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
3.25
An assessment of the value, prevalence and non-monetary impacts of a specific crime type.
Human trafficking
3.50
Illicit activity involving coercion, deception, abduction or fraud for the purpose of exploitation, regardless of the victim’s consent.
Human smuggling
3.50
Activities by an organized crime group involving the illegal entry, transit or residence of migrants for a financial or material benefit.
Arms trafficking
3.00
The sale, acquisition, movement, and diversion of arms, their parts and ammunition from legal to illegal commerce and/or across borders.
Flora crimes
2.00
The illicit trade and possession of species covered by CITES convention, and other species protected under national law.
Fauna crimes
3.50
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
1.50
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
3.00
The production, distribution and sale of cocaine and its derivatives. Consumption is considered in determining the reach of the market.
Cannabis trade
4.00
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
5.50
The production, distribution and sale of synthetic drugs. Consumption is considered in determining the reach of the market.
Criminal actors
3.25
An assessment of the impact and influence of a specific criminal actor type on society.
Mafia-style groups
4.50
Clearly defined organized crime groups that usually have a known name, defined leadership, territorial control and identifiable membership.
Criminal networks
3.50
Loose networks of criminal associates engaging in criminal activities who fail to meet the defining characteristics of mafia-style groups.
State-embedded actors
1.50
Criminal actors that are embedded in, and act from within, the state’s apparatus.
Foreign actors
3.50
State and/or non-state criminal actors operating outside their home country. Includes foreign nationals and diaspora groups.
Political leadership and governance
8.50
The State's role in responding to organized crime and its effectiveness. Strong political leadership/governance suggests higher resilience.
Government transparency and accountability
8.50
The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities.
International cooperation
8.50
A country's supranational structures and processes of interaction, policy making and concrete implementation to respond to organized crime.
National policies and laws
8.50
A state's legal action and structures put in place to respond to organized crime.
Judicial system and detention
8.00
Refers to a state’s judiciary’s power to effectively and independently enforce judgments on organized crime-related cases.
Law enforcement
8.50
The state’s ability to investigate, gather intelligence, protect and enforce adherence to its rules and procedures against organized crime.
Territorial integrity
8.50
The degree to which states are able to control their physical and cyber territory and infrastructure against organized criminal activities.
Anti-money laundering
8.00
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
8.50
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
8.50
Assistance provided to victims of various forms of organized crime, including initiatives such as witness protection programs.
Prevention
8.00
Refers to the existence of strategies, measures, resource allocation, programmes and processes that are aimed to inhibit organized crime.
Non-state actors
8.50
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
8.50
The State's role in responding to organized crime and its effectiveness. Strong political leadership/governance suggests higher resilience.
Government transparency and accountability
8.50
The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities.
International cooperation
8.50
A country's supranational structures and processes of interaction, policy making and concrete implementation to respond to organized crime.
National policies and laws
8.50
A state's legal action and structures put in place to respond to organized crime.
Judicial system and detention
8.00
Refers to a state’s judiciary’s power to effectively and independently enforce judgments on organized crime-related cases.
Law enforcement
8.50
The state’s ability to investigate, gather intelligence, protect and enforce adherence to its rules and procedures against organized crime.
Territorial integrity
8.50
The degree to which states are able to control their physical and cyber territory and infrastructure against organized criminal activities.
Anti-money laundering
8.00
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
8.50
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
8.50
Assistance provided to victims of various forms of organized crime, including initiatives such as witness protection programs.
Prevention
8.00
Refers to the existence of strategies, measures, resource allocation, programmes and processes that are aimed to inhibit organized crime.
Non-state actors
8.50
The degree non-state actors are allowed to engage in OC responses and their roles in supporting State efforts/ as watchdogs to governments.
