Transnational organized crime in the context of "Weapons smuggling"

Organized crime refers to transnational, national, or local groups of centralized enterprises that engage in illegal activities, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally considered a form of illegal business, some criminal organizations, such as terrorist groups, rebel groups, and separatists, are politically motivated. Many criminal organizations rely on fear or terror to achieve their goals and maintain control within their ranks. These groups may adopt tactics similar to those used by authoritarian regimes to maintain power. Some forms of organized crime exist simply to meet demand for illegal goods or to facilitate trade in products and services banned by the state, such as illegal drugs or firearms. In other cases, criminal organizations force people to do business with them, as when gangs extort protection money from shopkeepers. Street gangs may be classified as organized crime groups under broader definitions, or may develop sufficient discipline to be considered organized crime under stricter definitions.

A criminal organization can also be referred to as an outfit, a gangster/gang, thug, crime family, mafia, mobster/mob, (crime) ring, or syndicate; the network, subculture, and community of criminals involved in organized crime may be referred to as the underworld or gangland. Sociologists sometimes specifically distinguish a "mafia" as a type of organized crime group that specializes in the supply of extra-legal protection and quasi-law enforcement. Academic studies of the original "Mafia", the Sicilian Mafia, as well as its American counterpart, generated an economic study of organized crime groups and exerted great influence on studies of the Russian mafia, the Indonesian preman, the Chinese triads, the Hong Kong triads, the Indian thuggee, and the Japanese yakuza.

A triad (simplified Chinese: 三合会; traditional Chinese: 三合會; pinyin: sān hé huì; Cantonese Yale: sāam hahp wúi) is a Chinese transnational organized crime syndicate based in Greater China with outposts in various countries having significant overseas Chinese populations.

The triads originated from secret societies formed in the 18th and 19th centuries, some influenced by white lotus societies of the 14th century, with the intent of overthrowing the minority Manchu-ruling Qing dynasty. In the 20th century, triads were enlisted by the Kuomintang (KMT) during the Republican era to attack political enemies, including assassinations. Following the founding of the People's Republic of China and subsequent crackdowns, triads and their operations flourished in Macau, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and overseas Chinese communities. Since the reform and opening up period, triads and other triad-like "black societies" re-emerged in mainland China. In modern times, triads overseas have been reported to have connections to the government of the People's Republic of China.

The Sinaloa Cartel (Spanish: Cártel de Sinaloa) is a large, drug trafficking transnational organized crime syndicate based in Culiacán, Sinaloa, Mexico, that specializes in illegal drug trafficking and money laundering.

The cartel's history is marked by evolution from a small crime syndicate to one of the most powerful and violent drug trafficking organizations in the world. Founded in the late 1960s by Pedro Avilés Pérez in Sinaloa, the cartel initially focused on smuggling cannabis (marijuana) into the United States. Pérez is credited with pioneering the use of aircraft for drug smuggling, laying the groundwork for large-scale trafficking operations. His organization was a training ground for the second generation of Sinaloan traffickers.

Transnational crimes are crimes that have actual or potential effect across national borders and crimes that are intrastate but offend fundamental values of the international community. The term is commonly used in the law enforcement and academic communities. Transnational organized crime (TOC) refers specifically to transnational crime carried out by crime organizations.

The word transnational describes crimes that are not only international (that is, crimes that cross borders between countries), but crimes that by their nature involve cross-border transference as an essential part of the criminal activity. Transnational crimes also include crimes that take place in one country, but their consequences significantly affect another country and transit countries may also be involved. Examples of transnational crimes include: human trafficking, people smuggling, smuggling/trafficking of goods (such as arms trafficking and drug trafficking and illegal animal and plant products and other goods prohibited on environmental grounds (e.g. banned ozone depleting substances), sex slavery, terrorism offences, torture and apartheid.

Weapons trafficking or gunrunning is the illicit trade of contraband small arms, explosives, and ammunition, which constitutes part of a broad range of illegal activities often associated with transnational criminal organizations. The illegal trade of small arms, unlike other organized crime commodities, is more closely associated with exercising power in communities instead of achieving economic gain. Scholars estimate illegal arms transactions amount to over US$1 billion annually.

To keep track of imports and exports of several of the most dangerous armament categories, the United Nations, in 1991, created a Register for Conventional Arms. Participation, however, is not compulsory, and lacks comprehensive data in regions outside of Europe. Africa, due to a prevalence of corrupt officials and loosely enforced trade regulations, is a region with extensive illicit arms activity. In a resolution to complement the Register with legally binding obligations, a Firearms Protocol was incorporated into the UN Convention on Transnational Organized Crime, which requires states to improve systems that control trafficked ammunition and firearms.