Organized Crime In Africa Essay, Research Paper

Organized crime is a problem that has spread all throughout the international

community. In the past, national and regional crime organizations were small,

isolated and worked independent of other crime organizations. However in the

past few decades free trade and high speed telecommunications has made it easier

for such groups to operate, therefore resulting in "global Mafiosi"

that seem to be working together around the globe. This new development makes it

hard for governments and the United Nations to combat international organized

crime. Lesotho, a nation of the African block is particularly concerned with the

escalating problem of illicit traffic of drugs and firearms linked with

organized crime. Not only does drug trafficking pose a threat to the structure

of Lesotho?s society, but also to its government. Profits made from these

operations are used to destabilize governments, corrupt officials and influence

government decisions. Lesotho is a member of the United Nations African

Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders.

Furthermore it is an active member of the Commission on Crime Prevention and

Criminal Justice. The nation of Lesotho recognizes that cooperation is the key

ingredient in combating organized crime. At present formal extradition

agreements exist between Lesotho and South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Malawi,

Taiwan, the USA and Israel. International cooperation is required to

successfully prevent and control transnational crime. This is particularly the

case with increasing numbers of offenders fleeing from one jurisdiction to

another in order to avoid punishment and continue their activities. Countries

must respect and abide by the terms of bilateral and multilateral treaties that

they are party to. Organized crime which should be of most concern includes

terrorism, illicit arms trade, drug trafficking and economic crime, such as

international fraud. Freedom from the fear of crime is important to the

international community. There is a strong need for improved cooperation and

exchange of data for proper law enforcement. Suppression and prevention of

illicit trafficking can be accomplished by adopting an effective method

identifying and tracing good that are being smuggled. In the case of firearms,

there should be the establishment of an import and export and in-transit

licensing for their transport. States of the African region have many financial

difficulties, and are in the category of the least developed nations. Therefore

they often lack the necessary resources to combat crime within their nation.

Because of this the United Nations African Institute for the Prevention of Crime

and the Treatment of Offenders lacks funds to support itself. Lesotho strongly

believes that in the future conferences of organizations such as the Commission

of Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, should concentrate on problems of

developing Asian and African nations. They are vulnerable targets for drug and

economic crime cartels. It should be recognized that because these nations lack

money they are high risk for succumbing to organized crime. Programs should be

developed to aid needy nations. To discuss these issues more conferences on

organized crime should be held in the future and all countries should strongly

be urged to attend.