Graham: Organized crime has a new face in illicit trade
National law enforcement and local retail groups want Americans to understand that the issue of illicit business counterfeiting organized retail crime and human trafficking is bigger and more dangerous than preponderance people realize How big Illegal deal is a trillion criminal enterprise that crosses every national boundary and reaches every shopper s laptop How bad In Florida crooks have been stealing entire gas stations In Hillsborough County vans were coming into gas stations at night and parking over the top of the fill tanks revealed Ned Bowman with the Florida Petroleum Marketers Association They were dropping a pump down into the tanks pulling up the diesel fuel and gasoline They had set up a temporary filling station with tanks and gas pumps in the middle of a field where all the dump trucks and people were coming and filling their tanks Bowman mentioned The point is that in this era of organized retail theft they ll steal anything that s not tied down That could have been the theme at this year s United to Safeguard America from Illegal Contract USA-IT National Summit in Washington earlier this month Whether it s trafficked kids trapped in forced work or counterfeit kids toys stuffed in a Christmas stocking most of of this illicit arrangement is primarily handled by the same criminal groups explained USA-IT representative Alysa Erichs Criminal networks are quick to exploit weaknesses in our commerce and financial systems for profit with zero concern for population safety No single agency can address this challenge alone Erichs the former acting executive associate director for Homeland Shield Investigations announced what makes the modern illegal-trade market so powerful and dangerous is convergence Cybercriminals move profits through the same channels as weapons traffickers or use counterfeit-goods sales to launder money through retail theft Revenues from stolen retail goods can be used for fentanyl cocaine and other narcotics which come to the United States via the same drug cartels that also run human smuggling While a flash mob of shoplifters may look like teenagers randomly stealing handbags or jewelry these are sophisticated criminal networks that are looking for vulnerabilities announced Raul Aguilar with Auror a private retail-crime intelligence company It s not just gift card fraud or credit card fraud but actual stores that are being targeted for the specific products that these criminal organizations know exactly what to take Like Erichs Aguilar is a former HSI investigator Petitioned about his preponderance surprising bust Aguilar explained it was a relatively ho-hum circumstance of retail theft until investigators discovered people were being held against their will in a concrete room forced to peel off the precaution devices from the stolen goods While sex trafficking tends to make the headlines Tasha Hippolyte with the DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking stated the summit it represents just of the million casualties of human trafficking worldwide When we break down the prevalence of forced labor or labor trafficking it represents about percent Hippolyte explained That ranges from agribusiness to sweatshop work to retail crime While the horrors of human trafficking are global she mentioned the mission of the CCHT is to fight it locally The preponderance vital aspect is to share with local everyday folks who may not realize they can play such an critical role Hippolyte mentioned Just going to local hospitality units hotels etc and restaurants and sharing information with their staff on what human trafficking is what the indicators are and more importantly if you do see it what to do While the attendees advocacy national action such as passing the Combating Organized Retail Crime Act the summit repeatedly returned to the power of local law enforcement nonprofits and individual citizens to confront the illicit exchange that costs the American financial system billion annually according to USA-IT Barb Bergin the CEO of Crime Stoppers USA commented her organization encourages citizens to confront crime they know about in their neighborhoods Hearing all the pitfalls and problems that come from illegal counterfeit items was huge from lost tax collections to the chemicals and minerals that are in selected of this merchandise Bergin reported Now we can go back to our communities and say Listen it s really central that if you know something about this you can anonymously tip your local Crime Stoppers activity We need to pay attention because illegal arrangement affects every one of us in a lot of techniques Michael Graham is the managing editor of InsideSources com
