Content uploaded by Martin Joseph Gallagher
Author content
All content in this area was uploaded by Martin Joseph Gallagher on Jan 28, 2021
Content may be subject to copyright.
Nexus or not? The relationship between terrorism and organised crime - Policing Insight
OPINION:
Nexus or not? The relationship
between terrorism and organised crime
OPEN 28th January 2021Martin Gallagher, Police Scotland
Scholars and practitioners have debated the extent to which terrorism and organised crime
form a nexus. Serving officer Martin Gallagher examines the evidence - and concludes that,
regardless of the overlap, the criminal justice system needs to be alive to the distinction in
motivations between serious and organised criminals, and those engaged in terrorist
activities.
The links between terrorism and organised crime are often debated in both operational and
academic circles. Failed, or failing states, are where the interdependencies between those
involved in either (or both) terrorism and organised crime are often at their most stark.
Just now this is perhaps most true in Africa. Excellent work by David Lewis and Ryan
McNeill of Reuters (Lewis and McNeill, 2019) has highlighted the growing extent that
groups linked to Al Qaeda and the Islamic State movements have been undertaking a wave of
extortion amongst unregistered gold miners in Burkina Faso, reaping massive profits in the
process and utilising established smuggling routes to move their loot.
The reason they are able to act with such impunity is a lack of police competence and
legitimacy, with apparent endemic police corruption and a lack of military resources
available to contain the situation.
It is perhaps failed states that best illustrate why actors participating in the phenomena of
terrorism and organised crime can often find themselves in co-operation, as the interplay is so
obvious. In Burkina Faso the terrorist factions are almost operating in plain sight, as the
degree to which they can be policed is so weak due to the lack of a tangible legitimate
presence to provide this checking force.
Parallels
You might think the streets of western cities are far removed from the plains of the Sahel in
Burkina Faso. In a geographical sense they may be, but in terms of policing there are direct
parallels to the problems the service faces.
Perri et al. posit that organised crime has its strongest influence where the rule of law is at its
weakest and where law enforcement performance is poor, particularly in ‘parts of otherwise
Nexus or not? The relationship between terrorism and organised crime - Policing Insight
viable states where law and order is absent or compromised, including urban quarters
populated by diaspora communities’ (Perri, Lichtenwald and MacKenzie, 2009).
Gaining legitimacy and trust amongst diaspora communities is difficult for all state agencies,
but particularly for the police. This is for practical and cultural reasons.
In practical terms the language barrier between agencies and their public is likely to be
significant. For cultural reasons it can be difficult for established policing services to
understand the nuanced and under-the-surface relationships that exist amongst their new
citizens.
US Mafia
Historically, the Italian émigré community to the Unites States is a perfect example to reflect
upon. The vast majority of Italian citizens were law abiding, and seeking a new life.
However, amongst them were largely unsophisticated extortionist groups, such as ‘the Black
Hand’, who had preyed on their fellows during their existence in peasant poverty and fully
intended to in their new emerging communities (Dash, 2009).
A lack of trust in the agents of the state in their native Italy led to a distrust from the law
enforcement agencies of their new home and consequently little was done by US police to
counter this new threat they knew little about.
As any student of American history knows, with the introduction of prohibition these groups
such as the Black Hand metastasised into the Mafia, which went on to plague the Unites
States for decades (Albini, 1971).
Sweden
The historical resonance of such a situation can be seen today in Sweden, which has
experienced hundreds of bomb blasts (BBC News, 2019), and where senior police officers
are warning of the development of ‘parallel societies’ (Financial Times, 2019).
The country didn’t even record bombings as a crime before 2017. However, as criminal
groups have grown amongst their diaspora communities established during the wave of
immigration from Africa and the Middle East over the last decade their conflicts have now
reached the status where they cannot be ignored.
Just as the Mafia grew to the stage where conflict between factions resulted in international
newspaper headlines such as the St. Valentine’s Day massacre, Sweden is also experiencing
the consequences of an unfortunate lack of intelligence penetration of its new communities.
Sweden is one of the most liberal and tolerant communities in the world, and the probity of
its police force is well renowned. It will take some deep soul searching to understand how
this situation has emerged, but the fact that organised criminals are using terrorist tactics
(explosions to engender fear/‘terror’) on its streets to settle their disputes is now beyond
question.
Nexus or not? The relationship between terrorism and organised crime - Policing Insight
United Kingdom
And the UK? The journalists of the Stoke Sentinel knew Usman Khan, the London Bridge
attacker, well (Stoke Sentinel, 2019). In an article reflecting on their contact with him they
write of Khan’s engagement with youths involved in local gangs, and his cohort’s attempt to
convert them to Islam.
