Cash in the Trash: the Role of Corruption, Organized Crime and Money Laundering in Waste Trafficking

Worldwide, waste trafficking is increasingly recognized as a serious crime, with close links to corruption, organized crime and money laundering. This report will illustrate how corruption at various levels enables waste trafficking. It will also shed light on another key feature of criminal waste activity, financial crime, which can involve tax evasion or the laundering of illicit profits. The crimes – often large-scale, complex schemes – are in many instances carried out by organized criminal groups (OCGs) and networks and frequently include transnational elements.