Argumentative Essay: The Problem Of Organized Crime

I disagree with Rachel’s premise that “organized crime is not any larger of a problem than it always was.” Organized crime has evolved greatly over time from types of crimes, the types of criminals and how these crimes impact society. The problem no longer only consist of just the Mafia and the Asian tongs, there are individuals and businesses to contend with. Yes, organized crime has been around for a long time and it has become more sophisticated. In becoming more sophisticated, the crimes themselves have changed along with their impacts on our daily lives. The players involved with organized crimes have changed due to a different set of needs to be obtained. When the Mafia was a strong presence, their main purpose was to maintain control of territories. Money and power come hand in hand with controlling their territories since they were the strong arms that would sell protection to the people. These groups would extort the local businesses in order to sell drugs, alcohol and sex. For these activities to proceed, there was more violence involved and the neighborhoods knew who the major crime families were. Today, the person sitting next to you on the train could be a criminal and you would be none the wiser. The drug trade spread out these territories and moved overseas, changing the face of organized crime. With the old
The fastest growing organized crimes today involve cybercrime, identity theft and fraud. Organized crime has become a global phenomenon with significant improvements in their modes of transportation, expanding technology and communication. The crimes themselves seem to have become entrepreneurial crimes since they deal with anything that can be profitable and exploited. The ways of the old fashioned gangster that was well-known in their district, now looks outdated. They have been replaced with globetrotting businessmen and hackers behind a computer