How to measure organized crime?
A series of 13 discussion papers, one for each illicit market considered during the development of the Index.
Read more on globalinitiative.netCriminal markets
4.20
An assessment of the value, prevalence and non-monetary impacts of a specific crime type.
Human trafficking
5.00
Illicit activity involving coercion, deception, abduction or fraud for the purpose of exploitation, regardless of the victim’s consent.
Human smuggling
3.00
Activities by an organized crime group involving the illegal entry, transit or residence of migrants for a financial or material benefit.
Arms trafficking
8.50
The sale, acquisition, movement, and diversion of arms, their parts and ammunition from legal to illegal commerce and/or across borders.
Flora crimes
1.50
The illicit trade and possession of species covered by CITES convention, and other species protected under national law.
Fauna crimes
2.00
The poaching, illicit trade in and possession of species covered by CITES and other species protected by national law. Includes IUU fishing.
Non-renewable resource crimes
1.00
The illicit extraction, smuggling, mingling, bunkering or mining of natural resources and the illicit trade of such commodities.
Heroin trade
3.00
The production, distribution and sale of heroin. Consumption of the drug is considered in determining the reach of the criminal market.
Cocaine trade
6.00
The production, distribution and sale of cocaine and its derivatives. Consumption is considered in determining the reach of the market.
Cannabis trade
9.00
The illicit cultivation, distribution and sale of cannabis oil, resin, herb or leaves. Consumption is used to determine the market's reach.
Synthetic drug trade
3.00
The production, distribution and sale of synthetic drugs. Consumption is considered in determining the reach of the market.
Criminal actors
7.63
An assessment of the impact and influence of a specific criminal actor type on society.
Mafia-style groups
8.00
Clearly defined organized crime groups that usually have a known name, defined leadership, territorial control and identifiable membership.
Criminal networks
7.50
Loose networks of criminal associates engaging in criminal activities who fail to meet the defining characteristics of mafia-style groups.
State-embedded actors
8.00
Criminal actors that are embedded in, and act from within, the state’s apparatus.
Foreign actors
7.00
State and/or non-state criminal actors operating outside their home country. Includes foreign nationals and diaspora groups.
Political leadership and governance
5.00
The State's role in responding to organized crime and its effectiveness. Strong political leadership/governance suggests higher resilience.
Government transparency and accountability
5.50
The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities.
International cooperation
6.50
A country's supranational structures and processes of interaction, policy making and concrete implementation to respond to organized crime.
National policies and laws
5.50
A state's legal action and structures put in place to respond to organized crime.
Judicial system and detention
4.00
Refers to a state’s judiciary’s power to effectively and independently enforce judgments on organized crime-related cases.
Law enforcement
6.00
The state’s ability to investigate, gather intelligence, protect and enforce adherence to its rules and procedures against organized crime.
Territorial integrity
6.50
The degree to which states are able to control their physical and cyber territory and infrastructure against organized criminal activities.
Anti-money laundering
4.50
A state’s ability to implement measures to combat money laundering and other related threats to the integrity of its financial system.
Economic regulatory capacity
4.50
The ability to control/manage the economy and regulate transactions (national and international) for trade to thrive within the rule of law.
Victim and witness support
5.00
Assistance provided to victims of various forms of organized crime, including initiatives such as witness protection programs.
Prevention
6.00
Refers to the existence of strategies, measures, resource allocation, programmes and processes that are aimed to inhibit organized crime.
Non-state actors
6.50
The degree non-state actors are allowed to engage in OC responses and their roles in supporting State efforts/ as watchdogs to governments.
Political leadership and governance
5.00
The State's role in responding to organized crime and its effectiveness. Strong political leadership/governance suggests higher resilience.
Government transparency and accountability
5.50
The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities.
International cooperation
6.50
A country's supranational structures and processes of interaction, policy making and concrete implementation to respond to organized crime.
National policies and laws
5.50
A state's legal action and structures put in place to respond to organized crime.
