Explained | PM termed organised crime as source of terror funding: What is organised crime, types and notable Indian organised criminals?

Stressing the importance of terror funding, Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the urgent need to tab organized crime during the two-day 3rd edition of the ‘No Money For Terror’ Ministerial Conference in New Delhi. 

“These gangs are often having deep links with terrorist outfits. The money made in gun-running, drugs and smuggling is pumped into terrorism. These groups help with logistics and communication too,” Prime Minister said. 

Mr Narendra Modi further confirmed that the United Nations Security Council, Financial Action Task Force, Financial Intelligence Units, and the Egmont Group are boosting cooperation in preventing, detecting, and prosecuting illegal fund flows. While the Prime Minister of India underlines the larger picture behind organized crimes, The Quotes delves deep into several aspects of organized crimes.

What is organized crime?

According to a report published in Legal Services India.com, crore organized crime is the supply of illegal goods and services to countless customers in and outside the country. 

Organized crimes employ illegitimate methods-monopolization, terrorism, extortion, and tax evasion to drive out or control lawful ownership and leadership and to extract illegal profits from the public.  

For decades activities including extortion, contract killing, bootlegging, gambling, prostitution, and smuggling have been used in India, but drug trafficking, illicit arms trading, money laundering, and transporting illegitimate activities are based essentially on its readiness to use brute force and violence have added more concerns for the security agencies. 

Types of organized crimes:

Drug Abuse and Drug Trafficking:

Perhaps the country’s most annoying mode of organized crimes, and truly transnational in character. Geographically, India finds itself between the countries of the Golden Triangle (Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos) in the northeast and Golden Crescent (Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Iran) in the northwest. Heroin, hashish, opium, cannabis, methaqualone, cocaine, amphetamine and LSD are notable drugs used for drug trafficking. 

Smuggling: 

India has a vast coastline of about 7,500 km, open borders with Nepal and Bhutan, and is prone to large-scale smuggling of contraband and other consumable items.

Money Laundering and Hawala:

Money laundering refers to converting illegal and ill-gotten money into seemingly legal money to be integrated into the legitimate economy. Tax evasion and violation of exchange regulations are other crucial modes of merging this ill-gotten money with tax-evaded income. 

Contract Killing: 

Hiring an individual or a gang to establish intended murder is one of the popular modes of organized crime in the country. Contract killing is one of the traditional modes of converting black money into a legitimate source. 

Kidnapping for Ransom: 

Asking for ransom money is a highly popular way of organized crime in urban cities. Local and national-level gangs have indulged themselves in kidnapping for ransom amounts. The financial rewards and risk-involved are equally proportional to each other. 

Prostitution: 

Underworld cashes in a lot of black money from trading in sex and girl-running as it considers a very profitable business. The flesh trade has been flourishing for decades in India. 

Few popular organized criminals in India

Dawood gang, Arun Gawli gang, Amar Naik gang, Chota Rajan Gang, Veerappan Gang of Karnataka, Om Prakash Srivastava@Babloo,Gang of Uttar Pradesh, Latif Gang of Ahmedabad, Rashid Gang of Calcutta etc.  

(with inputs from PIB and Legal Services India.com)