The Organisation of Drug Supply: South Asian Criminal Enterprise in the UK

Abstract

This paper examines the structure and modus operandi of South Asian criminal organisations operating in the UK. It is based on empirical research conducted between 2005 and 2006 among prisoners sentenced for drug offences, a number of drug distributors operating in the market, and observers with a knowledge of the drugs business working for the police force or for rehabilitation services. First, the paper offers an overview of the debate on organised crime, and after a methodological note, the research findings are utilised to propose a typology. Hypotheses are formulated around the illicit drug enterprises involved in British markets. Finally, the implications for law enforcement with respect to these enterprises are discussed.

How Do Illicit Drugs Move Across Countries? A Network Analysis of the Heroin Supply to Europe

“…Despite their predominance, these groups do not act as a monolithic bloc but, rather, cooperate or compete with other ethnic groups to smuggle heroin into Europe. Criminal groups involved in transnational drug trafficking tend to organize their activities along a continuum with large, longlasting, and well-organized groups at one extreme, and small, temporary networks of collaborating criminals at the other (Kostakos & Antonopoulos, 2010;Ruggiero & Khan, 2007;von Lampe, 2013). Furthermore, countries where sections of the population speak the same language are 1.9 times more likely to traffic heroin.…”