Posted: April 26th, 2022

Illegal Drug Use, Illegal Prostitution, and Money

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Illegal Drug Use, Illegal Prostitution, and Money
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Introduction
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says that the average amount of money made illegally around the world each year is more than $2 trillion. As of 2010, crime profits in the United States alone were worth an estimated $3,000 billion, or 2% of the country’s economy (D’Antuono, 2018). Notably, the success of illegal businesses depends on criminals using good plans to hide, transport, and get their hands on the money they make. Criminals have done money laundering because of these plans. Money laundering is hiding where the money from a crime came from so that it looks like it came from a legal source and encourages more crime (D’Antuono, 2018). Some of these wrong things to do are prostitution without a license and taking drugs without a prescription. Unfortunately, something like money laundering will have very bad effects on the economy and society as a whole. One can only guess how bad the effects of the three crimes will be on society as a whole and on the people who did them.
This research paper tries to figure out how the three illegal activities of money laundering, prostitution, and illegal drug use are related to each other. Different effects on different parts of society will be talked about. To fully understand, you will need to read a number of research articles.
Money laundering, prostitution, and drug use that are against the law
Dale (2019) says that illegal prostitution is a thriving business in the United States, and that it is worth an estimated $2.5 billion. But not much is known about how the people who run the illegal sex market get the money they make from it. This makes it hard for law enforcement to figure out where the illegal money came from. In particular, criminals who run prostitution businesses in the United States use a number of ways to wash money. The government of the United States is working hard to cut down on financial crimes and put in place policies that will help law enforcement agencies in their fight against sex crime.
Illegal drug trafficking, which helps spread drugs for illegal use, is also a good example of money laundering. Ferragut (2012) says that the United States has been the biggest market for illegal drugs around the world. This is because it has a border with Mexico that is 2,000 miles long. Mexico is the number one country that sells illegal drugs. Even though the US has been fighting drugs for more than five years, there are still a lot of illegal drugs coming into the country. This is because of the laws of supply and demand (Ferragut, 2012). The organizations that make money from the sale of illegal drugs need to “wash” the money so that it can’t be traced back to them. Even though there have been plans made to stop money laundering and fight organized crime around the world, it still happens.
Criminals are known to do illegal duty evasion, which involves moving, hiding, and legalizing money made from doing something wrong. Rider (1992) says that the main reason
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes has estimated that illegal proceeds average over 2 trillion dollars annually in the global space. As of 2010, the United States alone had crime proceeds generating an estimated $3000 billion, which was 2% of the country’s economy at the time (D’Antuono, 2018). Notably, the success of illicit enterprises relies on criminals deploying effective strategies to hide, transport, and access the outcomes from their illegal proceeds. These strategies have led criminals to engage in money laundering. Money laundering entails masking the origins of crime proceeds for them to appear legitimate and promote illegal conduct (D’Antuono, 2018). Some of these unlawful activities are unlawful prostitution and the use of illicit drugs. Unfortunately, an event such as money laundering will cause grave and severe consequences to the national economy and society. One could only imagine the extent of severity that the three crimes will cause to society at large and the individuals involved.
This research paper seeks to understand the interconnection between the three illegal activities; money laundering, prostitution, and illicit drug use. The discussion will include different effects on different societal aspects. A proper understanding will entail a review of several research articles.
Money Laundering, Illegal Prostitution, and Illegal drug use
According to Dale (2019), illegal prostitution is a flourishing market in the United States, with its size being estimated to reach 2.5 billion dollars. However, there is little knowledge of how the perpetrators can get their proceeds from the illegal sex market. This makes it very hard for law enforcement agencies to unwrap the illicit funds. Notably, the United States has several money laundering schemes utilized by the criminals in operating the prostitution activities. The United States authorities are working hard to reduce financial crimes and implement policies that will strengthen the ongoing efforts of law enforcement agencies focussed on fighting sex crime.
The money laundering practices are also evident in the running of illegal drug trafficking that propagates for its illicit use. According to Ferragut (2012), the United States has been the primary market for unlawful drugs globally. This is attributed to the 2000 mile border it shares with Mexico, which ranks first as the provider of illicit drugs. While the country has been fighting drugs for over half a decade, the flow of illegal drugs into the United States is still rampant with the laws of supply and demand prevailing (Ferragut, 2012). The proceeds that arise from the use of illegal drugs need to be laundered by the respective organizations to ensure that the assets remain untraceable. Money laundering continues even with the formulation of anti-money laundering initiatives focussed on fighting organized crime around the world.
Criminals are known to engage in illegal duty evasion, which entails the movement, covering, and legitimizing profits gained from unlawful behavior. According to Rider (1992), the primary inspiration driving the avoidance of tax payment is rendering it immeasurable in the verification that the justice systems end up accepting the money. The “smudged” money goes through a cycle of several trades until it becomes untraceable that it is considered money that is both legal and clean. To this effect, the criminal ends up using the profits from unlawful activities with no form of fear towards the law enforcement agencies.
