Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Deciphering the crime-terror Nexus: an empirical analysis of the structural characteristics of terrorists in Narco-terror networks

  • Published:
Crime, Law and Social Change Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

By using Social Network Analysis (SNA) technique, this study analyzes the structural characteristics of five PKK related narco-terror networks. It examines the roles and positions occupied by PKK members to uncover the nature of the terrorist nexus itself and analyzes structural characteristics to identify these networks’ prioritization between security and efficiency. This study finds that terrorists have key roles in narco-terror networks, i.e., leaders, managers, or drug suppliers. They take powerful and central positions in either controlling central hubs (exerting authority) or bridging separate subgroups (acting as a gateway) constituting the core parts of networks. Further, this study finds that despite terrorists’ dominating role and positions in control and coordination of information and resources, narco-terror networks reveal more reliance on efficiency than security. In general, these networks tend to be clustered into dense subgroups that are attached to networks’ cores, reflecting relatively denser and centralized structures with short average paths. Yet, networks have core(s) whereby key players act predominantly in these cores rather than on peripheries. Notwithstanding the dominance of terrorist members, narco-terror networks seem to focus more on efficiency, and the terrorist nexus in such networks does not appear to make these networks more security-driven. This study asserts that the nature of activity (i.e., crime for material incentive) determines how offenders behave and how covert networks are structured.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. The term “terrorist” is used to comply with and keep the consistency with the literature on crime-terror nexus. PKK’s characteristics in the concepts of terrorism and insurgency is briefly discussed in literature review section.

  2. The PKK not only has a branch in Iran, but its workforce also contains Iranian, Iraqi, and Syrian nationalities (for more information please see [28]).

References

  1. Howard, R. D., Traughber, C. M. (2008). New silk road of terrorism and organized crime: The key to countering the terror-crime Nexus. in Jeffrey H. Norwitz, ed., Armed Groups: Studies in National Security, Counterterrorism, and Counterinsurgency (Government Printing Office) 371-387.

  2. Hutchinson, S., & O’malley, P. (2007). A crime–terror Nexus? Thinking on some of the links between terrorism and criminality 1. Studies in Conflict Terrorism, 30(12), 1095–1107.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Makarenko, T. (2004). The crime-terror continuum: Tracing the interplay between transnational organised crime and terrorism. Global Crime, 6(1), 129–145.

    Google Scholar 

  4. Makarenko, T., & Mesquita, M. (2014). Categorising the crime–terror nexus in the European Union. Global Crime, 15(3–4), 259–274.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Björnehed, E. (2004). Narco-terrorism: The merger of the war on drugs and the war on terror. Global Crime 6(3–4), 305–324.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Lee, R. (2008). The Triborder–terrorism nexus. Global Crime, 9(4), 332–347.

    Google Scholar 

  7. Oehme, C. G., III. (2008). Terrorists, insurgents, and criminals—Growing Nexus? Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 31(1), 80–93.

    Google Scholar 

  8. Shelley, L., & Picarelli, J. T. (2005). Methods and motives: Exploring links between transnational organized crime and international terrorism. Trends in Organized Crime, 9(2), 52–63.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Wang, P. (2010). The crime-terror nexus: Transformation, alliance, convergence. Asian Social Science, 6(6), 11–17.

    Google Scholar 

  10. Dishman, C. (2001). Terrorism, crime, and transformation. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, 24(1), 43–58.

    Google Scholar 

  11. Freeman, M. (2011). The sources of terrorist financing: Theory and typology. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 34(6), 461–475.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Meierrieks, D., & Schneider, F. (2016). The short-and long-run relationship between the illicit drug business and terrorism. Applied Economics Letters, 23(18), 1274–1277.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Piazza, J. A. (2011). The illicit drug trade, counternarcotics strategies and terrorism. Public Choice, 149(3), 297–314.

    Google Scholar 

  14. Clarke, R., & Lee, S. (2008). The PIRA, D-company, and the crime-terror nexus. Terrorism and Political Violence, 20(3), 376–395.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Shelley, L., & Picarelli, J. T. (2002). Methods not motives: Implications of the convergence of international organized crime and terrorism. Police Practice and Research, 3(4), 305–318.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Belli, R., Freilich, J. D., Chermak, S. M., & Boyd, K. A. (2015). Exploring the crime–terror nexus in the United States: A social network analysis of a Hezbollah network involved in trade diversion. Dynamics of Asymmetric Conflict, 8(3), 263–281.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Koschade, S. (2006). A social network analysis of Jemaah Islamiyah: The applications to counterterrorism and intelligence. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 29(6), 559–575.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Krebs, V. E. (2002). Mapping networks of terrorist cells. Connections, 24(3), 43–52.

    Google Scholar 

  19. McGloin, J. M., & Kirk, D. S. (2010). An overview of social network analysis. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 21(2), 169–181.

    Google Scholar 

  20. Milward, H. B., & Raab, J. (2006). Dark networks as organizational problems: Elements of a theory. International Public Management Journal, 9(3), 333–349.

