Organized crime is responsible for a death toll comparable to that of armed conflicts worldwide, according to recent United Nations estimates. Since 2000, organized criminal groups have been linked to approximately 95,000 homicides annually, closely matching the average annual death toll from armed conflicts, which is around 92,000.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres warned that transnational organized crime takes many forms but consistently results in weakened governance, misconduct, lawlessness, open violence, death, and destruction. Research by the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicates that organized criminal networks account for about one-fifth of all intentional homicides globally, rising to nearly half in parts of the Western Hemisphere.
Drug trafficking contributes to hundreds of thousands of overdose deaths each year, including around 600,000 linked to opioids, according to the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO). Violence against journalists, community leaders, and human rights defenders further erodes institutions and public trust.
By 2024, gangs controlled an estimated 85 percent of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, as per UNODC analysis. Additionally, cyber-enabled crime is increasingly lucrative; in East and Southeast Asia alone, online scams caused estimated losses between US $18 billion and US $37 billion in 2023.
These figures raise questions about why organized crime receives less international attention despite its significant impact.
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