Judicial system and detention
4.00
Refers to a state’s judiciary’s power to effectively and independently enforce judgments on organized crime-related cases.
Law enforcement
6.00
The state’s ability to investigate, gather intelligence, protect and enforce adherence to its rules and procedures against organized crime.
Territorial integrity
6.50
The degree to which states are able to control their physical and cyber territory and infrastructure against organized criminal activities.
Anti-money laundering
4.50
A state’s ability to implement measures to combat money laundering and other related threats to the integrity of its financial system.
Economic regulatory capacity
4.50
The ability to control/manage the economy and regulate transactions (national and international) for trade to thrive within the rule of law.
Victim and witness support
5.00
Assistance provided to victims of various forms of organized crime, including initiatives such as witness protection programs.
Prevention
6.00
Refers to the existence of strategies, measures, resource allocation, programmes and processes that are aimed to inhibit organized crime.
Non-state actors
6.50
The degree non-state actors are allowed to engage in OC responses and their roles in supporting State efforts/ as watchdogs to governments.
Human trafficking in Jamaica is a highly organized criminal market linked to the drug trade, with mafia-style groups and foreign actors exploiting highly vulnerable populations. Most victims are women who are forced into sex work, selling drugs or begging, while others are trafficked to neighbouring Caribbean countries, the United States and the United Kingdom. Foreign nationals trafficked to Jamaica tend to be victims of forced labour, particularly on foreign-flagged fishing vessels operating in local waters.
Jamaica's human-smuggling market, on the other hand, seems to be limited and linked mostly to passport fraud for migration proposes.
Arms trafficking is one of Jamaica’s largest criminal markets, with most illegal weapons entering the country from the United States, home to many Jamaican crime groups. Because of lax US controls, tracking and tracing is challenging. The easy availability of weapons – including pistols, sub-machine guns, assault rifles and homemade guns – fuels an extremely high homicide rate in Jamaica, with arms being used to protect drug-production and trafficking systems, as payment for drugs, and to facilitate gang recruitment. The market also benefits from police corruption, with officers often being implicated in the disappearance of guns from police stations.
While instances of illegal logging and the illicit trade of rare species have been documented, the flora- and fauna-crimes market are negligible, and there is no evidence to suggest that a market for non-renewable crimes exists in Jamaica.
The reach of Jamaica’s cannabis market is substantial. The country is the largest producer and supplier of cannabis in the Caribbean region. The drug is trafficked abroad to countries in Europe, as well as to Canada and the United States. In Jamaica, marijuana is legal for consumption in low quantities and for religious purposes, although permits are required to cultivate and process the crop. Evidence suggests that growth in the cannabis trade has led to an escalation in violence in Jamaica. There seems to be a connection between organizations that traffic cannabis and those that traffic arms and cocaine, a drug that is also highly prevalent in the country.
In recent decades, Jamaica has become a trans-shipment and storage point for Mexican and Colombian organizations transporting cocaine to the United States and Europe. Cocaine shipments tend to be dropped offshore by ships or small planes, and then picked up by boats to be taken to their final locations by foreign tourists (not always knowingly). Heroin and synthetic drugs are also prevalent in the country, although to a much lesser extent than cocaine. They are used as commodity drugs, traded with marijuana and then shipped in small quantities to overseas markets through immigrant networks. The local market is believed to be very small.
*This indicator was first included in the 2023 iteration of the tool
*This indicator was first included in the 2023 iteration of the tool
Dozens of criminal gangs operate across Jamaica. The larger groups are involved mostly in international drug trafficking, while the smaller, more loosely organized ones engage in more violent crimes, particularly turf wars to exert control over communities. Most of these criminal groups are believed to use extortion, particularly of informal sellers and small businesses in exchange for protection, as a form of control and a way to finance their operations. They are also believed to benefit from state collusion – there are corrupt police officers who facilitate their activities and politicians who award them contracts in exchange for support, as well as pay them to carry out crimes (including killings) for their political gain.