    Google Scholar 

  21. Sparrow, M. K. (1991). The application of network analysis to criminal intelligence: An assessment of the prospects. Social Networks, 13(3), 251–274.

    Google Scholar 

  22. Van der Hulst, R. C. (2009). Introduction to social network analysis (SNA) as an investigative tool. Trends in Organized Crime, 12(2), 101–121.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Ballina, S. (2011). The crime–terror continuum revisited: A model for the study of hybrid criminal organisations. Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism 6(2), 121–136.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Asal, V., Milward, H. B., & Schoon, E. W. (2015). When terrorists go bad: Analyzing terrorist organizations’ involvement in drug smuggling. International Studies Quarterly, 59(1), 112–123.

    Google Scholar 

  25. Morselli, C., Giguère, C., & Petit, K. (2007). The efficiency/security trade-off in criminal networks. Social Networks, 29(1), 143–153.

    Google Scholar 

  26. Ünal, M. C. (2016). Terrorism versus insurgency: A conceptual analysis. Crime Law and Social Change, 66(1), 21–57.

    Google Scholar 

  27. Roth, M. P., & Sever, M. (2007). The Kurdish workers party (PKK) as criminal syndicate: Funding terrorism through organized crime, a case study. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 30(10), 901–920.

    Google Scholar 

  28. Unal, M. C. (2012). Counterterrorism in Turkey: Policy choices and policy effects toward the Kurdistan workers’ party (PKK). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Everton, S. F., & Cunningham, D. (2015). Dark network resilience in a hostile environment: Optimizing centralization and density. Criminology, Criminal Justice Law & Society, 16, 1.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Zech, S. T., & Gabbay, M. (2016). Social network analysis in the study of terrorism and insurgency: From organization to politics. International Studies Review, 18(2), 214–243.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Crossley, N., Edwards, G., Harries, E., & Stevenson, R. (2012). Covert social movement networks and the secrecy-efficiency trade off: The case of the UK suffragettes (1906–1914). Social Networks, 34(4), 634–644.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Enders, W., & Su, X. (2007). Rational terrorists and optimal network structure. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 51(1), 33–57.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Lindelauf, R., Borm, P., & Hamers, H. (2009). The influence of secrecy on the communication structure of covert networks. Social Networks, 31(2), 126–137.

    Google Scholar 

  34. Baker, W. E., & Faulkner, R. R. (1993). The social organization of conspiracy: Illegal networks in the heavy electrical equipment industry. American Sociological Review, 58, 837–860.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Jordan, J., Mañas, F. M., & Horsburgh, N. (2008). Strengths and weaknesses of grassroot jihadist networks: The Madrid bombings. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 31(1), 17–39.

    Google Scholar 

  36. Natarajan, M. (2006). Understanding the structure of a large heroin distribution network: A quantitative analysis of qualitative data. Journal of Quantitative Criminology, 22(2), 171–192.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Schmid, A. P. (2005) Links between terrorism and drug trafficking: A case of ‘narcoterrorism’?. International Summit on Democracy, Terrorism and Security, January 27.

  38. Vargas, G. A. (2011). Drugs, hearts and minds: Irregular war and the coca economy in south bolivar, Colombia (1996–2004). Civil Wars, 13(01), 21–39.

    Google Scholar 

  39. Teirilä, O. T. (2014). The challenges to cooperation posed by the nexus of terrorism and organized crime: Comparing the situations between the Andean and the Sahel regions. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 37(1), 18–40.

    Google Scholar 

  40. Raab, J., & Milward, H. B. (2003). Dark networks as problems. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 13(4), 371–439.

    Google Scholar 

  41. Levitt, S. D., & Venkatesh, S. A. (2000). An economic analysis of a drug-selling gang's finances. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 115(3), 755–789.

    Google Scholar 

  42. Bobic, M. (2014). "transnational organised crime and terrorism: Nexus needing a human security framework." Global Crime15, no. 3-4: 241-258.

  43. Sageman, M. (2008). A strategy for fighting international Islamist terrorists. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 618(1), 223–231.

    Google Scholar 

  44. Mayntz, R. (2004) Organizational forms of terrorism: hierarchy, network, or a type sui generis? No. 04/4. Discussion Paper, 8. 14.

  45. Erickson, B. H. (1981). Secret societies and social structure. Social Forces, 60(1), 188–210.

    Google Scholar 

  46. Helfstein, S., & Wright, D. (2011). Covert or convenient? Evolution of terror attack networks. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 55(5), 785–813.

    Google Scholar 

  47. Oliver, K., Crossley, N., Edwards, G., Koskinen J., & Everett, M. (2014). Covert networks: Structures, processes and types. Unpublished manuscript, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK, p. 4–13.

  48. Rodriguez, J. (2009). Weakness and strengths of terrorist networks: The Madrid March 11 Attacks. In Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association. Available at http://www.allacademic.com/meta/p243052 index. html. Accessed 17 Aug 2018.

  49. Watts, D. C. (1999). Networks, dynamics, and the small-world phenomenon. American Journal of Sociology, 105(2), 493–527.

