Criminal Law 1: Organized Crime, Terrorism, and US Stability Report

This report delves into the realm of organized crime and terrorism, focusing on the historical context and current activities within the United States. It begins with an overview of organized crime, defining its nature and evolution from the early 20th century, highlighting key figures like Al Capone, and the emergence of various criminal syndicates. The report then analyzes the criminal activities of organizations like the Barrio Azteca, detailing their involvement in drug trafficking, racketeering, and other illicit operations. Additionally, it examines the impact of terrorism, providing examples of attacks and discussing the government's efforts to combat both organized crime and terrorism. The report underscores the critical importance of Mexico's stability to the U.S., given the cross-border activities of drug cartels and organized crime. It concludes by summarizing the key points, emphasizing the need for continued vigilance and proactive measures to address the threats posed by organized crime and terrorism, aiming to ensure the safety and security of the nation.

Running head: CRIMINAL LAW
CRIMINAL LAW
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Introduction
Organized Crime is considered to be a classification of the worldwide, national as well as
local groupings which relate to the highly centralized enterprises which are considered to be run
by criminals in order to engage in the criminal activities which would be with the motive or the
objective of gaining profit. Several criminal groups or terrorist groups are considered to be
politically motivated and at times the criminal organizations are considered to force the
individuals into doing business with them. In the United States, the Organized Crime Control Act
1970 is considered to regulate and govern these activities and they have defined organized crime
as the illegal activities of an extremely organized as well as controlled and well-ordered
association. The criminal activities are considered to be an arranged process which is referred to
as racketeering and due to the ever-increasing violence of the Mexico’s drug war a report which
has been issued by the United States Department of Justice symbolizes the Mexican drug cartels
as the greatest organized crime threat to the country.
This paper discusses the definition of organized crime and the history behind the
organized criminal activities along with the history of terrorism in America. It also discusses a
thorough example of a criminal organization and their criminal activities and along with such the
rivals for such criminal organizations. Furthermore, it discusses the most devastating terrorist
attack on the U.S. soil and why Mexico’s stability is of critical importance to the American
government. In conclusion, it would just summarize the points that have been discussed in the
paper.

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Discussion
History of Organized crime in America
In Chicago, Al Capone along with his family had massacred the North Side Gang. In
New York City from the end of the 1920s there were two factions of organized crime that had
appeared and developed in order to fight for the control of the criminal underworld. Organized
crime begun in urban America due to the global connections that are considered to characterize
the phenomenon today and organized crime has proven itself to be some kind of a dynamic
enterprise. Therefore, a tremendous growth related to the crime in the US led to the creation of a
national organization. Subsequently the repeal of that of the Eighteenth Amendment, which put
an end to lifting the practice relating to illegal manufacturing or selling or transporting of the
liquor to felonious overlords turned to various other activities and such, became extremely
organized. The set up was usual which was considered to be a hierarchical one with several
families as well as syndicates who were considered to be in operations in several major cities.
Wherever such crimes existed it tried to seek protection from the interference of police and
courts. In addition to such, the illegal activities which were taking place primarily gambling and
along with such narcotics trafficking which were the principal source of revenue of the
syndicates they also engaged in nominal genuine enterprises.
Organized Crime Activity
There are several ways through which the syndicates or the groups engage and indulge in
criminal activities however, in many developing countries such activities are through smuggling
and corruption and it involves the black market. One such organization that is involved in
organized crime would be the Barrio Azteca which is currently operating and is based in Texas.

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It is considered to be one of the most violent gangs currently in the US. It has over 3,000
members. It engages in criminal activities like drug trafficking along with contract killing,
money laundering, arms trafficking, Racketeering, extortion and people smuggling among
others. Its rival criminal group could be the Irish Mob as they engage in similar crimes and have
been prevailing since the nineteenth century (Viano, 2018).
Terrorism
In the U.S. the definition for terrorism is considered to be a systematic or thrraetened use
relating to violence which would be in order to create some kind of a general climate of fear that
would create an intimidation for the whole populace or the government thereby which would
effect the political as well as religious or ideological change. In the month of July 19916 there
had been a bomb explosion in Centennial Olympic Park in Atlanta which was during the middle
of a concert during that of the Summer Olympics. This was a gruesome terrorist attack before
September 9/11 and prior to the 1196 attack there had been an attack in the year 1995 which
killed 168 people and injured almost 700. Therefore, terrorism is considered to be the act in
which the terrorists try to instill fear among the people and these acts are done mostly to cause
harm and injury to the citizens of a nation and threaten the government (Schlegelmilch, Petkova,
Martinez, & Redlener, 2017). Most of the terrorist attacks are usually politically motivated.
Therefore, in order to prevent such terrorist activity and ensure safety of the citizens the
government needs to come up with new initiatives and try to reduce the organized criminal
activities. Under the Patriot Act 2001 domestic terrorism is considered to be defined as the
activities that pose danger and involves acts which are dangerous to the human life and are
considered to be in violation of the criminal laws of any of the states which are considered to be

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prevailing in the United States and these are considered to appear intended and to intimidate
some kind of coercion to the civilian populace.
Stability of Mexico is of critical importance
The Mexican drug trafficking organizations are considered to pose a great threat as these
organizations work across various borders globally. They are considered to be involved in
various criminal activities and extensive money laundering or bribery along with human
trafficking and corruption. Therefore, in order to reduce such is considered to be of paramount
importance. The government in the United States have tried to increase their security
significantly for both United States as well as Mexico. These organized crime units are
considered to indulge and engage in activities that would harm the society as a whole and these
are being done without any kind of police interference. Therefore the stability is considered to be
of critical importance as it would help in reducing the crime rates of these organized criminal
activities and the drug overlords who are associated with it. The families, which are engaged in
organized criminal activities, are considered to indulge in all the criminal activities which would
create a dangerous place for the world as they deal in criminal activities globally throughout the
world which would increase their power and authority or control over the others. Therefore, the
federal bureau of the United States are considered to dedicate their work into reducing and
decreasing such crime rate. The FBI has dedicated their work to eliminating and reducing the
transnational crime of those crime groups which are considered to pose a great threat to that of
the national as well as the economic security of the country (Fijnaut, 2016).

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Conclusion
Thus, from the above discussion it can be concluded that the organized criminal
activities had begun from urban America and it had started from the period of 1920s and such
was based on hierarchical ones where the families were involved in these organized criminal
activities along with the members. There are various criminal groups that are currently operating
globally which needs to be stopped and they engage in various criminal activities like contract
killing, drug, gambling, money laundering, racketeering, human trafficking, drug smuggling
among others. Therefore, these needs to be prevented as they are associated with various
criminal groups and they pose a threat to the society.

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References
Fijnaut, C. (2016). Organized crime: a comparison between the United States of America and
Western Europe. In The Containment of Organised Crime and Terrorism (pp. 153-174).
Brill Nijhoff.
Organized Crime Control Act 1970.
Patriot Act 2001.
Schlegelmilch, J., Petkova, E., Martinez, S., & Redlener, I. (2017). Acts of terrorism and mass
violence targeting schools: Analysis and implications for preparedness in the
USA. Journal of business continuity & emergency planning, 10(3), 280-289.
Viano, E. C. (Ed.). (2018). Global organized crime and international security. Routledge.