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
3.20
An assessment of the value, prevalence and non-monetary impacts of a specific crime type.
Human trafficking
3.00
Illicit activity involving coercion, deception, abduction or fraud for the purpose of exploitation, regardless of the victim’s consent.
Human smuggling
2.50
Activities by an organized crime group involving the illegal entry, transit or residence of migrants for a financial or material benefit.
Arms trafficking
5.00
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
2.00
The illicit extraction, smuggling, mingling, bunkering or mining of natural resources and the illicit trade of such commodities.
Heroin trade
1.00
The production, distribution and sale of heroin. Consumption of the drug is considered in determining the reach of the criminal market.
Cocaine trade
7.00
The production, distribution and sale of cocaine and its derivatives. Consumption is considered in determining the reach of the market.
Cannabis trade
7.00
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
1.00
The production, distribution and sale of synthetic drugs. Consumption is considered in determining the reach of the market.
Criminal actors
5.00
An assessment of the impact and influence of a specific criminal actor type on society.
Mafia-style groups
1.00
Clearly defined organized crime groups that usually have a known name, defined leadership, territorial control and identifiable membership.
Criminal networks
6.50
Loose networks of criminal associates engaging in criminal activities who fail to meet the defining characteristics of mafia-style groups.
State-embedded actors
6.50
Criminal actors that are embedded in, and act from within, the state’s apparatus.
Foreign actors
6.00
State and/or non-state criminal actors operating outside their home country. Includes foreign nationals and diaspora groups.
Political leadership and governance
6.00
The State's role in responding to organized crime and its effectiveness. Strong political leadership/governance suggests higher resilience.
Government transparency and accountability
5.00
The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities.
International cooperation
6.00
A country's supranational structures and processes of interaction, policy making and concrete implementation to respond to organized crime.
National policies and laws
6.50
A state's legal action and structures put in place to respond to organized crime.
Judicial system and detention
7.00
Refers to a state’s judiciary’s power to effectively and independently enforce judgments on organized crime-related cases.
Law enforcement
4.50
The state’s ability to investigate, gather intelligence, protect and enforce adherence to its rules and procedures against organized crime.
Territorial integrity
6.00
The degree to which states are able to control their physical and cyber territory and infrastructure against organized criminal activities.
Anti-money laundering
5.50
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
2.00
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
2.50
Assistance provided to victims of various forms of organized crime, including initiatives such as witness protection programs.
Prevention
4.00
Refers to the existence of strategies, measures, resource allocation, programmes and processes that are aimed to inhibit organized crime.
Non-state actors
5.00
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
6.00
The State's role in responding to organized crime and its effectiveness. Strong political leadership/governance suggests higher resilience.
Government transparency and accountability
5.00
The degree to which states have put oversight mechanisms in place to ensure against state collusion in illicit activities.
International cooperation
6.00
A country's supranational structures and processes of interaction, policy making and concrete implementation to respond to organized crime.
National policies and laws
6.50
A state's legal action and structures put in place to respond to organized crime.
Judicial system and detention
7.00
Refers to a state’s judiciary’s power to effectively and independently enforce judgments on organized crime-related cases.
Law enforcement
4.50
The state’s ability to investigate, gather intelligence, protect and enforce adherence to its rules and procedures against organized crime.
Territorial integrity
6.00
The degree to which states are able to control their physical and cyber territory and infrastructure against organized criminal activities.
Anti-money laundering
5.50
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
2.00
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
2.50
Assistance provided to victims of various forms of organized crime, including initiatives such as witness protection programs.
Prevention
4.00
Refers to the existence of strategies, measures, resource allocation, programmes and processes that are aimed to inhibit organized crime.
Non-state actors
5.00
The degree non-state actors are allowed to engage in OC responses and their roles in supporting State efforts/ as watchdogs to governments.
St. Kitts and Nevis serves as a waypoint as well as a destination country for human trafficking, primarily for a relatively small forced-labour and sexual-exploitation market, with victims often coming from other countries in the Caribbean. There is little evidence of human smuggling in the country, although some reports suggest St. Kitts and Nevis may be used as a transit point for such operations.
St. Kitts and Nevis is also a destination and transit country for illegal arms, mostly trafficked into the country hidden in commercial shipping vessels from the United States. Internally, illegal arms are smuggled into St. Kitts and Nevis, mainly to meet the demands coming from local gangs. However, an amnesty offered in 2019 led to these groups cooperating with authorities and handing over guns, which resulted in a drop in the homicide rate in the country.
