Tackling the Threat of Organised Crime Towards Ports & National Security
[As recently published by Dr Martin Gallagher, (2024)]
We are now entering, if we haven’t already, a fifth wave of terrorism, that being Terrorist Organisations working jointly with Organised Crime. The purpose of this new working relationship is not ‘for the cause’ but for individual gain and illegal profits.
This Fifth Wave of Terrorism is based on the workings of Rapoport (2022), who states that:
“… Terrorism had been developed through waves consisting of The First Wave: Anarchists (1879 – 1920s), The Second Wave: Anticolonial (1919 – 1960s), the Third Wave: New Left (1960s – 1990s) and the Forth Wave: Religious (1979 – 2020s) …”
This is a theory which I support and one which is very visible when you examine the connections of trafficking routes and the evidence of the connections between Terrorist Organisations including the Provisional IRA, New IRA, Ulster Defence Association, Hamas, Hezbollah, South American drug cartels, and Organised Crime Groups from Italy, Ireland, South America, and the Middle East.
However, no matter where these Terrorist Organisations and Organised Crime Groups are based, there is one common factor which they all rely on, that is Ports, Airports, and Travel Hubs. These Travel Hubs can consist of mega ports from the Middle East to Zeebrugge, down to ports, harbours and marinas around the world, including around the coastline of the United Kingdom.
As supported by Anna Sergi et al (2021):
“… Ports play a crucial role in the licit and illicit global economy. They are the ‘beating’ heart of legal and illegal flows of people, goods, information and money …”
Ports, Harbours and Marinas are very much a vital element of the UK’s critical infrastructure but are just as critical to Organised Crime Groups. But how can we counter this?
As stated by Mobley (2012) Terrorist Organisations require the following three elements to function and grow:
- Organisational Structure;
- Popular Support; and
- Access to controlled territory.
These three elements are just as important to Organised Crime Groups, enabling them to manage, control and co-ordinate their operations, gain support and funding from local / national populations / communities as well as secure territories to operate, regroup, organise and store illicit goods. This unlikely ‘marriage’ is very much based on the terrorist groups controlling tried and tested trafficking routes, and providing security and reassurance of their safe use, and the Organised Crime Groups transporting the illicit goods and bringing in the profits.
However, as stated above, transportation of illicit goods, be that human trafficking, drugs smuggling, money laundering, and the trafficking of weapons and explosives, (including the trafficking of weapons from Ukraine by Organised Crime Groups) etc., cannot be avoided. Organised Crime Groups and their Terrorist Group partners need to move their ‘merchandise’ from their controlled territories to their marketplaces. This is where the importance of awareness training and the empowerment of port security teams and frontline staff rise to the fore.
Being involved in human trafficking awareness training and the combating of Organised Crime through ports for the last seven years, it has become evident that an effective way of assisting government / policing agencies in tackling the global and national threat of Organised Crime through ports, is that of focusing on the visible to restrict the invisible.
As stated above, the method of transportation of illicit products requires movement. Human trafficking is very much a major element of Organised Crime, and an element of Organised Crime which continues to grow and threaten countries worldwide, as supported by ILO 2022:
“… Human Trafficking continues to be the fastest growing international organised crime, second only to drug trafficking …”
The act of Human Trafficking and People Smuggling is very much the visible element of Organised Crime. That is, through the transportation of people there are known recognised signs and indicators which port staff, once made aware of, can use as effective tools in identifying and rescuing victims of Human Trafficking. Signs and indicators of Human Trafficking is very much based on behaviour and appearance of people, and the absence of the normal and the presence of the abnormal, be that of people, freight units, shipping and maneuvers at sea.
Human Trafficking Awareness Training, is based on a tried and tested method, first carried out in Northern Ireland which produced immediate results, with staff feeling empowered and motivated to observe and report observations. Although the Northern Ireland Port was an ISPS area, and staff were trained in line with DfT and CPNI Standards to recognise hostile reconnaissance and to report suspicious activity, it was training specifically on the visible signs and indicators of Human Trafficking which built the basis of enhancing situational awareness, empowerment and motivation of staff in coming forward and reporting observations to the right authorities.
An Article By: William Dill MSc MSyl | VIRSEC Guest Author
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