related criminal activities of individuals, groups, associations,

syndicates and cartels with a division of mutually interrelated functions.

This is the reason to regard this kind of crime as a variety of organized

crime. Some researchers believe that drug profits are the economic

foundation of organized crime. This can be seen in comparison of elements

forming narco- and organized crimes. To get a clear understanding of the

elements of the latter it is necessary to look in retrospect at the history

of organized crime. While crime and drug addiction have been known to the

world for at least several centuries, the existence of organized crime has

been officially recognized quite recently, only in this century. Yet both

national and foreign researchers date the origin of this phenomenon, in one

way or another, to a much earlier period.

Various stable criminal organizations used to appear and operate on

territories of almost all modern states. Gangs of brigands and smugglers

were at work not only on land but also at sea (sea pirates). They had in

their possession caches of weapons, stocks of gold and food and, sometimes,

entire fleets of pirate boats furnished with everything necessary for an

attack and ready to go into combat with regular troops or ships. They

thereby challenged borders and laws. Already at that time members of such

gangs observed their own internal rules and traditions strictly, contrary

to the ones obligatory in society. Among them there was the principle of

mutual help, the recognition of the leaders' authority, the distribution of

duties and spoils, as well as a system of reward and punishment. Gangsters

knew exactly the kind of work they were responsible for and also knew their

zones of influence (slave trade, cattle stealing, smuggling arms,

narcotics, gold, diamonds, etc). They talked their own language and stuck

to other conspiratorial rules. Taking hostages and bribing officials were

their usual practices, very much like the actions of the present day

organized crime groups.

With the passing of time, of course, these organizations kept

transforming and modernizing, adjusting to changes of state borders,

governments and economies. They were turning more and more into organized

criminal associations that posed a serious threat to public safety, to the

supremacy of the law and to other state institutions. As researchers point

out, a particular danger of organized crime is that it becomes more and

more arrogant, aggressive, ingenious and diverse. In the 1980s, organized

crime became increasingly apparent throughout the world.

Forms of Organized Crime:

Along with traditional forms of organized crime, new forms, more

diverse and greater in scale, have appeared, such as the theft and re-sale

of luxury cars, electronic equipment, historical and cultural art objects,

antiques, icons and church plate. Other forms include the illegal trade in

human being, weapons and ammunition, strategic raw materials, non-ferrous

and rare metals, drugs counterfeiting, theft and forgery of credit cards,

gambling, and infiltration of legal business and world finance. An analysis

of documents issued by the UN Information Center proves that the influence

of various forms of organized crime spreads far beyond national borders and

"transnationalize crime", so to speak. This creates a situation which

"differs, both qualitatively and quantitatively, from the situation in the

past and hampers the accomplishment of effective measures aiming to prevent

and eliminate crime. Experts believe that the evolution of organized crime

should be seen as "a process providing for a rational reorganization on the

international basis of criminal enterprises using the same patterns just as

it is the case for legal enterprises." This process reflects tendencies for

forming a more intricate organizational structure typical of the modern

society in all countries. This explains why the UN Secretary General

pointed out in his speech at the 47th General Assembly session on September

28, 1992, that it was imperative to promote international cooperation and

develop practical steps against organized crime in view of its negative

impact on various areas of society's social, political and economic life.

Though extremely topical, problems of organized crime have not yet been

resolved properly by juridical theory and practice. Suffice it to say that

there are still some countries where no laws on organized crime have yet

been passed. There is no uniform approach to the concept of organized crime

at the legislative level. The attributes and signs of this phenomenon have

not yet been finalized. No attempts have yet been made to develop a

comprehensive program of action against it. There are few statistics or

official data on organized crime as a whole.

For example, in the former USSR the first official mention of organized

crime made at the government level was on December 2, 1989, when the

decision to step up the effort against organized crime was passed by the

2nd Congress of People's Deputies. However, no laws regarding organized

crime have been adopted. This could not help but leave its imprint on the

practical activities of law enforcement agencies in the former Union

republics. There was no solid theoretical discussion of the concept of

organized crime, as the scarce publications of the last few years could

hardly give a complete picture of this problem.

Some published works, however, contain a number of definitions of

organized crime. Some authors point to the following basic features.

Criminal groups based on hierarchical order consolidate within the borders

of one particular region or a country; their leaders take no part in crimes

but only perform organizational, managerial and ideological functions.

Government officials, including law enforcement officers, become corrupt

and join criminal activities providing safety to the members of criminal

associations. This association has a tendency to monopolize and expand the

spheres of illegal activities, and to protect leaders from bearing any

responsibility. Another group of authors believe that organized crime is a

system of contacts forming naturally in the criminal surroundings which

lead to the concentration and monopolization of certain kinds of criminal

activities. Diversified ties between groups engaged in criminal activities

are characteristic of this system.

About the Concept of Organized Crime:

Organized crime represents the consolidated criminal associations with

their own norms of behavior, hierarchical ladders and finances, it is the

most dangerous kind of crime that opposes and counteracts the lawful

actions of the state. This definition also embraces the totality of

mercenary and economic crimes committed with the help of corrupt government

officials, and law enforcement agents among them, who yielded to bribery

and other forms of corruption.

Organized Crime in Foreign Legislation:

In this context it is interesting to look at foreign experience in

dealing with organized crime, particularly, in the field of legislation.

