HLS 615 Written 2

Hls 615 Written 2: Criminal Enterprises in the United States Name Institution Date Criminal Enterprises in the United States A criminal enterprise is a category of national, transnational, or local groupings of enterprises, which are highly centralized and run by criminals (Grillo, 2013). The criminals’ main mission is to engage in illegal activities, commonly for money or profit. Sometimes a criminal enterprise can force people to do business with them, such as extortion of money by gangs from business people for protection, and such gangs at some point may become disciplined enough to be considered as organized. Other organizations such as the military, corporations, states, and police forces may also use organized crime activities to conduct one’s illegal affairs. A criminal gang or enterprise can also be referred to as mob, mafia, or even crime syndicate in which the community and network of criminals may also be called the underworld. In the United States, the department of justice describes the Mexican drug cartels as the greatest criminal enterprise threat in the United States (Grillo, 2013). This paper outlines different criminal enterprises, their geopolitical, economic, social, and technological advances, and their effects on the United States. The Mexican drug cartels are criminal enterprises known for smuggling illegal drugs such as cocaine, cannabis, and heroine across Mexico, and in the Northern American. The Mexican drug cartels are traced back to Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, who was the former agent in the Mexican Judicial Federal Police when he founded the greatest cartel in the year 1980 (Klinger, & Espinosa, 2014). The cartel controlled all the trade of illegal drug in Mexico and established the trafficking corridors of drugs across the Mexican-United States borders throughout the 80s. Ever since this criminal organization was established, the United States has fought against this enterprise of Mexican drug cartels across the Mexico border, which is recognized widely as a threat to the border integrity and public security (Klinger, & Espinosa, 2014). The war between the United States and the Sinaloa drug cartels is essentially an armed conflict considering the bloodshed and the number of arms this criminal enterprise possesses. The Italian-American Mafia is another criminal enterprise, which operates its network in cities across the United States, such as New York, and Chicago. This criminal organization is involved in many illicit activities such as drugs, and illicit liquor. The Mafia has built international ties with South American dealers of cocaine, and controls much of transatlantic drugs, which also go to Europe. The Mafia has also been expanding its operations in the United States and also helped other crime families in New York such as the Bonnano and Gambino crime families. The American and Italian police forces have arrested a dozen of crime family members such as Gambino, who were eventually charged with the crimes that relate to the transatlantic drug trade. This criminal organization rose to power through its success in the trade of illicit liquor and other criminal activities such as counterfeiting, firearms trafficking, and sexual exploitation. Despite many years of efforts from the gov...