Mobsters without borders

Dubai: Crime is going global. First it was Medecins sans Frontiers but in an age of increasing globalisation it is not surprising that crime is getting more organised and operating across international boundaries.

The groups launder billions of dollars through US financial institutions, and invest profits in publicly traded companies. They also "exploit the internet," by running scams on eBay, flooding in-boxes with e-mail spam and laundering money through "virtual worlds" such as Second Life.

Now these "mobsters without borders" have gained significant footholds in global markets and provide logistic support to terrorists, the United States said.

Launching a campaign against such international criminals, United States Attorney General Michael Mukasey said they were more adaptable and sophisticated than La Cosa Nostra and other syndicates the US government set out to defeat half a century ago.

Security threat

"These international criminals pose real national security threats to this country," Mukasey said in a speech to the Center for Strategic and International Studies think tank. He cited recent cases, many with links to the former Soviet bloc.

"They touch all sectors of our economy, dealing in everything from cigarettes to oil; clothing to pharmaceuticals," Mukasey said. "They are expanding their holdings in these sectors, which corrupts the normal functioning of these markets and may have a destabilising effect on US geo-political interests."

To lead the fight, Muk-asey said he had revived an Organised Crime Council of senior law enforcement officials across government, 15 years after it had gone dormant after winning major battles against US organised crime.

The first task is to identify and target the global crime groups and their leaders, Mukasey said.