Matthew, Anne --- "llicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook" [2006] QUTLawJJl 9; (2006) 6(1) Queensland University of Technology Law and Justice Journal 162

BOOK REVIEW

ANNE MATTHEW [*]

Robert J Kelly, Jess Maghan and Joseph D Serio,
Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook
(ABC CLIO, 2005) 260 pp

The rise of globalisation and associated economic interdependence are high on the agendas of international organisations, national legislators and law enforcement organisations worldwide.[1] Among the most significant concerns is the capacity for a concurrent expansion of opportunities for crime.[2] Containment is a central issue.[3] The speed at which industry and business have moved to globalised platforms is largely attributed to innovations in science, engineering, industrial production techniques and communication technologies, which are typically internet enabled. Since the early 1980s these factors have played a significant role in the adoption of business models premised upon the international amalgamation of industry and business practices along with foreign investment.

Naturally, globalisation has also generated a wealth of literature and academic research. Conventional approaches to this subject area have focused on the application of globalisation to established legal and economic paradigms with significant research devoted to the impact of globalisation on matters such as foreign exchange, intellectual property rights, crime, mobility of capital resources and knowledge in a conventional sense.[4] In Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook, Kelly, Maghan and Serio juxtapose this approach with an analysis of the impact of globalism on non-conventional economic and legal paradigms, in particular, those associated with ‘illicit’ global movements of goods and services. Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook considers these contemporary issues in the context of global smuggling operations.

Consistent with other works in the Contemporary World Issues series, this book is intended as an introductory reference point to the subject featuring an historical overview and an excursus on current problems and issues. The brief history of trafficking in Chapter 1 focuses upon explaining the rise of trafficking organisations, the nature of current illicit trafficking, current issues and approaches to containment. Global illicit trafficking exists in a vast array of illegal markets. Earlier research has considered its extension into, for example, the smuggling of adults,[5] children,[6] human organs, drugs,[7] weapons,[8] components of weapons of mass destruction (particularly nuclear materials),[9] intellectual property,[10] stolen artifacts of cultural significance (such as antiquities, art and items of national or indigenous import),[11] terrorism[12] and money laundering.[13] Chapter 2 examines current issues in these illegal markets. Another chapter is comprised entirely of a chronology of significant events in this area.

Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook includes short bibliographical sketches of seventeen key figures relevant to the chronological analysis, including (among others), Osama bin Laden, Manuel Noriega, Monzar Al Kassar, Al Capone, Pablo Escobar (aka ‘The Godfather’), and Sa Khun (aka ‘The Prince of Death’). Aside from a short chapter summarising the authors’ conclusions, the balance of the book devotes 91 pages to statistical references, lists of international agencies and organisations, and other resources for researchers or students of the area. This particular aspect of the book is very carefully organised and appears easy to use.

Although legal theorists expecting this book to present a seminal work on the area may be disappointed, it nevertheless represents a contribution to the subject area which is likely to be welcomed by students, educators and practitioners. Indeed, the breadth of topics canvassed within the work is compelling and represents a rich tapestry, if not a comprehensive cataloguing of illicit trafficking in its various forms and manifestations. As a contribution to the subject matter, it is important to remember that the book is designed to be viewed as a launching pad into the subject area rather than a decisive work or indeed an attempt to challenge existing paradigms based on prevailing theories. The book is part of a series designed primarily to provide an overview and resource to various contemporary subjects. Books in this series are intended to provide a ‘good starting point for research by high school and college students, scholars and general readers as well as by legislators, business people, activists and others’.[14] The series is typically written by ‘professional writers, scholars and nonacademic experts’.[15] Indeed, the authors of Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook hail from academic and international business intelligence backgrounds specialising in criminology, terrorism, crime control and social distress.[16]

Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook is available as an eBook at www.abc-clio.com. In order to access the eBook version, readers must subscribe to the entire abc-clio library, although 30 day free preview trials are available upon registration. The advantages of this eBook format are online accessibility, bookmarking with your own notes, and the added functionality of search tools. However, it is disappointing that the eBook simply reproduces the printed format of the book. An online format typically presents an opportunity for keeping a resource book of this nature updated, however an online updating facility does not appear to be available with this eBook offering. While Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook serves well as an overview and account of current and emerging issues in this area, its value as a reference tool that devotes a considerable proportion of its volume to pointing to current resources is likely to be limited by the static nature of a printed book.