Some of these cycles will include illegal expense shirking, which is considered one of the most significant industries as it ranks with oil trade and foreign exchange. Furthermore, tax avoidance is globally estimated to range between 2 and 5%of the total national yields. The club business will provide further contention as it advances the wagering prompts. For wagering to excel and the survey payments extended, controllers get to have an extended capacity that will reduce the managerial standards and handle the other complications arising from distinct competitions. Apart from the offers of wagering amusements, the betting organizations will capture various budgeting operations such as save transactions through wire trade, money exchanges, and expansion of game credits. As the criminal activity of money laundering continues, the transfer of economic and political power between different parties and entities prevails with contentious credentials. To this effect, the money laundering effect will, in its own right, cause potentially envious threats to the public and national security. The more these criminal groups continue to acquire new economic strength, the stronger their influence on the political landscape and gaining essential ownership positions in strategic industries.
Effects of Money Laundering, Illegal Prostitution, and Illegal drug use
Each of these activities has distinct effects on society in different aspects. However, the fact that the three happen concurrently means the community needs to find ways to mitigate its impact. The primary effects of money laundering are economic and social. According to McDowell & Novis (2001), the first economic effect of money laundering is its diminishing effect on the legitimate private sector. Most criminals that engage in money laundering will utilize the leading companies doing legitimate businesses to hide their proceeds. For instance, a criminal could use a pizza parlor to conceal the profits gained from drug trafficking. The front company will access adequate illegal funds to subsidize their goods or services to lower levels in comparison to market rates. Others may offer products at lower prices in contrast to the manufacturing expenses. Notably, this gives the front companies a competitive edge while making it hard for legitimate businesses to have a healthy competition with the former.
McDowell & Novis (2001) also point out other economic effects, including the undermining effect on financial markets’ integrity and the loss of control in economic policies. Financial organizations relying on crime proceeds will have further problems in managing their assets, liabilities, and operations. For instance, when a vast amount of laundered money comes into a financial institution and disappears immediately before they notice through wire transfers. The financial institution is bound to face liquidity challenges and runs in its operations (McDowell & Novis, 2001). On the issue of losing control in the economic policies, the illegal proceeds outdo government budgets that it cannot control any of their respective systems. Some of the small economies or markets have been noted for using an asset5 base of laundered money to stabilize themselves.
The social costs associated with money laundering are significant, considering the process entails making criminal activities worthwhile (McDowell & Novis, 2001). For instance, drug trafficking, smuggling, and usage will expand operations as long as there are enough financial resources to keep them running. More individuals will be forced into prostitution as they are given little tips and promised higher amounts of money if they continue to do as instructed. The government is bound to incur higher costs as they work on strengthening the laws and law enforcement agencies, along with the expenditures in catering to health services for drug addicts.
Among the socio-economic effects that accrue from money laundering is the economic power vested on criminals from the rightful citizens, the market, and the government. When these individuals get this kind of power, the criminals find it easy to carry out illegal activities without being afraid of law enforcement (McDowell & Novis, 2001). Corruption becomes a common element in distinct societal factors. An extreme effect is that they could virtually take over the current government and run it. Therefore, money laundering is a complex and dynamic problem that society continues to face. The global nature of this challenge only demands that global standards and cooperation are achieved if key stakeholders are to fight the criminals’ capacity to launder their proceeds and continue with their criminal activities.
One cannot understate the effects of prostitution and drug use, especially those that engage in the practices. A study done by Wiechelt & Shdaimah (2011), would indicate that most women involved in these two practices suffer from trauma and mental disorders such as PTSD. Notably, these conditions customarily come up during their childhood experiences, then they fail to get the proper help that would aid them in handling the situations. They could end up joining groups that lure them to doing these activities as ways to cope with their mental issues. Unfortunately, a considerable percentage of them find it hard to find the right treatment models to help them deal with their problems. Clinical professionals have indicated that it is challenging to create a criminal profile for these individuals, which would help in selecting the right treatment strategies that would work effectively.
In consideration of men who use drugs, it becomes difficult for them to fend for their families as they work only to satisfy their insatiable desire for the drugs. The men could easily engage in crime as they look for funds to purchase the drugs. Therefore, it becomes an infinite cycle of crime and individuals that are mainly mentally damaged, impeding their capacity to lead healthy lives. Thus, the society works on handling the social and economic effects of money laundering; there is also the need to manage the individual challenges faced by the individuals who engage in the crime.