The Italian criminal code states, for example, (article 416-2) that "the

association of a mafia kind is ranked as a criminal one when its members

practice the removal and intimidation of other persons in order to ensure a

cover-up and observe the law of silence and thus make it possible to commit

crimes, and win, directly or indirectly, posts allowing the management or

control of business activities, the distribution of concessions and permits

of all kinds, the signing of contracts, and communal services, as well as

making illegal profits or securing illegal privileges for themselves and

other persons." The American approach seems to be slightly different. While

the Italian Criminal Code lists features of organized crime, American

Federal Legislation (USC-par. 3781), though naming certain features of

organized crime, attributes concrete actions to it, namely, "unlawful

activities by members of a well-organized and disciplined association

supplying illegal commodities and offering illegal services, which include

but are not limited to, gambling, prostitution, usury, the spread of

narcotics, racket and other unlawful actions by such organizations."

Organized crime has broad opportunities for carrying out unlawful deeds but

the choice of these opportunities is mainly determined by the level of

expected profit, the minimum degree of possible risk of being caught and

exposed and the absence of concrete victims. It is this particular factor

that comes to the foreground in crimes related to narcotics whose users are

not interested in reporting to the police. The specific choice of a

"specialization" for this or another criminal group is a factor

guaranteeing it, to a large degree, a high level of conspiracy and a free

hand in committing crimes. Along with the previously mentioned

"specialization" of criminal associations there also exists what is termed

as an "internal specialization", i.e. the division of labor among criminal

association members.

Organized Crime and Drug Related Crime: Features in Common:

These features include:

- clearly defined organizational and managerial structures with a

hierarchy which ensures the protection of leaders from punishment since

their actions usually remain outside the confines of the criminal code;

- uniform norms of behavior and responsibility;

- planned unlawful activities and common goals aimed at making large

profits;

- a system aiming to neutralize all forms of legal control and

development of counter measures;

- common finances invested in various areas of criminal activities,

which are used for bribing the necessary people, providing material support

to members of criminal associations and financing crimes;

- monopolization and expansion of areas of criminal activity,

cooperation between criminal associations in various branches of a national

economy, the introduction of commodities and services to the black market,

exploitation of women through pornography, and prostitution;

- the use of legal methods to launder drug money.

In sum narcotics are a negative social phenomenon posing an extreme

danger to society. This danger is expressed in such ill-effects as the

destruction of people's health as a result of drug addiction, drug-related

crimes, the totality of which forms an independent crime branch (narco-

crime), and the ability to turn the most dangerous and well-organized part

of narco-crime into a variety of organized crime.

Par. 2. Tendencies of Development

Some tendencies of development can be traced by using the statistical

method, whereas others, which are not clearly evident, can be discovered by

sociological studies, expert evaluations, interviews, studies of documents

or by content analysis of mass media publications.

The Structure of Narco-crime:

In the structure of narco-crime, the predominant criminal actions are

the illegal preparation, acquisition, storage, transportation and

dissemination of narcotics by mail. The percentage of such crimes is high

and is increasing all the time. It varies between 87 and 96%. Actions not

with the intent to sell constitute an overwhelming share (from 96 to 99%).

On the one hand, this fact gives reason to assume that the actions

listed above were taken to obtain narcotics for personal use. On the other,

a conclusion can be drawn that the main efforts against the spread of

illegal drug trafficking "have actually shifted towards intensifying

repressive measures against drug users.

However, illegal activity with drugs and their deliberate sale is much

more intensive. But for various reasons, both objective and subjective,

these fall under a different legal assessment. A major factor is that it is

difficult to prove that there was an intent to sell. This is compounded by

subjective views of "intent to sell" in special situations and the absence

of a clear-cut stand by the lawmakers. 93% of the polled narcotic officers

believe that proving "intent to sell" is difficult especially since this

question is of decisive importance in final judicial rulings.

Besides, 63% of the respondents charged with illegal drug operations

without the aim of selling drugs, admitted that they not only had such

intent but also had been engaged in these operations on a regular basis all

the way up until they were arrested.

It is interesting to note that in police seizures, drugs obtained from

natural plants have prevailed so far. (Nearly 9/10ths). Today the amount of

seized raw materials for making drugs is estimated in tens of tons and has

grown more than 5 times in the last few years. This is well above even the

over-estimated needs and norms of known addicts.

Specialized studies on the subject underline how difficult it is to

investigate and uncover the above-mentioned crimes because of "the

ingenuity of methods used to carry them out, attempts to conceal them and

also because criminal behavior is multifaceted.

One should also take into account the absence of well-conceived

methods, and the shortage of professionally trained personnel to uncover

and investigate such crimes, especially, in the present-day conditions when

there are political collisions caused by the Soviet Union's disintegration,

when there are "transparent" and ill-defined borders between the former

sovereign Soviet republics, when the internal affairs agencies are not well

equipped technically, and when the customs and border control services are

vulnerable.

The Structure of Crime and Latency:

Among the registered crimes there are none related to violations within

the system of medical care of the rules of drug-making, drug acquisition,

storage, keeping stock of, dispensing, transporting or sending by mail, at

pharmaceutical factories or medical and bio industrial enterprises, etc.

The absence of information about drug-related crimes, however, does not

mean at all that there are no crimes present.

A study of the problem has shown that there is no reason to believe

narcotics are safely kept out of reach of addicts. This has been confirmed

by more than one-third of the polled officers of internal affairs agencies.

Every second drug taker who was forced to undergo treatment, did not deny

that he had received drugs from medical personnel. Similar cases of drug

acquisition were noted by over 10% of persons charged with drug-related

crimes, whereas 17% of people from the same group of drug abusers confessed

that they used to steal drugs from hospitals, small medical centers and

pharmacies. The share of other crimes in the structure of drug-related

crimes total is insignificant, though they play a rather negative role in

the spread of narcotics. For example, during one year, the crime of

solicitation to use drugs was recorded only once or twice and 3 or 8 times

the crimes involving the organization or running dens for addicts or

providing premises for that purpose.

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