Transnational organized crime (TOC) imposes significant social and economic costs on many nations, threatening stability in less developed areas and exploiting or creating security gaps in more stable regions.
Decades of effort and expense by the US and allies to address TOC has often shifted rather than reduced the problem. Sophisticated, resilient criminal organizations continue to adapt and thrive, particularly where facilitated by corruption, weak institutions, and persistent demand for illicit goods and services.
We helped a Department of Defense organization develop more rigorous analysis methods to prioritize counter-TOC efforts and improve coordination with partner organizations and nations. We leveraged our expertise in complex systems analysis to understand and capture TOC drivers and dynamics, including corrupt police forces, disenfranchised population segments, proximity to regional trade routes, and other factors that influence vulnerability to TOC activity. This understanding provides the basis for a more rigorous approach to prioritization and sequencing of effort to weaken, rather than merely displace, TOC operations.
