Organized Crime Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Organized Crime - Essay Example Despite the fact that there were criminal organizations existing before this prohibition, the country experienced an upward development of strong organizations, which took advantage of the prohibition to make millions of dollars through illegal importation and sale of liquor to the American citizens. For example, a Chicago gang, the Capones, led by a notorious gangster, Al Capone, is said to have been making more than $100 million on annual basis through bootlegging of liquor and other criminal activities such as prostitution (Abadinsky, 2002). After the ban was lifted in 1933, criminal organizations that depended on income from the sale of liquor had to look for other sources of income and this brought about a rise in activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking, gun trafficking and extortion among others. This paper is a critical evaluation on some of the criminal organizations in the US. Criminal Organizations in the US The US is a country, which is rich in diversity esp ecially due to the presence of high numbers of immigrants from all corners of the world. This diversity has propelled the country’s economic growth but it has also led to the emergence of numerous criminal organizations and street gangs as a result of culture importation coupled with poverty and insecurity in neighborhoods especially those belonging to the minority groups. Some of these organizations have grown in size such that they are not only operating within the US but also across international borders. Mara Salvatrucha, for example, is a transnational organized criminal gang, which is perceived as being one of the most notorious both internationally and within the US. It is estimated that the gang has more than 50000 active members, 10000 of whom are supposedly operating inside the US (Logan, 2009). The formation of this gang was motivated by the need to provide protection for its members but with time, it has deviated from its original goal by engaging in well organize d criminal operations involving drug trafficking, extortion, gun trafficking, murder among others (Logan, 2009). Mara Salvatrucha, commonly abbreviated as MS-13, begun in Los Angeles after immigrants from El Salvador, who were escaping from civil conflicts in their country met hostile communities of Mexican and African American origins, who were not willing to accommodate them in their neighborhoods. The Mexicans and African Americans in Los Angeles had well established street gangs, which kept on attacking and harassing the Salvadorians to the point that it became too much for the immigrants to handle. They were used to armed conflicts due to the civil war in their country and therefore, they had the skills and the motivation to defend them selves from armed attacks (Logan, 2009). The US authorities have had a difficult task of identifying and arresting members of this gang but their actions are highly credited for the ever increasing numbers of Mara Salvatruchans (Monteith, 2010). It is believed that the authorities have made this possible through deportation of gang members, which has made it possible for them to recruit new members from their home countries only to return to the US through illegal means to meet with members of their families and other gang members operating within