Organized crime groups working in the European Union earn over $1.9 Billion (€1.5 Billion) a year from payment card fraud within the region. The gang members steal information from credit cards, debit cards and ATM cards.
The Associated Press stated that many of these types of criminals are based in Romania. Due to its history under the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu, Romania has a strong history in mathematics and coding, and the organized crime groups have tapped into these skills. The AP further stated that students in Romania are often more advanced in mathematics than other students across the EU.
Source: Associated Press, “World Grapples With Rise In Cyber Crime,” NPR, May 11, 2013.
From July 2012 to November 2012, there were a reported 6,432 homicides in Mexico that were related to organized crime killings.
From December 2012 to April 2013, the first five months of President Enrqiue Pena Nieto’s administration, officials reported that the number of organized crime related homicides decreased by 18 percent to 5,296.
During the five months of Pena Nieto’s administration, 218 police and solders were killed by organized crime activities. In the July to November 2012 time frame, 244 security service members were killed.
Source: EFE, “Organized crime-related homicides in Mexico down 18 pct,” GlobalPost, May 11, 2013.
Organized crime groups in Honduras make an estimated $62.6 Million a year from extortion and other threats to businesses. Up to 17,500 small businesses in Honduras were estimated to have been forced to shut down due to the extortion payments in 2012.
In the city of Tegucigalpa alone, up to 14,000 vendors pay about $15 per week to the gang members, generating roughly $10 Million per year in revenue.
Source: Marguerite Cawley, “Extortion Shuts Down Over 17,000 Honduras Businesses,” Insight Crime, May 8, 2013.
Japan’s National Police Agency reported that up to 213 yakuza groups were either broken up by police or dissolved on their own in 2013. The number of yakuza gang members in these groups was a combined 1,336 members.
In addition to these members, around 600 members quit and left organized crime activities in Japan in 2012.
The largest yakuza group in Japan, the Yamaguchi-gumi, had a reported 27,700 members at the end of 2012.
Source: Kenji Ogata, “Police beef up career support for former yakuza,” Asahi Shimbun, May 7, 2013.
In 2012, a total of 2,224 companies in Japan were employing former Yakuza members, according to a survey conducted by the National Police Agency. The number of companies hiring workers was down from the high of 5,570 in 1995.
Police officials in Japan stated that out of the 1,254 Yakuza members who left their groups between 2009 and 2011, a total of 222 ended up returning to organized crime activities due to difficulties in finding jobs.
Source: Kenji Ogawa, “Police beef up career support for former yakuza,” Asahi Shimbun, May 7, 2013.
In 2013, security officials in Bolivia reported on an increase in homicides and targeted assassinations in the country. Officials attribute the rise in contract killings due to increase drug trafficking by organized crime syndicates. Bolivia is the world’s third largest producer of coca.
The New York Times reported that one man and his two sons paid a hitman $15,000 to kill his ex-wife. In a separate incident, a wife paid $4,000 to have her husband killed by a professional assassin.
In the first 4 months of 2013, there were 16 killings in Bolivia that appear to have been targeted killings.
Source: William Neuman, “Video of Killing Crystallizes Bolivian Anger Over Crime,” New York Times, May 2, 2013.
Between 2010 and April 2013, organized crime groups and common criminals have killed 59 lawyers across Honduras, according to the National Human Rights Commissioner.
6 lawyers have been killed in the first four months of 2013. In 2012, there were 15 killings of lawyers, 26 in 2011, and 12 killings in 2010.
According to the Commissioner, 92 percent of the killings involved firearms, 6 percent were killed by suffocation, and 2 percent involved knives.
Out of all the deaths, there has been two convictions.
It was previously reported that 151 National Police Officers were killed in Honduras between 2011 to 2013.
Source: Angel Servellon, “Honduras: Organized crime targets lawyers,” Inforsurhoy, April 30, 2013.
Security officials stated that they have seen up to 5 major contract killings take place in Delhi during the course of four decades. The lastest killing in the capital of India took place in 2013, where a politician was killed. Police reported that the contract for the hit on the man was $900,000 (50 Million Indian Rupees). The previous contract hit that took place in Delhi was in 2003, where the price of the contract was for $18,000 (1 Million Rupees).
Contract killers in India, also known as Supari, have a history in the Mumbai underworld. The first reported contract killing officially registered by police was in 1969, where a ganger was paid 10,000 Pakistan Rupees to carry out a hit.
In 2013, organized crime groups in Mumbai hire hitmen for between $35 to $900 (2,000 to 50,000 Indian Rupees) to carry out murders, according to law enforcement in the city.
Source: Kritka Sharma, “The Rs 5 crore contract killing of Bhardwaj shows murder is still big business in the Delhi and Mumbai underworlds,” Daily Mail India, April 11, 2013.
Japan’s National Police Agency estimates that around 600 people quit their membership in Yakuza groups in 2012. Out of that total, 5 were able to find new employment at legitimate jobs through the use of support services. 7 former yakuza members were able to find employment in 2010, and 3 found jobs in 2011.
One of the reasons in the difficulty of former gang members finding jobs is due to the unique yakuza custom of cutting their own fingers. When a member causes problems for his group, the member cuts off a finger and presents it to the group as a sign of penance.
Businesses in Japan have been reluctant to hire individuals without fingers, as many customers do not want to have dealings with former gang members.
Source: Kenji Ogata, “Prosthetist gives a helping finger to former yakuza,” Asahi Shimbun, April 3, 2013.
