Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Nov 05, 2005
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Nov 05, 2005 |
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Opinion
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Books Columns - E-Dimension Well-advanced mutations of illicit trade D. Murali
Now, check if you concur with these three thoughts on smuggling, counterfeiting and trafficking: One, these vices are nothing new. Two, illicit trade is organised crime. And three, these are underground phenomena . Are you nodding tentatively? Wait. These are `three illusions,' says Moisés Naím, Editor of Foreign Policy, in his book Illicit published by Doubleday (www.doubleday.com), which is about `How smugglers, traffickers, and copycats are hijacking the global economy'. Almost every city and town has its chor bazaar, yet what's new is the transformation in the 1990s, points out the author. "Not only did the hold of governments on borders weaken, but the reforms amplified the rewards awaiting those who were prepared to break the rules," he writes. New technologies and lower transport costs have made possible trade in a new range of goods, ranging from pirated software to `genetically modified marijuana'. Yet, illicit trade, except narcotics, has not been a priority in international law making, or cooperative law enforcement, rues the author. Terrorists have been the focus of much media and government attention; but "networks of stateless traders in illicit goods are changing the world as much," cautions Naím about a disturbing surprise of globalisation. The third illusion is `the most dangerous' because it assumes that illicit trade happens elsewhere. Phrases such as `offshore finance', `black market' and `black money' seem to suggest that we can `draw moral and economic lines and patrol their boundaries', and thus lull citizens into `heightened righteousness and false security'.
New form of politics
An ominous remark of Naím is that illicit trade can only pursue its already well-advanced mutation, offering resources to terrorists, and impacting geopolitics. In some countries, criminal networks, woven into licit activities and embedded into the public sector, command more resources and capabilities than those of their governments, points out the author. "Traffickers and their associates control political parties, own significant media operations, or are the major philanthropists behind non-governmental organisations." The book is not just about crime, says the author. "It is also about a new form of politics in the 21st century. And about the new economic realities that have brought to the fore a whole new set of political actors whose values may collide with yours and mine, and whose intentions threaten us all," writes Naím. He is plainly baffled at the customary treatment of `an inherently economic phenomenon' with `moral denunciations and law enforcement remedies'. The book is full of examples and narratives about the depth and width of illicit trade, be it about the `one-disc' scourge that can take over a whole country to drive out the legitimate product, or "the fake cough medicine that killed close to a hundred children in Haiti because it contained automobile antifreeze." About "human kidneys from live sellers ferried from Brazil to South Africa and transplanted into German customers recruited online by Israeli brokers," or "junk computer parts saturated in mercury sent to dumping grounds in locales where environmental protection laws can be evaded."
Slavery is not dead
We think slavery is dead. No, it is thriving, "in the form of coerced sex, domestic work, and farm-work by illegal migrants working off never-ending debts," informs Naím. At least 4 million people are the commodity in `a global trade in human beings across borders' every year, and their estimated value is $7-10 billion. There's more: "Baroque networks of recruiters, touts, extortionists, hired muscle, transporters, safe houses, and online dispatchers can procure a `worker' of any desired age, nationality, or physical characteristics and deliver her or him across continents in as little as 48 hours."A sordid chapter on slavery points out the huge opportunity traffickers see in `mass movements' — "in 2004 the world counted 175 million documented international migrants, 3 per cent of humanity". In human smuggling, the migrant pays for passage, but in trafficking, the trafficker deceives or coerces the migrant to sell her or his labour, Naím explains. "Both are aspects of a vast new industry that thrives thanks to the aspirations of those who seek a better life elsewhere and the obstacles that governments place in their way," he reasons. Naím traces `the trajectory' of the trafficked women in mortifying detail, and also looks at the `complex collaborations' between counterfeiters and people smugglers.
Tools of technology
A section on `Tools of the Trades' discusses how "more efficient ships, roll-on/roll-off cargo container vessels, new loading and unloading tools, better port management, improved logistics, advances in refrigeration, new packing materials, just-in-time inventory management, satellite navigation and tracking" have all come in handy for illicit trade too. Tools include `creative applications' too. Such as the use of high-quality latex condoms to reduce "the risk of breakage (usually lethal) associated with the universally preferred container for drug packets smuggled in the digestive tract of mules". Another tool is the `humble ATM card', points out Naím. "In December 2004 the US Federal Reserve announced that for the first time in history electronic payments using debit and credit cards exceeded cheque payments." Smart cards, with value stored on a chip, offer convenience and anonymity. As if that's not enough, wire-transfer, so essential to `emigrant diasporas', can carry ill-gotten gains also.
Arms unlimited
The Chapter on `Small Arms and Loose Nukes' is topical, even as the debate rages on about Iran and the nukes. You'd read here about Abdul Qadeer Khan and `the centrifuge shipment to Libya' involving `firms and individuals from at least half a dozen European and Asian countries'. Read also about other arms kingpins and `The Weapons Wal-Mart'! Transdniester, a breakaway region of Moldova, is `the epitome of illicit', where `the state is the criminal enterprise, and vice versa', Naím informs. "Weapons are to Transdniester what chocolate is to Switzerland or oil to Saudi Arabia." The US is `the world's most armed nation'; second is Yemen, and `third place goes to tranquil Finland, with Norway, Germany, and France not far behind'. In England, gun crime has risen by 34 per cent between 2000 and 2003; EU countries export more small arms than the US and `a significant percentage of these guns are sold inside Europe'; and "the global security business is estimated to be growing from $100 billion in 2001 to $400 billion by 2010," with consequent demand for arms. In many countries, businesses and individuals spend more on private security than the government spends on police, observes Naím, quite wryly. Drugs, ideas, money `No business like the drug business' because it is `too juicy to refuse'. The US' fight against drugs uses many agencies, costs $20 billion a year at the federal level, arrests 1.7 million people, and 28 per cent of inmates in Washington's jails are in for drug offences. "Yet minutes away from these offices are Washington's 60 open-air drug markets that serve suburbanites cruising for a fix, local retailers and intermediaries who take the product to upscale neighbourhoods." The most expensive marijuana is `B.C. bud', "grown using advanced hydroponics and cloning techniques in special nurseries", brought in by "kayakers who navigate the rapids with loads of up to one hundred pounds" to sell at $3,500 a pound in California, and "who coordinate deliveries by means of BlackBerry two-way devices"! The Chapter on `The Global Trade in Stolen Ideas' concedes that the motivation driving illicit networks is greater than what driving the owners of intellectual property. "Companies would likely see better results from constant innovation — research and development to make products that are hard to copy, as well as affordable — than from relying on the deployment of armies of lawyers and lobbyists in the battle to protect their brands," opines the author. Meet `the money washers', prominent among whom were the terrorists who struck on 9/11, spending "less than a half million dollars to take about three thousand lives". Dirty money is more agile, mobile, and elusive than ever before, notes the author. Cash is not dead, yet. "Large amounts of cash travel the world unreported every day. Some ride with mule." Cash has been found "secreted into cars, dolls, television sets, and shipments of refrigerated bull semen". `What do orangutans, human kidneys, garbage, and Van Gogh have in common?' They are `niche' products and their market is growing. Despite odds, Naím offers hope in `What To Do', advocating an integrated approach and fighting the global problem with global solutions. Grim read that you shouldn't wince away from this weekend!
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