Organized crime as a threat to national security

Abstract

All kinds of illegal trafficking, prostitution, pornography, gambling, fraud and counterfeiting, computer crime, corruption, piracy, illegal immigration and many other criminal activities can pose a threat to national and even international security if conducted by larger criminal groups or organizations. The phenomenon of organized crime has acquired a transnational character due to the increasing globalization of financial markets and communications as well as technological development. The three countries of East Central Europe – The Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland – can be of interest in terms of organized crime as recent political and economic developments in these countries have made them attractive to such criminal activities. Another problematic region in terms of organized criminal activities is the region of Central Asia which includes several countries of the former Soviet Union – Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan.