Comparing notes: Collaborative networks, breeding environments, and organized crime

Abstract

Collaborative network theory can be useful in refining current understanding of criminal networks and aid in understanding their evolution. Drug trafficking organizations that operate in the region directly north of Colombia's Valle del Cauca department and the "collection agencies" that operate in the Colombian city of Cali have abandoned hierarchical organizational structures and have become networked-based entities. Through the exposition of Camarinha-Matos and Afsarmanesh's business networking ideas, this chapter examines the similarities and differences between the application of collaborative networks in licit enterprises, such as small and medium enterprises in Europe, and how the networks might be used by illicit criminal enterprises in Colombia. © 2009 IFIP.