DoJ’s new strategy

“As international organized criminals have adapted their tactics over time and embraced emerging technology, we too must adapt,”said Attorney General Michael Mukasey. “With this strategy, we're building a new, 21st century program that we believe will be nimble enough to fight the threat of international organized crime for years to come.”

The new playbook was developed after a report last October called the International Organized Crime Threat Assessment drew attention to reasons why global crime has flourished: the globalization of business (both legal and illegal), technological advances like the Internet, and new, cozier relationships in many countries among criminals, public officials and business leaders.

The assessment also noted that international organized crime poses specific threats to the security of and rule of law in the United States, which may be why the various government branches decided to act. Those threats include organized criminals’ prominence on global energy markets, their logistical and other support to terrorists, their exploitation of the U.S. financial system to move illegal profits, their manipulation of securities exchanges, their penchant for fraud and their corruption of public officials worldwide.

The strategy will involve these federal agencies: the Bureau of Investigation; the Drug Enforcement Agency; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); the Secret Service, the Internal Revenue Service, the Postal Inspection Service, Diplomatic Security and the Department of Labor’s Office of the Inspector General.

“Partnerships among law enforcement agencies are our most effective weapon in combating international criminal networks,” said ICE official Julie Myers. “These criminal organizations pursue profit, without regard for national boundaries, international laws or human life.”