Foreign criminal organizations, most notably from Colombia and Mexico, feature in Jamaica’s underworld, using the country as a trans-shipment and storage point for drugs on their way to international markets, including the United States. Jamaican groups operate in other countries through their diasporas. Criminal networks in Jamaica tend to be loosely knit organizations made up of young people who engage predominantly in robberies and scams.
While Jamaica is not considered a fragile state, its overall governance, high levels of violence, low public trust in authorities, and lack of accountability and transparency remain substantial challenges. Nevertheless, compared to other smaller states in the Caribbean, Jamaica’s state capacity is far greater, although so too are the threats it faces. Jamaica’s legal framework on organized crime is fairly strong, especially when it comes to gang activity, although its implementation is not particularly efficient.
Jamaica has ratified a number of international conventions and protocols on organized crime, including drug and people trafficking. Jamaica is also party to relevant wildlife protection agreements. It also benefits from international cooperation in the form of financial support for community programmes, as well from coordination with law-enforcement agencies in other countries, particularly the United States, to stop the transit of illegal drugs by sea.
Jamaica’s efforts to bring criminal networks to justice, including through the implementation of a justice-sector-reform programme, are hampered by an under-resourced and overburdened judiciary, leading to repeated trial delays; significant case backlogs; frustration among police, witnesses, jurors and the public; and impunity for many offenders. In addition, deep-rooted corruption – including allegations of police officers working directly with criminals and committing extra-judicial executions – overshadows some of the positive initiatives that have been put in place to try and tackle criminal markets involving people trafficking, gang recruitment and scamming. Nevertheless, law enforcement in Jamaica is making significant efforts to root out internal corruption, in particular through the Major Organized Crime and Anti-Corruption Agency.
Jamaica's geographical location in the Caribbean, its difficult-to-patrol coastline, its status as a tourist destination, and its favourable position as a major containerized cargo trans-shipment hub have all contributed to its appeal to drug- and arms-trafficking organizations. The control local gangs have on their communities and widespread corruption among officials make an efficient state presence challenging. To try and combat these issues, the authorities recently announced a large financial investment as part of its strategy to reduce crime. It purchased two ships for the Jamaican coast guard to try and improve border security, introduced a surveillance aircraft, and increased the use of scanners to inspect cargo at ports of entry.
While Jamaica engages effectively in international-cooperation initiatives, and makes use of international legal assistance and extradition mechanisms, challenges within its micro-financing and legal-marijuana sectors make it vulnerable to money laundering and the financing of terrorism. Although a number of programmes are being implemented to enhance Jamaica’s economy and tackle the influence of crime organizations on small businesses, doing business in the country is still considered difficult.
The protection of witnesses remains a significant challenge in Jamaica. While victims are meant to receive support from prosecutors, as well as through the justice ministry's victim-support unit (including being allowed to provide video testimony from abroad), this has not happened in any trafficking cases. Prevention programmes, however, are active across the country and focus on issues such as human trafficking and drug use, although funding remains a challenge.
Jamaica has an active civil society, which often works alongside its state counterparts on initiatives aimed at supporting at-risk youth in vulnerable communities. The National Integrity Action, for example, is an important civil society organization working to combat corruption in Jamaica, and the signing of the National Consensus on Crime Memorandum of Understanding by leaders both within the state and civil society is an illustration of the successful collaboration between state and non-state actors on the issue of organized crime. Jamaica also has among the most free press environments globally. Media outlets in the country are considered to be fairly independent, and journalists are able to work free from threats of violence or censorship.
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The criminal markets score is represented by the pyramid base size and the criminal actors score is represented by the pyramid height, on a scale ranging from 1 to 10. The resilience score is represented by the panel height, which can be identified by the side of the panel.
A series of 13 discussion papers, one for each illicit market considered during the development of the Index.
Read more on globalinitiative.net
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This report was funded in part by a grant from the United States Department of State.
ENACT is funded by the European Union and implemented by the Institute for Security Studies and INTERPOL, in affiliation with the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime.
The opinions, findings and conclusions stated herein are those of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime and do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Department of State.