Obstructing Markets: Organized Crime Networks and Drug Control in Japan (From Illicit Global Economy and State Power, P 173-197, 1999, H. Richard Friman, Peter Andreas, eds. - See NCJ-179244)

• NCJ Number: 179248
• Author(s): H. Richard Friman
• Date Published: 1999
• Length: 25 pages
• Sale Source: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc
• Publication Format: Book (Softbound)
• Publication Type: Survey (Cross-Cultural)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article explores ways in which domestic crime networks can work as societal barriers to the market access sought by transnational organized crime groups, based on an analysis of how Colombian drug traffickers remain largely closed out of the potentially lucrative market in Japan.

Abstract

Transnational criminal organizations encounter social networks that link societal actors, and often societal and state actors, in host countries. Japan is not the only country distinguished by networks of social relations in the licit economy, but networks in Japan appear more pervasive than those in the United States and Europe and also appear to be more oriented toward institutions than individuals. Organized crime in Japan's drug trade tends toward a relatively closed social network. The Yakuza have engaged in limited cooperation with transnational criminal organizations, but social network characteristics reduce the likelihood of more extensive cooperation, especially with Latin American trafficking organization. This pattern continues to hold despite shifts in immigration that have the potential to open channels for direct market access and despite increased pressure on social networks stemming from government crackdowns against the Yakuza. Thus, domestic societal actors can influence the ability of transnational organized crime to obtain market access in the illicit global economy. Reference notes