Transcrime e Crime&tech all’ASC 2024

Criminological theory states that mafia groups require a high degree of human and social capital to expand into non-traditional areas (Catino, 2018; Sciarrone, 2021). If they cannot find these resources internally, mafia members turn to external actors who operate within the so-called “grey area” as a transmission chain between the legal and illegal worlds. These actors are often professionals, and namely lawyers. There are several studies on the involvement of lawyers in economic crime, particularly in money laundering (Benson, 2020; Levi, 2022), but very few studies have so far investigated how lawyers facilitate criminal infiltration by mafia members in Northern Italy, and specifically (a) what resources they provide to mafia members and how they contribute to the accumulation of human and social capital by mafia members (b) what exchanges and agreements they make with mafia members, and (c) how and to what extent they participate in the criminal decision-making. These issues will be addressed through content analysis of Italian judicial sources (more than 200 preventive detention orders and judgements). The results are relevant both for understanding the participation and facilitation of economic crime by professionals and for evidence-informed policy making.

Waste crime, encompassing illegal activities such as dumping, improper site management, trafficking, and water pollution, presents a significant challenge to global environmental sustainability and public health. Despite its impact, and compared to other conventional types of crime, there exists a notable gap in empirical research regarding the procedures employed by law enforcement agencies in investigating waste crime. This research seeks to address this gap by conducting a comparative analysis of waste crime investigations across different jurisdictions. We collected judicial documents and cases relating to waste crimes. Based on these documents, we conducted content analysis to explore the primary features of police investigations on waste crimes and to compare the variations in investigative practices across the selected countries. The findings reveal a complex landscape where the effectiveness of investigation is hampered by resource limitations, legal ambiguities, and insufficient international cooperation. This research identifies the need to strive towards standardised investigative procedures, enhanced interagency collaboration, and the adoption of new technologies to improve the detection and prosecution of waste crimes. By comparing investigative practices across jurisdictions, this study highlights best practices and offers recommendations for strengthening the global response to waste crime.

This study investigates the growing concern surrounding juvenile delinquency in Italy, aiming to delineate the actual scale of this issue. Although juvenile delinquency is still marginal, recent statistics have shown a significant rise in reported cases involving minors, especially those related to violent crimes, with this increase often attributed to an increased presence of juvenile gangs. Our research seeks to shed light on this phenomenon from different perspectives. Firstly, it provides a preliminary classification and geographical mapping of juvenile gangs throughout Italy and an analysis of the current official statistics regarding juvenile crimes. Secondly, it analyses case files from two groups of young individuals in care at the Social Service Office for Minors in Milan, drawing comparisons between 2015-16 and 2022-23. Through the examination of socio-demographic characteristics and contextual factors, the study highlights both persistent and evolving trends in the profiles of minors engaged in criminal behaviors. These findings offer insights into the recent evolution in juvenile delinquency in Italy, suggesting potential implications for the understanding of the issue at both a national and international level.

An effective strategy for addressing illicit firearms trafficking involves the systematic collection, analysis and investigation of comprehensive, precise and reliable cross-border intelligence information. However, the current European landscape presents significant obstacles in the implementation of this strategy, since it is characterized by fragmented systems and various shortcomings such as data inconsistencies, disparate data collection methods and data formats, and lack of systematic data sharing. In the context of the Horizon Europe CEASEFIRE Project (Advanced versatile artificial intelligence technologies and interconnected cross-sectoral fully operational national focal points for combating illicit firearms trafficking), this study advocates for the development of a user-friendly, near real-time tracking tool of firearm incidents in Europe. This tool is intended to enhance the collection and exchange of intelligence information among different cross-border stakeholders involved in combating firearms trafficking. The study outlines the approach followed in developing this tracking tool, which relies on open-source data analysis to extract relevant information from each firearm-related incident. Additionally, the study explores a preliminary attempt to identify risk indicators and red flags from the data.

This study offers a comprehensive analysis of the security threats and vulnerabilities that places of worship face. It extends beyond ideologically motivated attacks, such as terrorism and hate crimes, to include apolitical crimes like theft and violence, as well as natural disasters, construction failures, and pandemics (e.g., COVID-19). The paper examines the unique vulnerabilities that make places of worship especially susceptible to a wide range of risks. This analysis benefits from the contributions of a broad network, including members of religious communities, law enforcement agencies, academic and security experts, and public authorities. Employing a systematic review of online news articles across EU member states, the study showcases case studies that highlight the identified threats and vulnerabilities. Grounded in the findings from the EU co-funded SHRINEs project, this research aims to establish a framework for developing effective security and safety strategies and interventions for places of worship.

This study provides a qualitative analysis of mechanisms used to evade international sanctions, using legal documents, case studies, and global news aggregators as data sources. The objective is to reveal the methods that individuals and legal entities use to violate and evade international sanctions, by outlining their operational features, key actors, assets, jurisdictions, and financial flows. Preliminary results suggest that the techniques for violating and evading international sanctions often rely on the use of transnational networks to transfer assets and conceal beneficial ownership, by making use of proxies, shell companies, and cryptocurrencies. By delineating sanction circumvention techniques, the paper contributes to the ongoing discourse on the effectiveness of international sanctions. The insights provided can assist policymakers, regulators, and academics in developing more effective strategies to tackle sanction violation and evasion. The analysis is carried out under the project KLEPTOTRACE, co-funded by European Commission, ISF police.

