by Prof. Dr. Arndt Sinn

Introduction: Organised crime as a global economic power

• Hand in hand with the globalisation of the economy, the liberalisation of trade
  markets as well as the opening of the internal borders of the EU, organised
  crime has become a transnational phenomenon.
• Benefiting from access to new markets with different legal and cultural
  conditions, organised crime has expanded its engagement in illicit trade
  significantly. Organised crime groups engaging in illicit trade have become
  very professional in exploiting the different legal frameworks and tax
  regulations in various countries to their advantage.
• Additionally, due to the new dimensions the world wide web brings to our daily
  life and consumption behaviour and the increasing shift of trade markets to
  the virtual space, national borders do not constitute an obstacle to illicit
  trade anymore. The internet allows offenders to communicate and coordinate
  anonymously and across borders.
• These advantageous conditions have led to estimations by the OECD that
  international organised crime annually generates around 870 billion US-Dollar,
  which accounts for 1.5 percent of the global GDP (gross domestic product).
  In Germany, for instance, the proportion of lawsuits prosecuting organised
  crime with international links is as high as 80 percent for around 18 years –
  with fluctuations of around 4 percent.