Introduction
It is no longer a robust surprise that there is a strong connection between criminal and terrorist organizations. A criminal organization is a proceeding criminal endeavor that reasonably attempts to benefit from illegal exercises often in the extraordinary public interest. Its proceeding is kept up with through the defilement of public authorities and the utilization of intimidation or power to safeguard its activities. On the other hand, terrorist organizations utilize criminal brutality to incite a condition of dread, for the most part, with the expectation of accomplishing political or religious ambitions. The two have a sturdy connection in that organized crime can become a terrorist group and vice-versa. Organized crime is popularly associated with extortion, smuggling, counterfeiting, and contract killings. Terrorism organizations indulge in the trafficking of humans and ammunition, narcotics, and illegal trade in natural treasures. Additionally, the two groups can operate both at national and multinational levels. The three short texts give a broad understanding of the nature of terrorism-organized crime collaboration and their operations supporting criminal activities.
Background
Assad Ahmad Barakat’s network is the organized crime group in the Barakat Clan text. The network has a five-story building in Ciudad del Este.30. Arguably, the mall serves as a hub of various crimes committed across TBA. The crimes committed by Barkat’s network include counterfeit electronics, bootlegged goods, unrestricted currency exchange, illicit cellphone cloning, and drug trafficking. The crime-terror continuum in Barakat’s case is demonstrated when the group indulged in criminal activities for operational purposes and afterward allied terrorist group Hezbollah. Dawood Ibrahim gang is the criminal organization in the D-Company Group texts, demonstrating global crime and terror. The gang started with criminal practices, including extortion, smuggling, and contract killing. By 1980, the Gang group was controlling the pirated Indian film industry producing various Boyhood and Hollywood pirated films. The group altered into a terror group when it was involved in the Mumbai bombing, which claimed the lives of 257 people and left over 713 others injured. Later, the company developed a strong relationship with Al Qaeda and Kashmiri terrorist organizations. Continuum is displayed by the D-Company group by beginning as a criminal organization and suddenly affiliating with Al Qaeda and Kashmiri militia groups, and later the company practices commercial terrorism. The IRA text has deep insights into the paramilitary terrorist group. The group started as a terrorist organization causing unrest in Northern Ireland for over 30 years. During the terror attacks, over 3500 Irish civilians died. In 1998, a political process took place in the country leading to a ceasefire and decommissioning of the terror group. The group dissolved into several forms of organized crimes involved in counterfeits and smuggling. Crime terror continuum is exhibited as Paramilitary started as terrorist organization disintegrated into small groups allied to a criminal organization and afterward used terror tactics for operational purposes.
Lines of argument
The d-Company group initially engaged in criminal activities exclusively to support terrorist activities and later transformed into a predominantly profit-driven criminal enterprise. D-Company is known for being a close associate of Al Qaeda and Kashmiri terrorist groups. The company carried out an attack in India that claimed the lives of hundreds of people and left thousands of others injured to prove its association and transformation into a militia group (Siyech, 2019). The company had majored in smuggling, extortion, and vice to raise money to support its operations and terrorist activities. In 1992, Mumbai altered its trade guidelines on gold and silver, making trafficking less profitable. Ibrahim Dawood had to change his ideas on supporting terrorism and diversify his business. The company started venturing into narcotics, trafficking of ammunition, and the entertainment industry. It took the company about a decade to control and dominate all parts of the Mumbai filmmaking industry. The company also dominated the distribution of the Indian film industry across various parts of the world, including the USA, Britain, and Asian countries. Additionally, the company developed a thriving export enterprise in Karachi, Pakistan. Also, the company took control of the SADAF enterprise, which permitted Ibrahim and his group to distribute its pirated products to Pakistan efficiently. SADAF also allowed them to manufacture more pirated tapes and VCDs to be distributed globally, thus, dominating the Mumbai filmmaking industry by all means.
Assad Ahmad Barakat’s network was outsourced to the terrorist group Hezbollah to raise cash for terrorism activities. During the search conducted by Paraguayan police, receipts connected to the banks of Lebanon and a script from Nasrallah, the leader of Moqawamah, the resistance branch of Hezbollah, were recovered (Kosmynka, 2020). In the script, Nasrallah was thankful for the money raised by Barakat to support Hezbollah militia activities not only in Lebanon but also across the world. Barakat also had to contribute to charities conducted by Hezbollah in Lebanon to blind their sympathizers from being recognized as a militia group but instead being taken as an organization fighting for the rights of the Islamic community. Intelligence reports indicate that Barakat donates over 20 million dollars yearly from TBA in financing Hezbollah militia activities globally. The reports designate that Barakat is among the leading financial donors of Hezbollah, obtaining his finances through criminal activities in TBA.
Paramilitary terrorist organizations fulfilled a “cash cow” for terrorism and gradually transformed into an organization actively supporting the terrorist course. The group fought for over thirty years with the Irish military as a robust militia group. During its terrorist activities, many lives were lost, and products of huge value were distracted. The instability in Northern Ireland was unbearable until 1998, when major political reforms took place, leading to the decommissioning of the group. However, Paramilitary groups fragmented into several crime organizations, and by 2002, they were heavily involved in financing terrorism in Northern and the Republic of Ireland (Jupp & Garrod, 2019). Paramilitaries smuggled ammunition, animal feeds, livestock and pigs, cigars, petroleum, and stolen vehicles. The film and music industry continued to boom; paramilitary groups were associated with selling pirated films, PC games, and music. With the arrival of digital duplication, the sale of pirated music and film products by various crime groups proliferated hence financing more terrorism activities. According to the text IRA, for every euro spent by paramilitaries in financing terrorist activities, the government of Britain and the Republic of Ireland use over one hundred and thirty euros to counteract and repair terrorist damages. To ensure that the financing of terrorist activities continues smoothly, the groups, including PIRA, conducted fundraisings and offered constant operation costs to terrorists.
Conclusion
In conclusion, terror organizations can alter themselves into criminal organizations and vice versa. Barakat’s network started as an organized crime group in TBA and later shifted to associate with the Hezbollah militia group. D-company Group also started as a criminal organization involved in smuggling, extortion, and trafficking. Later, the group allied with Al Qaeda and bombed Mumbai. The group, at last, departed militia activities and got involved in criminal enterprises. Paramilitary groups mushroomed as militia groups that caused havoc to many Irish citizens. After 30 years of war, the group was decommissioned. However, the group fragmented into smaller crime organizations funding terrorist activities through fundraising. The impacts of both militia and criminal organizations include; loss of lives and destruction of properties, corruption of markets due to them availing counterfeit goods, trafficking, and narcotics which has caused human disturbances over centuries.
References
Jupp, J., & Garrod, M. (2019). Legacies of the Troubles: The Links between Organized Crime and Terrorism in Northern Ireland. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 45(5-6), 1–40. Web.
Kosmynka, S. (2020). The Problem of Organized Crime in the South American Tri-Border Area: Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina. International Studies. Interdisciplinary Political and Cultural Journal, 25(1), 9–28. Web.
Siyech, M. S. (2019). Arms Smuggling in India: Exploring Links between Crime and Terrorism. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 45(5-6), 1–18. Web.