Abstract
Undertaken on behalf of the National Institute of Justice between July 2003 and August 2004, the research goals of this study were to (a) determine high priority areas for research on Asian transnational organized crime (TOC); (b) assess the impact of Asian TOC on the United States; (3) identify relevant data and information sources in Asia; and (4) identify potential collaborative research partners and institutions in Asia. The aim was thus not to examine in detail the organized crime situation in this region, but rather to lay the foundation for a research agenda and strategy that would accomplish that purpose.
In seeking to achieve this aim, the researchers used a variety of techniques as part of an overall exploratory methodology. They included four months of interviews (andfield observations) with experts in eight Asian sites, including law enforcement officials, policymakers, and scholars, as well as American officials in each site. Meetings were also held with Asian crime experts in the United States. Interviews and site visits were supplemented with surveys and analyses done by local Asian researchers, an analysis of U.S. indictments, and the review of a large volume of literature. The sites covered by this research are China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, Philippines, Thailand, and Cambodia.
The major findings are first, that there is little consensus among the Asian authorities on just wliat their main organized crime problems are. Whereas the Asian authorities give higher priority to traditional organized crimes, e.g., gambling, extortion, prostitution, etc., the American authorities focus more on transnational crimes. Consistent with this view, Asian authorities do not see much linkage between the local or regional crime groups about which they are most concerned, and transnational organized crime. Next, contrary to the views and expectations of some American authorities, the commonly expressed view among the respondents in this study is that there is no collaboration or linkage between transnational organized crime groups and terrorists. Finally, the transnational organized crime networks operating in the region are said to be highly specialized, with any overlapping of criminal activities occurring mostly at the level of transportation of goods or people.
It is recommended that future collaborative research efforts focus on trafficking in women and children, human smuggling, and drug production and trafficking. These are likely to continue to have the most impact upon the United States and upon U.S. interests in the region. It is further recommended that these research efforts be both bi-lateral (principally with China) and multi-lateral in nature. A wide variety of potentially willing research partners are identified and their strengths and weaknesses are assessed. Finally, a specific strategy for accomplishing the research agenda is proposed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abt Associates, Inc. 2003. Survey of Practitioners to Assess the Local Impact of Transnational Crime.
Altink, Sietske. 1995. Stolen Lives: Trading Women into Sex and Slavery. London: Scarlet Press.
Asia Watch. 1993. A Modern Form of Slavery: Trafficking of Burmese Women and Girls into Brothels in Thailand. New York: Human Rights Watch.
Brazil, David. 2004. No Money, No Honey!: A Candid Look at Sex-for-Sale in Singapore. Singapore: Angsana Books.
Brown, Louise. 2000. Sex Slaves: The Trafficking of Women in Asia. London. Virago Press.
Chin, Ko-lin. 1990. Chinese Subculture and Criminality: Non-traditional Crime Groups in America. Westport, CT: Greenwood Pres.
—. 1996. Chinatown Gangs. New York: Oxford University Press.
—. 1999. Smuggled Chinese: Clandestine Immigration to the United States. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
—. 2003. Heijin: Organized, Business, and Politics in Taiwan. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe.
Chu,Yiu-kong. 2000. Triads as Business.London: Routledge.
Emerton, Robyn. 2001. Trafficking of women into Hong Kong for the purpose of prostitution: Prelimi- nary research findings. Occasional Paper No. 3. Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong.
Estes, Richard and Neil Weiner. 2002. The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in the U.S., Canada and Mexico. A Final Report submitted to the National Institute of Justice.
Finckenauer, James. 1996. Russian transnational organized crime and human trafficking. In David Kyle and Rey Koslowski (eds.) Global Human Smuggling. Baltimore: John Hopkins University Press: 166–186.
Finckenauer, James and Elin Waring. 1998. Russian Mafia in America.Boston: Northeastern Uni- versity Press.
Gelbard, Robert. 1998. “Burma: The booming drug trade.” In Robert Rotberg (ed.) Burma: Prospects for a Democratic Future.Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution Press.
Gilboa, Amit. 2001. Off the Rails in Phnom Penh: Into the Dark Heart of Guns, Girls, and Ganja. Bangkok: Asia Books.
Hill, Peter. 2003. The Japanese Mafia: Yakuza, Law, and the State. New York: Oxford University Press.
Human Rights Watch. 1995. RapeforProfit: Trafficking of Nepali Girls and Women to India's Brothels. New York: Human Rights Watch.
—. 2000. Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in Japan. New York: Hu- man Rights Watch.
Jeffrey, Leslie Ann. 2002. Sex and Borders: Gender, National Identity, and Prostitution Policy in Thailand. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Boos.