This paper presents the findings of the CAPSULE project concerning the level of awareness among online consumers regarding the purchase of illicit medicines. Through a survey conducted with over 2000 consumers in Italy and Spain, this study aims to gather insights into consumers’ knowledge and attitudes towards online medicine sales, their exposure to online advertising, the prevalence of online medicine purchases, and their ability to distinguish legitimate products from illicit ones advertised online. Respondents were shown images of real advertisements offering medicines online, comprising both legitimate and illicit products. They were then tasked with assessing the legitimacy of these advertisements and identifying the factors that influenced their decision. Furthermore, an analysis of the influence of respondents’ characteristics on their attitude and awareness towards the potential purchase of illicit products is included. This research provides critical insights into consumer behaviors and perceptions, with implications for policy development in regulating online pharmaceutical markets.

As a result of the changing habits after Covid-19 and the expansion of e-commerce, the postal system is now playing a central role in international trade. However, it has also become more vulnerable to be misused for trafficking purposes. Letters and small parcels are increasingly employed to move drugs across borders (especially synthetic ones, but also cocaine, cannabis), drug precursors, firearms, fake or stolen medicines, and counterfeit goods. This paper, conducted in the framework of the EU co-funded PARSEC project, has a twofold objective: on the one side, it provides a literature review of the most frequent patterns and schemes in trafficking through the postal service, and of the related risk factors; on the other side, it carries out an exploratory analysis of a large dataset of parcels and courier consignments sampled from the H7 database provided by a leading European custom. The paper analyses anomalies in terms of parcel distribution and concentration, and highlights the characteristics of the courier consignments used to conceal drugs and other illicit goods. It eventually develops a preliminary risk assessment model which could help custom and postal agencies to detect high-risk consignments to be selected for physical inspections.

Reimagining existing approaches to studying online information pollution, our paper shifts the focus from supply (articles, blogs, and posts) to demand (internet searches). Utilizing the power of state-of-the-art deep learning algorithms and capturing the online demand for information pollution via Google Trends, we study the relationship between forty racially- and politically-charged conspiracy theories’ consumption and hate crimes in the state of Michigan. This work introduces to criminology the nascent use of machine learning as a method of identifying correlations, assigning the magnitude and presence to a given variable’s capacity to improve a model’s prediction’s accuracy and its robustness against a permutation test. We find no evidence of a connection between most conspiracy theories and registered hate crimes; however, increases in online research regarding the Rothschild family, QAnon, and the Great Replacement better inform the prediction of our deep learning model to when hate crimes are likely to occur. Our work, done in parallel with Horizon Europe’s FERMI project, brings to the table new evidence on the link between online and offline actions, particularly regarding crime, as well as, contributing to understanding the benefits and limitations of using AI-based methods in the social sciences.

Globalization has transformed the movement of goods and people, presenting opportunities and challenges for border security. While it facilitates trade and travel, it also increases the risk of undetected illicit activities crossing borders. Border Guards (BGs) and Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs) play a crucial role in screening passengers and goods to proactively identify potential threats. Adopting a risk-based approach is essential for identifying high-risk passengers while minimizing costs. However, effectively distinguishing passengers based on risk requires advanced intelligence-based profiling. BGs and LEAs often lack the necessary technical skills and tools and may overlook the importance of coupling passenger data with information about transnational crime patterns. The Horizon Europe TENACITy Project addresses this gap by pioneering advanced intelligence-based risk assessment models. These models leverage passenger data alongside insights into criminal actors, transportation methods, and common routes associated with illicit activities. The project aims to estimate the probability of specific passengers exhibiting behavior patterns potentially linked to criminal involvement. This facilitates the development of precise risk profiles, enabling the early detection of high-risk individuals and enhancing travel intelligence practices.

Collaboration is a fundamental feature of crime that is defined as organized. While there has been considerable research on collaboration within organized crime groups in recent years, only a few studies have examined collaboration between members of different groups. This study addresses this gap by investigating the extent and dynamics of collaboration among members of different ‘Ndrangheta clans, with a specific focus on intra-clan cohesion and brokerage across clans. Data were collected from three major Italian law enforcement investigations targeting multiple ‘Ndrangheta clans, known as locali, and analyzed using network analysis methods. The findings suggest strong internal cohesion within clans, with the presence of high-ranking individuals facilitating connections and integration of the overall criminal organization.

The establishment of cooperative relationships with political actors is crucial for organized criminal groups that seek to expand their influence beyond the underworld. This has been particularly evident in Italy, where mafias have persistently wielded power over the political sphere, refining their strategies to establish successful linkages with government officials over time. This study seeks to analyze and categorize the patterns of interaction between political representatives and criminal organizations in Italy, with the aim of identifying the defining characteristics of the actors involved and the strategies used to reach cooperative agreements. To achieve this, content analysis of Italian judicial documents was undertaken, so as to identify the case studies, conditions, and characteristics of the political-criminal nexus. Results highlight the relevance of both the structure of the criminal syndicates and the existing political system in shaping the type and objectives of these cooperative relationships. Understanding the dynamics underpinning political-criminal interactions can be particularly useful in developing effective policies to counter and prevent the misuse of public resources.