Illicit Trade and Financial Flows

BDS and the Illicit Transportation of Drugs in the Middle East

Bret Windhauser

In the spring of 2024, news agencies throughout the Middle East reported that Moroccan hashish smugglers refused to trade with Israeli smugglers due to the continued Israeli invasion of Gaza and increased austerity in the West Bank. While not officially signing on to the global Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) guidelines, in effect, Moroccan smugglers are engaging with economic sanctions and boycotts in the illicit economy. This example allows for interesting directions in political analysis: how organized criminal groups use politically motivated sanctions to shape illicit traffic flows, how illicit groups mimic/conflict with their licit governments’ international political stances, and how non-political criminal groups engage with political protest within the illicit global economy. In lieu of a concrete argument, I aim to present potential pathways for new research using existing theory pertinent to the direct interplay between international politics and the illicit economy. Specifically, I investigate the tension between Moroccan smugglers who are taking a moral stance against the Israeli invasion of Gaza and various arguments made by various international politicians who have attempted to sanction members of Moroccan gangs claiming them to be amoral criminal actors. 

The business of hawāla: Fallacies & Findings

Shir Shah Nabi

In the contemporary era of a ‘globalized’ economy and technological advancements, there’s a prevailing assumption that criminal enterprises occur through sophisticated means and mechanisms, carried out by mobile and tech-minded offenders. While this may hold true for emerging domains like cybercrime, it is a fallacy and a misrepresentation of reality when applied to the operations of traditional organised crime groups, such as drug trafficking and human smuggling. In these illegal markets, ‘cash is still king’, predominantly carried by an age-old and rather primitive carriage known as hawāla.

This study explores hawāla and its modification from a safeguarding into a facilitating instrument of crime. Based on first-hand information gathered through multisite empirical approaches in various parts of the world, this work not only demystifies the fallacies surrounding hawāla, but also demonstrates that policymakers, as well as the public, are likely misinformed about the alignment between hawāla and crime.

Illicit trafficking of cultural property

Claudia Lo Cascio

My research explores the illicit trafficking of cultural property, highlighting how these activities are often disorganized and opportunistic, unlike many forms of traditional organized crime. Through the analysis of emblematic cases, it shows how existing legislation, designed to combat structured criminal groups, must be adapted to effectively address these flexible networks. The non-hierarchical nature of trafficking networks makes traditional law enforcement approaches ineffective, as arresting individuals does not compromise the entire network. 

Therefore, a rethinking of law enforcement strategies and a critique of prison-centric panpenalism is suggested, focusing on solutions more suited to the specificity of cultural trafficking. The adoption of restorative justice practices could be more effective, as the flexibility and interchangeability of individuals in non-hierarchical criminal networks mean that the arrest of a single member does not compromise the entire network. This approach could be more efficient in countering the illicit trafficking of antiquities by recognizing the fluid and decentralized nature of these illegal activities.