Abstract
The overall growth of organized crime, including the extension of criminal
organizations to criminal enterprises and the expansion into more sophisticated criminal
avenues ( e.g., cyber crime) has become a cause for concern among federal law
enforcement in America. Transnational organizations, such as Asian and Eurasian
syndicates are affecting the economic state of the U.S. by embezzling millions of dollars
through various fraudulent scams (healthcare fraud, phishing, credit card scams, id theft,
insurance fraud, etc.) (Mukasey, 2008). This, in combination with the millions of drugs
and weapons, and the hundreds of humans trafficked a year (for purpose of prosecution,
slave trade, etc.) are all ways that organized crime could be considered a threat to national security in the U.S. It remains debatable however, as to what exactly constitutes
a threat to national security. The purpose of this study is to examine the possibility of
organized crime as a threat to national security. By conducting a series of in-depth
interviews with Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force Agents, this paper takes
a closer look at organized crime as a threat to national security.