    Google Scholar 

  50. Granovetter, M. S. (1973). The strength of weak ties. American Journal of Sociology, 78(6), 1360–1380.

    Google Scholar 

  51. Bright, D. A., Hughes, C. E., & Chalmers, J. (2012). Illuminating dark networks: A social network analysis of an Australian drug trafficking syndicate. Crime, Law and Social Change, 57(2), 151–176.

    Google Scholar 

  52. Natarajan, M. (2000). Understanding the structure of a drug trafficking organization: A conversational analysis. Crime Prevention Studies, 11, 273–298.

    Google Scholar 

  53. Klerks, P. (2001). The network paradigm applied to criminal organizations: Theoretical nitpicking or a relevant doctrine for investigators? Recent developments in the Netherlands. Connections, 24(3), 53–65.

    Google Scholar 

  54. Van Solinge, T. B. (1998). Drug use and drug trafficking in Europe. Tijdshrift voor Economische a Sociale Geografie., 89(1), 100–105.

    Google Scholar 

  55. UNDCP World Drug Report (2010). Available at https://www.unodc.org/documents/wdr/WDR_2010/World_Drug_Report_2010_lo-res.pdf. Accessed 29 July 2019.

  56. Curtis, G. E. & T. Karacan. (2002). The nexus among terrorists, narcotics traffickers, weapons proliferators, and organized crime networks in Western Europe. In The Library of Congress, December.

  57. United Nations Office on Drugs, and Crime. (2010). The globalization of crime [electronic resource]: A transnational organized crime threat assessment. United Nations Publications.

  58. Turhal, T. (2015). Organizational structure of PKK and non-PKK-linked Turkish drug trafficking organizations: The influence of social bonds. PhD diss., pp. 105–107.

  59. Unal, M. C. (2014). Strategist or pragmatist: A challenging look at Ocalan's retrospective classification and definition of PKK's strategic periods between 1973 and 2012. Terrorism and Political Violence, 26(3), 419–448.

    Google Scholar 

  60. Ünal, M. C. (2016). Is it ripe yet? Resolving Turkey's 30 years of conflict with the PKK. Turkish Studies, 17(1), 91–125.

    Google Scholar 

  61. Ünal, M. C. (2016). Counterin-surgency and military strategy: An analysis of the Turkish Army's COIN strategies/doctrines. Military Operations Research, 21(1), 55–88.

    Google Scholar 

  62. Gürcan, M. & Ünal, M. C. (2018). Reaching a balance of resolve: The enduring conflict between Turkey and the PKK. In Deterring Terrorism (pp. 193-230). Routledge.

  63. Radu, M. (2018). "The rise and fall of the PKK." in Dangerous Neighborhood, pp. 143-164. Routledge.

  64. Picarelli, J. T. (2006). The turbulent nexus of transnational organised crime and terrorism: A theory of malevolent international relations. Global Crime, 7(1), 1–24.

    Google Scholar 

  65. Schoon, E. W. (2017). Building legitimacy: Interactional dynamics and the popular evaluation of the Kurdistan workers’ party (PKK) in Turkey. Small Wars & Insurgencies, 28(4–5), 734–754.

    Google Scholar 

  66. Wasserman, S., & Faust, K. (1994). Social network analysis: Methods and applications (Vol. 8). UK: Cambridge university press.

    Google Scholar 

  67. Freeman, L. C. (1996). Some antecedents of social network analysis. Connections, 19(1), 39–42.

    Google Scholar 

  68. Hanneman, R. A., Riddle, M. (2005). "introduction to social network methods.", 81-93.

  69. Burcher, M., & Whelan, C. (2015). Social network analysis and small group ‘dark’networks: An analysis of the London bombers and the problem of ‘fuzzy’boundaries. Global crime, 16(2), 104–122.

    Google Scholar 

  70. Everton, S. S. (2008). Tracking, destabilizing and disrupting dark networks with social networks analysis., p. 98-154.

  71. Borgatti, S. P., & Everett, M. G. (2000). Models of core/periphery structures. Social Networks, 21(4), 375–395.

    Google Scholar 

  72. Duxbury, S. W., & Haynie, D. L. (2018). Building them up, breaking them down: Topology, vendor selection patterns, and a digital drug market’s robustness to disruption. Social Networks, 52, 238–250.

    Google Scholar 

  73. Morselli, C. (2010). Assessing vulnerable and strategic positions in a criminal network. Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice, 26(4), 382–392.

    Google Scholar 

  74. Ünal, M. C. & Ünal, T. (2017) Recruitment or enlistment? Individual integration into the Turkish Hezbollah. Turkish studies, 19 no 3 pp 1-36.

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science and Public Administration, Bilkent Universitesi, Ankara, Turkey

    Mustafa Coşar Ünal

Authors
  1. Mustafa Coşar Ünal
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mustafa Coşar Ünal.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Ünal, M.C. Deciphering the crime-terror Nexus: an empirical analysis of the structural characteristics of terrorists in Narco-terror networks. Crime Law Soc Change 73, 181–216 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09858-1

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09858-1

Keywords

Search

Navigation