I think that given the plotting he was undertaking with his group at the time (to plant
explosives in the London Stock Exchange) we can be certain this conversion of those in
danger of becoming involved to organised crime was not of one to the peaceful religion of
Islam, but instead to the perverted form of ‘Caliphate’ driven radical Islamism he followed.
The fact that he and his associates were targeting those susceptible to gang culture is of
significant import. Many scholars have pointed to this convergence between organised crime
and terrorism.
Renowned terrorism scholar Marc Sageman notes that, in relation to modern terrorism,
expatriate communities are the recruiting ground of the current jihad against the West. The
influence of friendship, kinship, shared isolation through expatriate experience has led to
‘seventy percent of the terrorists join(ing) the jihad as expatriates’ (Sageman, 2005).
Similarly, Jason Burke finds Islamic State recruits to be drawn from “immigrant gangs (that
mix) jihadism with gangsta criminality” (Burke, 2015).
Distinctions
Although the phenomena have much in common there are though still clear distinctions to be
drawn. Organised criminals may seek kudos and reputation from their acts, in addition to
profit (as might terrorists) but ultimately there is (almost never) a political value set driving
their actions while for terrorists there is.
While it is right we should see terrorists as criminals we cannot dismiss the fact that
ultimately, to varying extents, they are politically motivated criminals. Any attempt to turn
them away from their terrorist endeavours must take this into account, and seeking to
rehabilitate them in the same manner as those who have carried out crimes, let alone those
involved in organised crime, does appear to set off on a false premise. Motivation is of
significant import – the Mens Rea is as important as the Actus Reas.
It came as no surprise to me that Khan’s post release mentor from the desistance and
disengagement programme, speaking to the Sunday Times under conditions of anonymity,
cited the overwhelming drive of his agency to focus on adherence to licence conditions rather
than concentrate on Khan’s belief set (The Times, 2019).
This is highlighted by recent reporting of the views of Jonathan Hall, QC, the government’s
independent reviewer of terrorism legislation, who sees an “increasing drumbeat of links”
between prison and terrorist attacks, with offenders not being properly punished for owning
radical material, preaching extremism and inciting violence (The Times, 2021)
This returns us to the ongoing tension in the criminal justice system to focus on quantifiable
measures, rather than the qualitative judgement of professionals. When you do this, without
Nexus or not? The relationship between terrorism and organised crime - Policing Insight
taking any account of nuance, it comes down to output rather than outcome. You can help a
released terrorist with their CV and Universal Credit, and tick a box for doing so resulting in
a spreadsheet looking like positives have been achieved, but if they still think like a terrorist
the result is going to be tragic.
There is no formula for this where you put x ‘positives’ in from the state and you get a person
who thinks differently. This is about individuals, and understanding the wholly alternative
value set they have embraced.
Terrorists are a type of criminal, and should be regarded as such. But this shouldn’t detract
from the need to remember their ultimate motivations and alternative value set that lets them
function beyond the norm.
References
Albini, J.L., 1971. The American Mafia, Genesis of a Legend. New York, USA: Meredith
Corporation.
BBC News, 2019. Sweden’s 100 explosions this year: What’s going on? Available at
<https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-50339977>
Burke, J., 2015. The New Threat from Islamic Militancy, London: The Bodley Head.
Dash, M., 2009. The First Family: Terror, Extortion and the Birth of the American Mafia,
London: Simon & Schuster
Financial Times, 2019. Police chief warns gang violence is a threat to Sweden’s democracy.
Available at <https://www.ft.com/content/8cfa6212-4270-4962-a200-949a868c7cbe>
Lewis, D. and McNeill, R., 2019. “How Jihadists Struck Gold in Africa’s Sahel”, Reuters
Special Report, https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/gold-africa-islamists/
Perri, F.S., Lichtenwald, T.G. and MacKenzie, P.M., 2009. ‘Evil Twins, the Crime-Terror
Nexus, The Forensic Examiner. Winter 2009, 16-29.
Stoke Sentinel, 2019. ‘We’re going to carry on until the last breath’ – How London Bridge
murderer Usman Khan’s radicalisation began in Stoke-on-Trent. Available at
<https://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/news/stoke-on-trent-news/were-going-carry-until-last-
3609481>
Sageman, M., 2005. “The Normality of Global Jihadi Terrorism”, The Journal of
International Security Affairs, Spring 2005 – Number 8, 1-12.
The Times, 2019. I warned of risk from London Bridge terrorist Usman Khan — and was
ignored. Available at <https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/i-warned-of-risk-from-london-
bridge-terrorist-usman-khan-and-was-ignored-553xwxnrx>
The Times, 2021. Prisons too soft on extremist inmates, warns terrorism watchdog. Available
at < https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/prisons-too-soft-on-extremist-inmates-warns-
terrorism-watchdog-bwp0r0378>