Editorial

Citation

Veng Mei Leong, A. (2006), "Editorial", Journal of Money Laundering Control, Vol. 9 No. 4. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmlc.2006.31009daa.001

Editorial

Trafficking is an international crime which operates across national borders and affects many countries in the world. One of the most important international efforts in tackling trafficking is the UN Convention against transnational organised crime and its protocol to prevent, suppress and punish trafficking in persons, especially women and children. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, human trafficking is the fastest growing criminal business in the world and represents a core business of international criminal organisations. After the illegal trafficking of drugs and firearms, human trafficking has become the third most profitable criminal activity generating significant amount of proceeds.

REFLEX, a multi-agency taskforce, was established in the UK in May 2000 to co-ordinate the law enforcement response to organised immigration crime and the development of enhanced infrastructures within agencies to deal with organised crime groups engaged in human trafficking and smuggling. REFLEX has four main priorities including the identification and disruption of volume smuggling of designated nationalities; identification and disruption of organised trafficking in women and children for sexual or other exploitation; and identification and disruption of organised immigration crime which impacts on national security including private and public sector corruption. REFLEX also seeks to improve systems and procedures within the UK, EU and overseas to prevent human trafficking and people smuggling. Since, its establishment in 2000, REFLEX has achieved a number of successful arrests and prosecutions. In 2006, the issue of human trafficking is firmly on the agenda. The Home Office published a paper on “Tackling human trafficking – consultation on proposals for a UK action plan” in January 2006 to consult further efforts in combating all forms of human trafficking.

The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), established on 1st April 2006, is going to bring new concerted focus on groups in organised immigration crime. SOCA has made people smuggling and trafficking as its second priority after tackling drugs trafficking. In light of this new anti-organised crime strategy, the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP Centre) was created on 1st April 2006 under the statutory umbrella of SOCA. The CEOP Centre is no ordinary law enforcement organisation, it is unique in its approach by combining police powers with the dedicated expertise of government, business sectors, specialist charities and other interested organisations. In tackling child sex abuse, including the trafficking of children, intelligence is the key at the CEOP Centre and the importance of financial investigation is emphasised.

Although human trafficking is on top of the agendas of various international organisations and individual countries, there is still very limited knowledge about the methods being used by criminal organisations to launder illegal proceeds obtained from human trafficking and illegal immigration and much more needs to be done in combating human trafficking and associated money laundering. In 2005, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published a report[1] on the financial aspects of human trafficking which states that financial investigation conducted in parallel with the main investigation of the predicate offence (trafficking of human beings) has an important role in identifying the roots of a criminal organisation or trafficker and reducing the profitability of the crime.

To stay one step ahead, we need to think outside the box! Criminal law might not be the only weapon against human trafficking, alternative non-criminal repressive strategies, such as taxation and civil forfeiture, should be considered. Indeed, the potential for trafficking victims to recover under civil causes of action should also be explored.

Angela Veng Mei Leong

Note1.The report is the end result of work carried out by FATF and MONEYVAL, see FATF, Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Typologies 2004-2005.