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Explore the nature of organized consensual criminal activities such as illegal gambling, loansharking, and smuggling. Learn about the factors that give rise to these crimes and their common denominators. Discover how illegal activities associated with organized crime differ from predatory crimes. Delve into the intricate world of bookmaking, loansharking practices, and smuggling operations in Canada. Uncover the ties between loansharking, gambling, and business racketeering, as well as the significant role of various criminal groups in these illicit activities.
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Chapter 9: Consensual Crimes
Chapter Outline • Introduction & Overview • Illegal Gambling • Loansharking • Smuggling
Learning Objectives After reading this chapter, you should have an understanding of: • The nature of organized consensual criminal activities (excluding drug trafficking) & how they differ from predatory crimes • Different consensual crimes carried out by criminal organizations • What makes consensual illegal activities associated with organized crime unique compared to more rudimentary predatory crimes • Factors that give rise to consensual criminal opportunities • Common denominators among different organized consensual crimes
Gambling • “… games of chance, where luck determines the outcome more than skill” (Albanese, 2015: 40). • the state has always had reasons to control & criminalize this vice, pushing it underground • Illegal gambling is one of the most widespread & profitable organized (consensual) crimes • Operating “a large-scale gambling operation for a prolonged period requires a stable & significant level of organization” (Spapens, 2014: 406). • Two categories of illegal gambling: games of chance & bookmaking
Gambling • Bookmaking the most widespread & lucrative form of illegal organized gambling in Canada • betting on individual sports events is still illegal • First half of 20th Century: Canada part of a continent-wide bookmaking syndicate connected to the LCN (& facilitated by the wire service) • Italian mafia, Chinese criminal networks & OMGs all active in bookmaking & operation of underground casinos in Canada • OC groups active in operating video lottery terminals in legal (bars) & illegal establishments
Loansharking • Usury: the lending of money at inflated & hence illegal rates of interest • Interest rates levied by loansharks could run anywhere from 100 to 2000 percent annually. (In Canada, it is illegal to charge more than 60% of the credit advanced). • Loansharks also called ‘shylocks’ based on Shakespeare’s (anti-Semitic) villain in Merchant of Venice Shakespeare’s Shylock
Loansharking • Operates on two principles: exorbitant interest rates & the use of threats & violence to collect debts (Goldstock & Coenen 1980: 2) • Crime groups are central to loansharking because: • They have access to money to be lent out • Their power & violent reputation • Loansharking is closely tied to gambling: borrowed money is lost at games of chance, but still must be re-paid to the lender • Also tied to business racketeering: loan sharks take over businesses of debtors • Loansharking practiced by major mafia-style criminal groups in Canada: Italian mafia, Chinese triads, OMGs
Smuggling • Long associated with OC due to the need for organization, esp. in large-scale conspiracies • A generic operational technique essential to (transnational) organized crime • Central to a range of illegal (& legal) “goods” in Canada: drugs, precursor chemicals (for drug production), liquor, cigarettes, weapons, jewellery/gold, vehicles, humans, wildlife, prescription drugs, works of art, artefacts, cash, etc. • Smuggling takes place through official ports of entry & unofficial entry points • Marine ports (through containers) & land ports (via tractor trailers) facilitate large shipments of illegal goods into Canada
Smuggling • All major crime groups involved in smuggling • Some groups specialize in smuggling (regardless of the product) • West End Gang in Montreal • Mohawk Warrior Society & other indigenous groups in Akwasasne • Smuggling embodies the network approach: multiple criminal groups & individuals may be involved (e.g. French Connection) • Other crime groups are transnational in scope to expedite smuggling (e.g., Colombian or Mexican drug cartels, OMGs) • Internal conspiracies at official ports of entry (i.e., corruption of labourers, management, & government border officials) facilitate large-scale & ongoing smuggling conspiracies
Smuggling Factors causing & facilitate smuggling: • Illegal products: need to move from source to consuming country • Legal products: smuggled due to strict regulation in one country or price & tax differences between two jurisdiction
Smuggling Canada has numerous conditions conducive to smuggling: • Domestic consumers of imported (contraband) goods • Domestic production of illegal goods consumed abroad (e.g., marijuana) • Long undefended border with U.S. • Consumer goods priced & taxed higher in Canada relative to U.S. • Disproportionate size of Canadian population living close to US border • Thousands of miles of unguarded coastline • Marine ports on both Pacific and Atlantic oceans • Internal conspiracies at official ports of entry • Canada’s legal economy is dependent upon exporting/importing
Smuggling When America outlawed liquor, millions of gallons was smuggled from Canada (where it was legal)
Smuggling • Cigarettes: Canada’s largest smuggled consumer good • Low tax cigarettes illegally transported from the U.S. • Contraband cigarettes smuggling from China • In the period following US Prohibition, liquor smuggled into Canada in massive quantities due to tax differential between US & Canada • Migrants smuggled (primarily from Asia) into Canada, which is often used as a transit country to the U.S. • Illegal weapons increased dramatically in Canada the last few years • Many firearms restricted or prohibited in Canada legally purchased in the US