The legitimacy of a work of this type should not necessarily be benchmarked against the robust application of accepted legal economic or academic paradigms. While seminal works on this subject matter typically approach this topic from a robust theoretical foundation, this book remains of value when accepted for what it purports to offer: an introduction and overview of the subject area coupled with lists of currently available useful resources. It seeks to present a resource-rich volume of information on the subject area for new scholars of this topic. This book serves as a useful introduction for students or practitioners who may have an interest in the topic or who may be interested in conducting further work in the subject area.

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[*] LLB (Qld), LLM (QUT), Solicitor (Qld), Associate Lecturer, Queensland University of Technology, School of Law
[1] See further D Joyner, ‘The Proliferation Security Initiative: Nonproliferation, Counterproliferation, and International Law’ (2005) 30 Yale Journal of International Law 507; O Greene, ‘Examining International Responses to Illicit Arms Trafficking’ (2000) 33 Crime Law and Social Change 151; J Sherry, ‘US Legal Mechanisms for the Repatriation of Cultural Property: Evaluating Strategies for the Successful Recovery of Claimed National Patrimony’ (2005) 37 George Washington International Law Review 511; W Cragg, ‘Ethics, Law, Globalization and the Modern Shareholder Owned Multinational Corporation’ in W Cragg (ed), Ethics Codes, Corporations and the Challenge of Globalization’ (2005).
[2] See further V Ruggiero, ‘Criminals and Service Providers: Cross-National Dirty Economics’ (1997) 28 Crime Law and Social Change 27; W Chambliss, ‘The Politics of Crime Statistics’ in C Summer and W Chambliss (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Criminology (2004); R Baker, Capitalism’s Achilles Heel: Dirty Money and How to Renew the Free-Market System (John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, 2005) 11-23; D Liddick Jnr, The Global Underworld: Transnational Crime and the United States (Praeger, 2004); Parliamentary Joint Committee on the Australian Crime Commission, Parliament of Australia, Cybercrime (2004).
[3] See further M Cain, ‘Globality, Glocalisation and Private Policing’ in C Summer and W Chambliss (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Criminology (2004).
[4] See for example, P Reichel (ed), Handbook of Transnational Crime & Justice (Sage Publications, 2004); K Meyer and T Parssinen, Webs of Smoke: Smugglers, Warlords, Spies and the History of the International Drug Trade (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 1998); H Warzazi, Exploitation of labour Through Illicit and Clandestine Trafficking (United Nations, 1986); C Roman, H Ahn-Redding and R Simon, Illicit Drug Policies, Trafficking and Use the World Over (Lexington Books, 2005); J Humphrey, Deviant Behaviour (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2006).
[5] See further A Aronowitz and M Peruffo, ‘Trafficking in Human Beings and Related Crimes in West and Central Africa’ in C Summer and W Chambliss (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Criminology (2004).
[6] Ibid.
[7] See further for example, K J Laidler, ‘Globalisation and the Illicit Drugs Trade in Hong Kong’ in C Summer and W Chambliss (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Criminology (2004); Meyer and Parssinen, above n 4; Roman, Ahn-Redding and Simon, above n 4 and Humphrey, above n 4.
[8] See further Greene, above n 1.
[9] See further for example, Joyner, above n 1.
[10] See further C Summer and W Chambliss (eds), The Blackwell Companion to Criminology (Blackwell Publishing, 2004).
[11] See further for example, Sherry, above n 1.
[12] See further for example, Joyner, above n 1.
[13] See further Summer and Chambliss, above n 10; Baker, above n 2; M Beare, ‘Voluntary Ethical Conduct: Anti-Money Laundering Compliance and the Financial Sector’ in W Cragg (ed), Ethics Codes, Corporations and the Challenge of Globalization’ (2005); A Block and C Weaver, All is Clouded by Desire: Global Banking, Money Laundering and International Organized Crime (Praeger, 2004); J Handoll, Capital, Payments and Money Laundering in the European Union (Richmond Law & Tax, 2006); Commonwealth Secretariat, Combating Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing: A Model of Best Practice for the Financial Sector, the Professions and Other Designated Businesses (London, 2005).
[14] R Kelly, J Maghan and J Serio, Illicit Trafficking: A Reference Handbook (ABC-CLIO, 2005), publisher’s note. See also ABC CLIO <http:// www.abc.clio.com/visitortools/> at 22 February 2006.
[15] Kelly, Maghan and Serio, above n 14.
[16] Ibid 259.