13.5: Transnational Crime as a Human Security Threat

Increasingly, transnational crime is being recognised as not only a threat to national security, but as a major threat to human security. Although this threat is often indirect it is nevertheless substantial, and the immense sums of money involved, as well as the penalties of getting caught, means that the trafficking of drugs, people, goods, and resources is a high stakes game carried out by those who without hesitation use systematic violence against those that become caught up in such activities.

This poses direct threats to the lives of individuals, and many people living with extreme poverty or unemployment attempt to enhance their prospects by seeking work abroad and then fall victim to people-smuggling and trafficking networks. Such victims of human trafficking are often subject to dangerous and traumatic conditions – such as being transported in concealed spaces, sealed in cargo containers, or cramped up in leaky boats. Women and minors who are trafficked often end up in positions of forced prostitution, sometimes forcibly addicted to drugs, and vulnerable to sexually transmitted diseases including HIV/AIDS and communicable diseases like tuberculosis. There are also traumatic psychological effects associated with human trafficking. The experience of being trafficked and the separation of children from their parents, and the break-up of family life can place a heavy toll on victims.

Illegal resource extraction also poses human security threats. The environmental resources that individuals and communities rely on for their own personal security – for food, medicines, building materials, irrigation and trade – are compromised by the illegal exploitation, intimidation, and violence that often accompany such transnational environmental crime. Illegal timber logging, for example, can lead to soil erosion and landslides, destroy wildlife habitats, and degrade water tables and river systems (Elliot, 2007). The smuggling of wildlife, especially of those species that are already endangered, threatens overall biodiversity. It also poses bio-security and disease threats to the areas and people to which they are re-located. Avian Influenza (H5N1), Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), Heartwater Disease, and Monkeypox are examples of such threats.

Counterfeiting poses another serious threat to human security, particularly to human health and safety. The World Health Organization estimates annual counterfeit pharmaceutical sales at around $35 to $40 billion, and the US Food and Drug Administration estimates that counterfeit drugs account for 10% of all drugs sold in the United States. Such fake pharmaceuticals can be very dangerous for consumers – they often lack the active ingredients that can alleviate the medical condition, and in some cases even contain toxic substances (Haken, 2011). Counterfeit toys also pose a danger to children if they are painted with lead paint, and counterfeit batteries and cigarette lighters have been known to explode. Counterfeit auto and airplane parts pose some of the biggest dangers for consumers because they are not subject to safety testing. The Federal Aviation Administration estimates that two percent (520,000) of the 26 million airline parts installed each year are counterfeit; in 2003, the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association cited examples of counterfeit auto parts compromising safety: brake linings made of compressed grass, sawdust or cardboard; transmission fluid made of cheap oil that is dyed; and oil filters that use rags for the filter element (Haken, 2011). Moreover, because producers of counterfeit goods are unlikely to meet minimum labour or environmental standards, they threaten the health and safety of their labour force. The use of child labour, poor if not dangerous working conditions (such as environmentally toxic production), and low wages are illustrations of the ways in which the human security risks of counterfeiting are not just confined to those who buy or use them.

Another way that transnational criminal groups threaten human security is by exploiting individuals and local communities that have limited economic resources. For example, farmers involved in subsistence agriculture may turn from legal crop production to the higher returns available from illegal drug cultivation. It is well documented that the groups controlling drug trafficking also engage in other sorts of violent and criminal enterprise, such as the extreme number of mass murders occurring in Mexico. The profits from drug trafficking may also appeal to terrorist organisations or militant insurgents such as Al Qaeda, the FARC in Colombia, and possibly Hezbollah in Lebanon (Haken, 2011).

Thus, the human security threats posed by transnational crime involve victimization, violence, and health and safety issues as individuals get caught up. Since the perpetrators are often from outside a region, indigenous communities, women and children become particularly vulnerable to the kinds of human rights abuses associated with this type of crime. In the light of such risks, any economic advantages that these illegal activities might provide to poor regions still do not outweigh the injustices that accompany them.