those countries where academic
188 K. von Lampe

freedom is not guaranteed, perhaps the most substantial influence-taking currently

occurs in the way research is funded. Generally speaking, there is a reluctance to
support basic research. Grants typically address problems identified by policy makers
and administrators, and in those cases it often seems that grants are given to confirm
cliché imagery and ideologically shaped preconceptions which in all likelihood
would be undermined by unbiased, autonomous research. There tends to be a
fixation, for example, on socially marginalized and foreign based offender popula-
tions. Likewise, there is a preference for narrowly focused technocratic solutions for
preventing and curbing crime rather than for more comprehensive analyses of crime
phenomena and their societal contexts. For example, the potentially most important
instrument for funding internationally coordinated research on transnational orga-
nized crime, at least in Europe, the 7th Framework Programme of the European
Commission (2007–2013), does not address the issue of crime, let alone transnational
crime, in any systematic and coherent way. Instead, crime related topics are spread
across several themes, primarily the Theme 8 “Socio-Economic Sciences and the
Humanities” and the Theme 10 “Security”. There is no indication that the authors of
the Programme were concerned with improving criminal policy or security through
an improved knowledge base on crime. In fact, as far as can be seen, no projects
studying transnational crime (or crime of any kind, for that matter), have been funded
under the socio-economic sciences and security themes of the 7th Framework
Programme to date, although some purport to take account of organized crime.1
The focus of the security theme, which receives far more funds than the socio-
economic sciences theme (1.4 billion Euros compared to 200 million Euros since
2007), is on strengthening the global competitiveness of the European security
industry. This becomes evident in the fact that the security theme does not fall in
the domain of the Directorate-General for Research, but in that of the Enterprise and
Industry Directorate-General. This decision was justified in 2007 by the then EU-
Commissioner Verheugen in a statement effectively negating the need for fundamen-
tal criminological research and knowledge-based criminal-policy making on the
European level: “Research should not be an end in itself. (…) The topic of security
research (…) supports the implementation of European security policy and also has a
significant influence on the competitiveness of the relevant industry and on the
overall competitiveness of Europe” (cit. in [111]). Under these circumstances basic
research contributing to empirically grounded theory building is not possible. The
question raised by Petrus van Duyne many years ago, therefore, is still valid. In 1993
he asked in light of the lack of funding for research on transnational organized crime
whether this is only a matter of a lack of funds in times of recession or of a lack of
political interest in a systematic accumulation of knowledge [101]. I would argue that
the future support for empirical research will serve as a litmus test for the commit-
ment of policy makers to tackling the problems addressed in the debate on transna-
tional organized crime.

1
See “European Research: Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities, List of projects 2007–2010” (ftp://
ftp.cordis.europa.eu/pub/fp7/ssh/docs/synopsis_en.pdf) and “Security Research Projects under the 7th
Framework Programme for Research: Investing into security research for the benefits of European
citizens” (http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/security/files/securityresearch_catalogue2010_2_en.pdf).
Transnational organized crime challenges for future research 189

Conclusion

The study of transnational organized crime is a fairly dynamic field of research, covering
a broad range of crimes and criminal structures. What is lacking so far is a sufficient
density and compatibility of research. Multi-national research projects appear to be the
most desirable format for the future because only they can comprehensively capture
transnational crime phenomena. Multi-national research, however, poses challenges in
terms of the capacity of researchers and research institutions to access the necessary data
within the time constraints set by traditional funding instruments. National funding
institutions would need to coordinate their activities and international funding institu-
tions such as the European Commission would need to recognize the need for multi-
national basic research in order to create appropriate funding schemes adapted to the
specific requirements of research on transnational organized crime.
The research community has shown that meaningful research in this area is
possible. Existing research on transnational organized crime has tended towards
disproving cliché imagery while being too fragmented to lead to the kinds of
empirically grounded theoretical frameworks that would be necessary to truly under-
stand the phenomena labeled transnational organized crime.

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