Although various forms of human trafficking are prevalent in New Zealand, the scale of the market is nevertheless fairly limited, particularly when considered in a global context. The human-trafficking market in New Zealand is characterized predominantly by forced labour and sexual exploitation. Migrant communities are particularly vulnerable to exploitative practices, including debt bondage, in several sectors, including agriculture, construction and hospitality. Furthermore, there are known instances of migrant workers, primarily from South-eastern Asia, being subjected to debt bondage, physical violence, psychological abuse and the confiscation of their passports on fishing vessels that sail in New Zealand territorial waters under foreign flags. Female foreign nationals are primarily lured into New Zealand under false pretences of legitimate employment in industries such as the hospitality and beauty sectors, only to be forced to work in brothels or on chat websites.
As with the human-trafficking market, the human-smuggling market in New Zealand is fairly limited. Although there are isolated cases of criminal actors providing fraudulent passports to foreign nationals in order to allow them entry to New Zealand, a culture of acceptance of immigration, strong border security and extremely low levels of corruption among border agencies in the country, combined, have thus far proven very successful in preventing organized-crime groups from taking hold of the human-smuggling market.
Until recently, New Zealand’s relatively lax gun laws allowed huge numbers of privately owned firearms to remain unregistered. In the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings, new legislation, together with a weapons amnesty, has reduced the number of firearms available and increased reporting and ownership obligations. Nevertheless, there is a risk that the tightening of gun laws may exacerbate the black market for small and light weapons. One pressing concern in New Zealand is the increasing availability of firearms to gangs.
The environmental-crime markets in New Zealand are very limited in scope and scale. The logging sector in the country is well regulated, including timber imports, and illegal logging cases are few and far between. Similarly, fauna crimes are uncommon, although seizures of illegal wildlife products at New Zealand’s borders have increased substantially in recent years, suggesting the country’s role as a transit or destination country is increasing in significance, in particular for the illegal trade in ivory. Domestically, native jewelled geckos are the primary target for poaching and illegal export, but such incidents remain small in number. On the other hand, there appear to be limited evidence to support the involvement of organized crime groups in the illicit extraction or trafficking of minerals or other non-renewable resources.
The drug markets are the country’s most pervasive organized criminal markets, particularly the synthetic-drug market. New Zealand is a destination country for methamphetamine originating primarily from North America, but also Central and Latin America. Domestic methamphetamine production, concentrated primarily on the North Island, appears to be on the rise. Organized-crime gangs are heavily involved in the methamphetamine market, in terms of both the manufacture and the importation of the drug. While the lower price of methamphetamine compared to certain other drugs in New Zealand suggests a high availability of the drug, it also likely indicates that no gang has a monopoly in the drug market.
Cannabis is also widely cultivated in New Zealand and is thought to be the second most widely consumed drug, after methamphetamine. Organized-crime groups are heavily involved in cannabis supply chains in the country. The heroin and cocaine markets are far less pervasive in New Zealand, in terms of both use and the country’s role in the transnational trade of the two drug types.
*This indicator was first included in the 2023 iteration of the tool
*This indicator was first included in the 2023 iteration of the tool
The face of organized crime in New Zealand is mafia-style gangs – both traditional ethnic gangs and motorcycle gangs – and gang membership has been on the rise in recent years. While different groups have their own geographical strongholds and may be involved in various criminal enterprises, the common thread is drugs, methamphetamine in particular. These gangs have amassed criminal networks that extend across New Zealand and internationally. Such groups have considerable control over certain territories and there is mounting evidence that gang leaders are reorganizing and professionalizing gang structures across the country. As a result, the threat of inter-gang violence has heightened. While loose criminal networks are less pervasive, they are prevalent in certain criminal markets, such as the human-trafficking market, for example, and tend to be concentrated in New Zealand’s cities.