Strategies to Deal with the Crimes and their Effects
The application of situational prevention techniques could be useful in handling these crime specific challenges. These techniques require that it is essential that the details of a crime are known and understood to enhance familiarity levels in the crime commissioning process (Gilmour, 2013). In this approach, its implementation focuses on five categories of techniques that will primarily be focussed on preventing crimes. The initial presumption of applying the situational methods is that it is done promptly when on an appearance of the earliest opportunity. These five techniques are increasing efforts, increasing risks, reduction of rewards, reduction of provocations, and removal of excuses. Notably, these techniques acknowledge that various anti-money laundering (AML) techniques have been implemented by various authorities (Gilmour, 2013). Therefore, for the situational prevention techniques to work in conjunction with the AML techniques, there is a need to achieve a balance between regulatory mechanisms and the freedom required to pursue business in the streets.
The first technique of “increasing efforts” is based on the assumption that offenders commit crimes because the stakeholders have made it easy for them. This technique will bring in activities such as target hardening, access controls into facilities, utilization of screen exists, deflection of offenders, and use of control weapons to reduce the crimes (Brantingham, Brantingham & Taylor, 2005). The implementation of these preventive measures needs to be done with extra efforts. As the offenders increase their efforts towards their money laundering activities, the more effort key stakeholders should put in their measures.
The second technique entails increasing the levels of risks that will be associated with committing a particular crime. In this case, the implementation of the right measures in an adequate manner will efficiently deter any potential offenders from committing crimes. The different ways that stakeholders may increase the risks associated with committing a crime include an extension of guardianship, Helpance in natural surveillance, reduction of anonymous parties and transactions, utilization of place managers, and making formal monitoring stronger (Brantingham, Brantingham & Taylor, 2005).
The third technique of reducing rewards entails ensuring that potential offenders are deterred from committing a crime in which the rewards gained are incomparable to the immense efforts needed. Instances in which criminal activities have had their awards reduced include target concealment, identification of the property, market disruptions, and denial in benefits that could accrue in committing the crimes. This technique believes that rewards can never be ceased if money laundering continues to be considered a necessity rather than an issue that needs to be tackled.
The fourth technique focuses on the reduction of provocations. An individual will commit a crime when triggered by particular situations. It is, therefore, important that these provocations are reduced to satisfactory levels, which will discourage any crime behaviors (Gilmour, 2013). Notably, money laundering is known not to be provoked by certain circumstances considering many see it as a requirement for the illegal funds. Therefore, in this case, the provocations handled are the specific crimes that are drug addiction and prostitution. It is essential that better social environments are created, which are characterized by reduced frustrations, reduced stress levels, reduction in emotional arousals, neutralization of peer pressure, among other measures (Gilmour, 2013). The main objective of this technique is to find the provocations that lead to the commitment of certain crimes and reducing them.
The final technique is the removal of excuses, which entails the reduction of existent options that act as contributors to the commissioning of a crime (Gilmour, 2013). The technique is propagated by the fact that the offenders can make moral judgments in situations concerning their conduct and actions. The methods improvised here include imposing strict regulations, setting up instructions, Helping potential criminals in complying, and controlling the access to the drugs and other substances. The above techniques clearly illustrate handling these crimes from their initial stages.
Conclusion
The contemporary societies are forced to handle the three issues of prostitution, the use of illegal drugs and money laundering. These three crimes are interconnected, with many individuals engaging in them potentially being involved in all three. The three crimes have severe impacts on society on distinct aspects, including economically, socially, and individually. Nonetheless, key stakeholders need to find the best strategies that could help; alleviate the crimes and mitigate the associated effects.

References
Brantingham, P., Brantingham, P., & Taylor, W. (2005). Situational crime prevention as a critical component in embedded crime prevention. Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice, 47(2), 271-292.
D’Antuono, S. (2018, November 29). Combating money laundering and other forms of illicit finance. Retrieved from https://www.fbi.gov/news/testimony/combating-money-laundering-and-other-forms-of-illicit-finance
Dale, Y. (2019). Money Laundering in the Commercial Sex Market in the United States. Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence, 4(4), 1.
Ferragut, S. (2012). Organized Crime, Illicit Drugs, and Money Laundering: the United States and Mexico. International Security Programme Paper, 1, 1-30.
Gilmour, J. N. (2013). Improving the Prevention of Money Laundering in the United Kingdom- A Situational Crime Prevention Approach. University of Portsmouth
McDowell, J & Novis, G. (2001). The Consequences Of Money Laundering And Financial Crime. Economic Perspectives • An Electronic Journal of the U.S. Department of State • Vol. 6, No. 2, May 2001
Rider, B.A.K. (1992). “Fei Ch’ien laundries: the pursuit of flying money (Part I)”. Journal of International Planning, Vol. 1 No. 1, p. 77.
Wiechelt, S. A., & Shdaimah, C. S. (2011). Trauma and substance abuse among women in prostitution: Implications for a specialized diversion program. Journal of Forensic Social Work, 1(2), 159-184.

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