According to the head of the United Nations Office on Crime and Drugs, organized crime groups worldwide had total assets of $322 Billion in 2005.

Source: Daniel Flynn and Antonella Cinelli, “Crisis hands crime groups chance to extend grip: U.N,” Reuters, May 28, 2009.

Between 2008 and the start of 2010, Italian authorities seized assets worth $9.78 Billion from organized crime groups within the country.

Source:  Rachel Donadio, “Berlusconi Announces an Anti-Mafia Plan,” New York Times, January 28, 2010.

Organized Crime groups in Italy generated $189 Billion (135 Billion Euros) in revenue in 2009, with $109 Billion (78 Billion Euros) in profits.

Source:  Stephen Brown and Paolo Biondi, “Italian mobsters buck downturn, may target bourse,” Reuters, January 27, 2010.

According to officials in Russia, more than one third of all logging activities in the country is controlled by organized crime syndicates.

Source:  Alfonso Daniels, “Battling Siberia’s devastating illegal logging trade,” BBC News, November 27, 2009.

Over a quarter of organized crime groups in the United Kingdom have links to legitimate businesses in the country, and 20 percent of these companies are believed to be fronts to launder illicit funds.

Source:  Mark Townsend, “Seizing assets from crime bosses ‘is more effective than prison’,” The Observer, October 4, 2009.

According to a study organized by Italy’s anti-mafia commission, in 2009 13 million people in Italy were directly living in areas where the Mafia exerts influence over their daily lives.

Source:  Tom Kington, “Mafia’s influence hovers over 13m Italians, says report,” Guardian, October 1, 2009.

Organized crime and drug cartel violence may cause Mexico’s GDP to lose up to 3 percent.

Source: Jens Erik Gould and Hugh Collins, “Mexico Violence May Sap 3% of GDP as Gangs Flourish,” Bloomberg, September 14, 2009.

The 2009 National Gang Threat Assessment report stated that there were 20,000 street, prison and biker gangs in the United States in 2009.  Total membership in these gangs reached 1 million people.

Source:  Madison Gray, “Street Crime: Too Often Blamed on Gangs, Experts Say,” Time, September 2, 2009.

The Italian Mafia was able to generate $83 Billion (59 Billion Euros) from drug trafficking in 2008.  In addition, $8 Billion (5.8 Billion Euros) was earned from arms trafficking.

Source: Flavia Krause-Jackson, “Italian Mob Revenue Surges to $167 Billion From 2007,” Bloomberg, January 30, 2009.

The RCMP stated that in 2009 750 organized crime groups were operating in the country.

Source: Canadian Press, “Illegal drugs still top choice for organized crime: report”, Globe and Mail, August 7, 2009.