Although there is no evidence to suggest a flora-crime market exists in St. Kitts and Nevis, illegal fishing and sea-turtle poaching do take place on the islands, albeit the scale may be too small for these to constitute a criminal market. While there is no information available to indicate the presence of a non-renewables criminal market, there is some risk of the purchase of precious metals and gems facilitating money laundering.
St. Kitts and Nevis’s strategic geographic location and its regular direct flights to the United Kingdom make the country a key trans-shipment hub for drug shipments originating in South America on their way to the US and Europe. This has led to significant growth in the cocaine market, with foreign actors controlling the most pervasive criminal economy in the country and local groups organizing transport and logistics. Local cocaine consumption is very limited. Cannabis is decriminalized for recreational, religious and medicinal use, with reports suggesting the vast majority of the domestic crop is consumed locally. Arguably, the drug represents the most valuable market in the country. There is no evidence to suggest that other drug markets, either heroin or synthetic drugs, exist in St. Kitts and Nevis.
*This indicator was first included in the 2023 iteration of the tool
*This indicator was first included in the 2023 iteration of the tool
While there is no evidence of mafia-style groups operating in St. Kitts and Nevis, criminal markets seem to be controlled by loose criminal networks and small gangs, all of which tend to mostly operate around the country’s borders and have links to South American crime organizations.
State actors are actively involved in enabling money laundering in the country, a crime that is also facilitated by the Citizen by Investment Programme, which has provided organized crime groups with the opportunity to purchase local passports. In addition, some foreign nationals who choose St. Kitts and Nevis as a holiday or residential destination are involved in drug trafficking, with Venezuelans known to be overseeing cocaine shipments.
Although authorities in St. Kitts and Nevis have been somewhat successful in curbing violence, the use of the country as a safe haven for money laundering is still considered a considerable challenge to governance, particularly due to the country’s strong bank-secrecy laws and lack of transparency when it comes to legal entities. In addition, the country’s Citizen by Investment Programme, which allows travel to 140 countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom and the European Union, without a visa, is believed to facilitate systematic corruption and fraud. Nevertheless, St. Kitts and Nevis has a set of anti-corruption laws in place, which for the most part appear to be enforced adequately. Assessments also point to fair transparency in governance. Although legislation on freedom of information has been passed rather recently in the country, in 2018, it is still to be institutionalized.
St. Kitts and Nevis has signed and ratified a number of international treaties pertaining to organized crime. The country is also open to international cooperation, as illustrated by the programmes currently in place, funded by the United Kingdom, the United States and the European Union, to improve law-enforcement and intelligence-gathering and -analysis capacities. National laws also cover crimes related to organized crime, although many pieces of legislation need revising.
St. Kitts and Nevis’s justice system seems to be independent and not affected by high levels of corruption, although investigations and successful prosecutions against organized crime groups are still rare. The penitentiary system, however, suffers a number of challenges, including overcrowding, mainly due to high numbers of inmates in pre-trial detention. Although St. Kitts and Nevis has no anti-organized-crime unit, with the exception of one for narcotics, the police boast good levels of public trust. Nevertheless, there are indications of law enforcement in the country being influenced by the political class. Despite the natural vulnerabilities to organized crime it faces, St. Kitts and Nevis is broadly capable to police its borders.
St. Kitts and Nevis has an operational financial intelligence unit, along with established law-enforcement cooperation mechanisms related to money laundering and a mechanism for the identification and forfeiture of assets obtained illegally. Despite the laws and procedures in place, not a single charge related to money laundering has been brought up in the country since 2015. The country is also vulnerable to money laundering because of the lack of transparency regarding the beneficial ownership of legal entities and its strict secrecy laws. Thus, the overall risk of money laundering is very high. In addition, doing business in St. Kitts and Nevis is considered to be very difficult due to challenges in registering property, low access to credit and high taxes.
Victim and witness protection in St. Kitts and Nevis is minimal, although these are both considered essential due to the relatively high number of murders of witnesses. The country has, however, several prevention programmes aimed at tackling the root causes of crime, including the social environment in which the perpetrators live, which have yielded positive results in reducing the homicide rate over time. Civil society organizations also play a key role in crime prevention, particularly in areas including human trafficking, drug consumption, arms trading and law-enforcement training. Although the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression, the state owns the only television channel in the country and the opposition is said to face some restrictions to its access. Defamation is a criminal offence and some journalists reportedly self-censor in order to avoid pressure from the authorities.
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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.