ANALYSIS AND EVALUATION OF ORGANIZED CRIME IN SPAIN

 

The analysis of the organized crime (hereinafter "OC") phenomenon in Spain is complex for various reasons. Firstly, because of the intrinsic difficulty of studying it due to the clandestine nature of the organizations, which makes it extremely hard -if not totally impossible- to obtain information on the subjects. 

Frequently, therefore, the study of OC must rely on sources outside the groups, which increases the complexity of the task due to the difficulty of finding reliable and complete assessment mechanisms. On the one hand, official sources are available, but OC data are either scarce, or usually disaggregated (in sectorial reports regarding benefits, volume of seizures, etc.), or contained in internal reports with restricted access (for law enforcement agencies). On the other hand, ad hoc research on different groups (through victimization or self-report surveys) is not very numerous, given the very nature of the object of study, as well as the former members’ reluctance to provide information on these groups. 

Despite the difficulties mentioned above, a certain consensus has been reached in determining the typologies of OC existing in Spain, based on various criteria such as structure, activity carried out, functions or forms of internal cohesion. Thus, it has been pointed out that the CO groups in Spain are mainly foreign, taking advantage of the strategic position of our country as a bridge between Europe and Africa and South America. Most of them are not particularly numerous groups without large hierarchical structures -which are susceptible to being overthrown by the security forces- and which hire each other to specialize in an activity. In this respect, specializations often depend on the origin or nationality of their members: Colombians, cocaine trafficking; Moroccans, hashish and counterfeits; Russians and other Eastern European countries, burglaries in homes and vehicles; Chinese, prostitution and trafficking, etc. They are also relatively recent organizations and most of them proliferate in urban and tourist areas. 

Furthermore, in recent years a growing link has been detected between OC and terrorism, and this is one of the reasons for the creation of CITCO (Spanish Centre for the Investigation of Terrorism and Organized Crime) in 2014. Thus, both types of organizations often have common elements, such as internationalization, mimicry in their social environments, and the use of violence. 

The OC is thus a major threat to Spain, and its importance to public authorities has been highlighted by the recent adoption of the National Strategy against Organized Crime and Serious Crime by the National Security Council, which provides public administrations with a series of lines of action aimed at "preventing, reacting to and being resilient" to organized crime in its various forms. 

In addition to the foregoing, in the medium term we may identify two major threats that point to exponential development in our country: (i) transnational organizations that take in refugees and other groups subject to human trafficking; and (ii) cyber-OC, understood as multinational groups of criminals who come together to provide "cyber-crime as a service".