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Research for this
piece was conducted during the summer of
2003.
Human trafficking ventures range from
small-time, mom-and-pop operations to tightly run,
well-organized structures that operate on a competitive
international basis.
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European ministers meet
during a 2002 Asia-Europe convention in the
Spanish Canary Islands to discuss how to confront
the issue of illegal immigration. The Canary
Islands are an important transit point for West
African migrants being smuggled into Europe.
Photo: Paul Hanna/Reuters
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| Trafficking
humans is big business: according to the UN, an $8 to
$10 billion business. Players in this industry vary
significantly in size, geographical range, and
organizational structure. Amateur traffickers may
operate on a local level, assisting potential migrants
with a single border crossing; some work in coordination
with a larger trafficking organization. There are also
modest-sized trafficking rings that operate on a more
permanent basis, employing practiced smuggling
techniques and well-known trafficking routes to convey
migrants from country to country. The most sophisticated
trafficking operations are highly organized groups that
function on an international basis, conducting the
entire scope of the trafficking process, from
recruitment to transportation to the migrant's entrance
into a destination country. Thanks to their far-flung
network and complex structure, these groups adjust
quickly to changes in national legislation, immigration,
and law enforcement policies, and are adept at avoiding
border surveillance.
Larger international human
trafficking groups are organized like actual businesses.
Management and labor responsibilities are distributed to
maximize the greatest profit and allow rapid response to
change. Competition from other trafficking groups as
well as crackdowns by law enforcement and immigration
officials can both transform market dynamics. According
to an economic analysis of organized crime and human
trafficking by Andreas Schloenhardt of the Australian
Institute of Criminology, the make-up of human
trafficking organizations can be divided into the
following roles.
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UN Secretary-General Kofi
Annan (left) watches as Austrian President Thomas
Klestil (seated) signs a treaty in 2000 during the
UN's Convention Against Transnational Organised
Crime in Palermo, Italy. Pino Arlacchi of Italy,
UN executive director for drug enforcement and
crime prevention, stands to the right of
Annan.
Photo: Tony Gentile/Reuters
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- Arrangers/Investors invest money in and
supervise the operation of the entire trafficking
enterprise. These individuals remain largely
anonymous, virtually if not entirely unknown to those
who work in the lower levels of the operation, so that
they cannot be connected to any particular crime
perpetrated by one of the organization's
branches.
- Recruiters enlist potential migrants and
arrange for their departure. They are also in charge
of collecting smuggling fees at transit points as well
as in the migrants' destination country. Often, they
are not aware of the specific trafficking route on
which their recruits will embark, nor are they paid as
full-time employees. Rather, they are compensated on a
case-by-case basis.
- Transporters are responsible for
transporting the migrants from their countries of
origin to a major city in the migrant's destination
nation, as well as avoiding detection by law
enforcement. Generally, they work with an
intermediary, rather than through direct contact with
the trafficking organization.
- Corrupt Public Officials provide
trafficking organizations with fake documents and
other means to allow illegal migrants passage across
the borders of their countries. The cooperation of
these individuals, who may work within governmental or
law enforcement offices, is generally secured with a
bribe.
- Informers gather information on border
surveillance, law enforcement, and immigration
procedures, in addition to any other details that may
prove valuable to the traffickers.
- Guides and Crew Members assist in the
transportation of migrants from one transit point to
the next. In some cases, they charter the actual
transportation vessels and accompany the migrants
throughout their journey.
- Enforcers are illegal immigrants who are
chosen to maintain order during the journey from
source to destination countries, often by means of
threats and violence.
- Debt Collectors help collect the smuggling
fees from migrants once they have reached transit or
destination countries, often by means of violence or
extortion.
- Money Launderers cover up the trail of
cash, which may be reinvested in additional criminal
activities or legal enterprises or dispersed through a
series of hard-to-trace transactions.
- Supporting Personnel and Specialists are
individuals hired to perform specific tasks such as
providing accommodations or assistance to migrants in
transit. They have no specific attachment to the
trafficking organization and are often local people
employed on a for-hire basis.
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