Mitchel P. Roth, PhD, is professor of criminal justice in the College of Criminal Justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, TX.

Roth (criminal justice, Sam Houston State U.) provides a reference work on the history and development of global organized crime, the factors that influence it, and its connections to failed states, civil wars, political transitions and conflicts, and terrorism. The author also explores the varieties of organized crime (such as illegal drug trafficking, weapons, and snake heads), gang structure, law enforcement and barriers to international law enforcement, and criminal groups.

• List of Tables,Preface,1 Global Organized Crime: A Brief History,Introduction,Piracy,HistoryEconomic FactorsDefinitionPiracy in the 21st Century,Piracy Then and Now,Background,Globalization,Defining Organized Crime,Transnational Crime: Definitions and Types,Mafia,Structures of Organized Crime Groups,Major Global Organized Crime Activities,Slavery and Human Trafficking,Structures of Human Trafficking Operations,Human Trafficking versus Human Smuggling,Coyotes,Snakeheads,Illicit Drug Trafficking,Weapons Trafficking,Conclusion,References,2 Problems, Controversies, and Solutions,Introduction,Circumstances and Conditions,Failed States,Corruption,Political Officials,Police,Tribalism and Ethnicity,Civil Wars, Political Transitions, Regional Conflicts,Organized Crime and Terrorism,Borrowed Tactics,Organized Crime Hybrids,Intersecting Activities,Narcoterrorism,Diamond Smuggling,Counterfeiting,Nuclear Smuggling,Other Types of Criminal Activities,Money Laundering,Hawala,Offshore Banking and Shell Corporations,Controlling Money Laundering,Electronic Money Laundering,High-Tech Crimes,Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud,Music Piracy,Gang Structures,Russian Mafiya,Drug Cartels,Export Syndicates,Crossing the U.S.–Mexico Border,Prison Gangs and Street Gangs,Law Enforcement,International Cooperation,European Union,Barriers to International Law Enforcement,Language,Varying Laws and Jurisdictions,Technology,Policing Cyberspace,Conclusion,References,3 Global Organized Crime Groups,Italian Organized Crime Groups,The Sicilian and Italian-American Mafias,The Americanization of the Mafia,Camorra [Naples, Italy],'Ndrangheta [Calabria, Italy],The Corsicans,Russian Organized Crime (ROC),Mexican Drug Cartels,Juarez Cartel,Sinaloa Cartel,Tijuana Cartel [Arrellano-Felix Organization],Gulf Cartel and Los Zetas,Guadalajara Cartel [Amezcua-Contreras Organization],Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) [Central America, Mexico, United States],Asian Organized Crime Groups,Triads [China],Big Circle Boys [China],The Green Gang [China],Tongs and Chinese Street Gangs [United States and Canada],Yakuza [Japan],Organized Crime Groups in Other Regions,Jamaican Posses [Caribbean, United Kingdom, United States],Nigerian Gangs [Africa],Hells Angels [United States, Western Europe, Canada, Australia],References,4 Chronology,5 Biographical Sketches,Global Organized Crime Figures,Juan Carlos Ramirez Abadia,Jose Miguel Battle,Viktor Bout,Klaas Bruinsma,Tommaso Buscetta,Ibrahim Dawood,Pablo Emilio Escobar-Gaviria,Don Vito Cascio Ferro,Gregorio Sauceda Gamboa,Osiel Cardenas Guillen,Joaquin Guzman,Vyacheslav Ivankov,Daut Kadriovski,Yoshio Kodama,Luciano Leggio,Heriberto Lazcano,Arturo Beltran Leyva,Charles "Lucky" Luciano,Semion Mogilevich,Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno,Cheng Chui Peng,Ze'ev Rosenstein,Khun Sa,Charles Ghankay Taylor,Tu Yueh-sheng,Crime Fighters,Harry Anslinger,Thomas Dewey,Giovanni Falcone,Rudolph Giuliani,Walter Maierovitch,Cesare Mori,Giuseppe Petrosino,Joseph D. Pistone,Enrique Camarena Salazar,Researchers,Howard Abadinsky,Jay S. Albanese,Pino Arlacchi,Ko-lin Chin,T. J. English,Cyrille Fijnaut,James Finckenauer,Robert J. Kelly,Letizia Paoli,Kip Schlegel,Joseph Serio,Louise Shelley,Federico Varese,Klaus von Lampe,Michael Woodiwiss,6 Data and Documents,Facts and Statistics on Organized Crime,Defining Organized Crime,Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (1970),United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (2000),Categories of Transnational Criminal Offenses,Drug Trafficking,Potential Worldwide Heroin Production, in Metric Tons, 2002–2006,Estimated Andean Region Coca Cultivation,Estimated Amounts of Illicit Drugs Transiting or Produced in Mexico and Seized, 2000–2006,Gangs Affiliated with the Sinaloa, Gulf, Juarez, or Tijuana Cartels,The 20 Largest Cocaine Seizures Ever Reported,Drug Seizures in the Central Asian Region, 2005–2006,International Opium Convention of 1912,Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914,Marijuana Tax Act of 1937,The Single Convention on Narcotic Drugs of 1961,The Merida Initiative, 2008,Weapons Trafficking,Inter-American Convention against the Illicit Manufacturing of and Trafficking in Firearms, Ammunition, Explosives and Other Related Materials, 1997,U.S. Senator Richard Lugar on Weapons Trafficking, 2009,End User Certificate (EUC),Human Smuggling and Trafficking Legislation and Statistics,Human Trafficking and Smuggling Definitions,United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, 1951,Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Article 3, Supplementing the UN Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000,Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air, Article 3, Supplementing the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, 2000,The Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking Human Beings, 2005,Crackdown on Human Trafficking in 2005,Selected Average Costs for Human Smuggling, 2005,Services Required by Successful Trafficking Operations,Organized Crime Groups in the European Union (2005),Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (2005),Other Types of Organized Crime,Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, 2003,Gambling Prohibition and Enforcement Act, 2006,Money Laundering,Bank Secrecy Act of 1970,Amounts of Money Reported Laundered in the Tri-Border Area (TBA), 1992–2001 (USD),Combating Organized Crime in the United States,Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF),U.S. Patriot Act, 2001,U.S. Attorney General Michael Mukasey, 2008,Quotations,On Russian Organized Crime,On Latin American and Mexican Drug Networks,On Drug Trafficking,7 Directory of Organizations,Academic and Research-Oriented Organizations,Governmental Organizations,Law Enforcement Organizations,Nongovernmental Organizations,Investigative Roundtable on Organized Crime,8 Resources,Print Resources,African Organized Crime,Asian Organized Crime,Canadian Organized Crime,European Organized Crime,Globalization and Organized Crime,Italian Organized Crime,Law Enforcement,Maritime Piracy,Organized Crime and Related Issues,Organized Crime-Terrorism Nexus,Outlaw Motorcycle Gangs,Russian and Soviet-Era Organized Crime,Trafficking and Criminal Networks,Nonprint Resources,Videos,Web Sites,Glossary,Index,About the Author,