Cross–border crime turning over £560bn

Turnover of cross-border organised crime is about £560 billion a year, more than six times the total of official development aid, and stopping this “threat to peace” is one of the greatest global challenges, the UN office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) said yesterday.

The most lucrative businesses for criminals are drug trafficking and counterfeiting, it said, launching an awareness-raising campaign about the size and cost of cross-border criminal networks.

“Millions of victims are affected each year as a result of the activities of organised crime groups with human trafficking victims alone numbering 2.4 million at any one time,” UNODC said.

The figure is equivalent to 1.5 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product.