Kaplan, David and Alec Dubro. 2003. Yakuza: Japan's Criminal Underworld. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Kempadoo, Kamala and Jo Doezema (eds.) 1998. Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Re- definition. New York: Routledge.
Kwong, Peter. 1997. Forbidden Workers: Illegal Chinese Immigrants and American Labor. New York: The New Press.
Lintner, Bertil. 2003. Blood Brothers: The Criminal Underworld of Asia. New York: Palgrave Mc- Millan.
Lo, T. Wing. 1993. Corruption and Politics in Hong Kong and China. Buckingham: Open University Press.
Murray, Alison. (1998). Debt-bondage and trafficking: Don't believe the hype. In Kamala Kempadoo and Jo Doezema (eds.) Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance, and Redefinition. New York: Routledge: 51–64.
Pearson, Elaine. 2002. Human Traffic, Human Rights: Redefining Victim Protection. London: Anti- Slavery International.
Phongpaichit, Pasuk and Sungsidh Piriyarangsan. 1994. Corruption and Democracy in Thailand. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
Phongpaichit, Pasuk, Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, and Nualnoi Teerat. 1998. Guns, Girls, Gambling, Ganja: Thailand's Illegal Economy and Public Policy. Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books.
Raymond, Janice and Donna Hughes. 2001. Sex Trafficking of Women in the United States. A Final Report submitted to the National Institute of Justice.
Santos, Aida. 2002. Patterns, Profiles and Health Consequences of Sexual Exploitation: The Philip- pine Report. Manila: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW).
Skrobanek, Siripon, Nattaya Boonpakdi, and Chutima Janthakeero. 1997. The Traffic in Women: Hu- man Realities of the International Sex Trade. London: Zed Books.
Sobieszczyk, Teresa. 2002. Risky business: Debt bondage international labour migration from Northern Thailand. Paper presented at the IUSSP Regional Population Conference on “Southeast Asia's Population in a Changing Asian Context,” Bangkok, Thailand, 10-12 June.
Smith, Paul (ed.) 1997. Human Smuggling. Washington, DC: Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Takano, Hideyuki. 2002. The Shore Beyond Good And Evil: A Report From Inside Burma's Opium Kingdom. Reno, NV: Kotan Publishing.
Thorbek, Susanne and Bandana Pattanzik (eds.) 2002. Transnational Prostitution: Changing Global Patterns. London: Zed Books.
United Nations Centre for International Crime Prevention. 2000. Overview of the 40 criminal groups surveyed. Trends in Organized Crime Vol. 6, No. 2: 93-140.
U.S. Department of State. 2004. Trafficking in Persons Report.
van Kemenade, Willem. 1997. China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Inc. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.
Williams, Phil (ed.) 1999. Illegal Immigration and Commercial Sex: The New Slave Trade. London: Frank Cass.
Zhang, Sheldon and Ko-lin Chin. 2002. Enter the dragon: Inside Chinese human smuggling organiza- tions. Criminology Vol. 40(4): 737–768.
—. 2003. The declining significance of triad societies in transnational illegal activities. British Journal of Criminology 43/3:463–482.
Chang Tseng-liang. 2002. A study on the problem of “fake marriage” across the Taiwan Strait, focus- ing on fake marriage for the purpose of prostitution. Central Police University Journal of Police Science Vol. 33, No. 1: 203–236.
Chu Ping. 2004. Drug Baron: Corruption in Fujian. Hong Kong: Sheffield Press.
He Bingsong. 2002. Organized Crime in China. Beijing: China Legal Press.
—. 2003. Understanding Organized Crime Activities. Beijing: China Judicial Press.
Luo Bingsen and Liang Jin-yun. 1999. Essays on the Suppression of Drug in Yunnan. Beijing: Qun- zhong Publication.
Ma Mo-jen. 1994. Drugs in China. Taipei: Kenin Publishing.
Si Yi. 2004. Sex in China. Hong Kong: Limited Publisher.
Tse Ping (ed.). 2003. The Power and Sex Trade in China.Hong Kong: Sheffield Press.
Xiao Chong (ed.). 2002. Chinese Communist and Organized Crime. Hong Kong: Sheffield Press.
Zhao Shi-lung and Ke Su-ya. 2003. Golden Triangle: A Future without Heroin? Beijing: Economic Daily Publisher.
Additional information
Support for this research was provided by TDL# 1700-215 from the National Institute of Justice. The opinions are those of the authors and do not reflect the policies or views of the National Institute of Justice.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Finckenauer, J.O., Chin, Kl. Asian transnational organized crime and its impact on the United States: Developing a transnational crime research agenda. Trends Organ Crim 10, 18–107 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-006-1034-3
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12117-006-1034-3