Foreign criminal actors – in particular cartels from Latin America – are heavily involved in the drug trade in New Zealand. However, foreign actors are most prevalent in the human-smuggling and human-trafficking markets, with unauthorized immigration brokers running their operations in source countries free of any oversight to provide fraudulent documentation and facilitate the onward exploitation of migrant workers in New Zealand. Conversely, state-embedded actors are the least prevalent types of criminal actors in the country. While isolated cases of attempted or actual infiltration or corruption within law enforcement agencies by organized criminal actors have been reported, there is no evidence to suggest that state-embedded actors are systematically involved in, or turn a blind eye to, organized crime in New Zealand.
New Zealand is among the most stable democracies in the world. The October 2020 re-election of Jacinda Ardern as prime minister, with a sizeable majority, reflects high levels of public trust in her administration, which has only been heightened by her effective handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The government has been vocal in its desire to combat transnational organized crime and has backed this up with increased investment for anti-organized crime efforts. Corruption levels in New Zealand are among the lowest in the world, thanks in large part to a robust rule of law and strong, independent oversight institutions. The country’s anti-corruption legislation is solid and budget transparency is extensive.
New Zealand is a party to all relevant international treaties and conventions pertaining to organized crime, including the UNTOC and its three Palermo protocols, the UN Convention against Corruption and the UN’s various conventions on narcotics and psychotropic substances. Furthermore, New Zealand’s extradition procedures enable swift extradition even to countries with whom they have not signed a bilateral agreement. New Zealand plays a crucial role in regional cooperation on matters pertaining to organized crime, participating in a number of multilateral organizations and forums, and providing substantial assistance to Pacific island countries to tackle transnational organized crime. Domestically, the government has published a holistic transnational organized crime strategy, due to run from 2020 to 2025, which aims to detect and disrupt organized crime, placing a particular emphasis on prevention and capacity building. The country also has a robust legal framework covering several organized-crime types, including the Gangs and Organized Crime Bill introduced in 2009.
New Zealand has an independent and well-functioning judiciary that is free from corruption and undue political influence. However, prosecution levels of organized crime offences are low and prosecution of human trafficking offences, in particular, have decreased in the past year. Furthermore, pre-trial detention has increased in recent years following the relaxation of length restrictions and the tightening of bail conditions. New Zealand’s location as a remote island nation makes the country a popular destination for organized crime groups seeking to traffic various illegal commodities in the region. However, its isolation is also a natural barrier to certain forms of organized crime, such as human smuggling. Overall, law enforcement capacity is high, with a number of specialized anti-organized crime entities in place, including the Organised and Financial Crime Agency of New Zealand, the National Intelligence Centre and an anti-human trafficking operations group comprising immigration and law enforcement agencies to increase law enforcement cooperation.
New Zealand has an extremely strong economy, relative to its size, and the regulatory environment in the country is robust and conducive to doing business. In 2019, prior to the pandemic, the unemployment rate reached its lowest level in over a decade and the informal sector in New Zealand as a share of national GDP is modest. However, the developed economy, strong regulatory and institutional frameworks, high degree of economic freedom and robust trade and communication infrastructure in the country also make it attractive to transnational organized criminals. Nevertheless, New Zealand remains a low-risk jurisdiction for money laundering and the government’s anti-money laundering framework is effective.
New Zealand has an active and diverse civil society. A number of non-governmental organizations work on issues related to organized crime, such as human trafficking support groups, and groups supporting drug rehabilitation. The media is an important component of civil society in the country, operating freely and capable of holding the government to account.
The government and law enforcement agencies in New Zealand have placed significant importance on organized crime prevention efforts through the implementation of the national organized crime strategy, support for youth offenders and a focus on reducing recidivism rates. The government has continued to implement public awareness campaigns on issues relating to organized crime and has increased efforts to prevent human trafficking and illicit financial flows through public–private partnerships. The government also provides training for law enforcement officials on treatment procedures for victims of human trafficking, but there is significant scope for improvement in government-led victim support services. With regard to drug use, the government has made important progress in its harm reduction strategy, including an early warning system designed to detect new or particularly harmful substances in the illicit drug market, in addition to a needle exchange programme and other measures.
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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.