It has been a while since I recommended the book GOMORRAH, by Roberto
Saviano. It describes organized crime networks in Italy and across Europe
and is one of the keys (IMO) to understanding what is happening in Mexico
and Central America also.  Highly recommended.

Crime ranks as one of world’s ‘top 20 economies’, UN official says

Crime generates an estimated US$2.1-trillion in global annual proceeds – or 3.6% of the world’s gross domestic product – and the problem may be growing, a senior United Nations official said on Monday.

“It makes the criminal business one of the largest economies in the world, one of the top 20 economies,” said Yury Fedotov, head of the U.N. Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), describing it as a threat to security and economic development.

The figure was calculated recently for the first time by the UNODC and World Bank, based on data for 2009, and no comparisons are yet available, Fedotov told a news conference.

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