The diversification of organized crime into the illegal trade in natural resources

The rising global scarcity of natural resources increasingly attracts transnational criminal organizations. These criminal organisations rapidly shift from ‘traditional’ criminal activities, such as drug or human trafficking, to the illegal trade in natural resources. They react to socio-economic, political and ecological changes by looking for opportunities to diversify their illegal activities. The proposed research aims to understand how and why transnational criminal organizations diversify into the illegal trade in natural resources by looking at the convergence between environmental crime and other serious crimes. On 25 and 26 May 2023 the Green Crimes and Ecojustice conference took place in Utrecht, as the closing event of this project.

The developing interconnectedness between environmental crime and other serious forms of crime shows that the traditional lines of separation are no longer appropriate for understanding and dealing with the increasing complexities of crime. Therefore, it is essential to to fill this theoretical and empirical gap. By analysing the link between the illegal trade in natural resources and other serious crimes, this study aims to uncover the causes, incentives and features of the diversification of organized crime.

The urgency of the proliferation of environmental crime is illustrated by the global destruction of ancient rainforests, the mass extinction of species, the pollution of the atmosphere, surface and water, and the far-reaching impacts and threats to social security and safety. This research has an innovative combination of qualitative multi-sited field research and quantitative cluster analyses of international environmental crime cases that ensure a unique mixed-method perspective. These insights will be important for both scientists and policymakers to develop inventive solutions to tackle the increasing involvement of organized crime in the illegal trade in natural resources.

This research was funded by NWO, the Dutch Research Council of the Netherlands, and ran from 1 September 2018 to 16 June 2023.

See also Green Crimes and Ecojustice Conference