Law-Enforcement Disruption of a Drug Importation Network

By Carlo Morselli and Katia Petit, GLOBAL CRIME VOLUME 8 NUMBER 2 (MAY 2007)

The key takeaway is this: Networks are ordinarily seen as beneficial to the participants and the purpose (raison d'être) of the network. But in a context where the network is targeted by a determined adversary who is willing to be patient, each network adaptation to adverse action only reveals more/other/new assets which can be targeted in turn - and which would not have been known had the network not been so targeted. In other words, a hierarchical structure is likely to limit the damage while a networked structure can result in cascading failure. Or as the authors conclude:

"The persistent pressures that were imposed on the network fleshed out the limits of flexible order. Criminal networks have the unfortunate ability to grasp an increasing number of participants who fall into the guise of control and because such networks are not generally organized around one central node, prolonged investigations are able to follow more participants as they become more implicated over time. Disruptive modes of control and intelligence gathering have tapped into this feature. In such control contexts, flexible operations such as the Caviar network are at a disadvantage because their capacities to continuously shift toward new opportunities and expand toward newer participants provide a wider outlook for law-enforcement agencies than would be the case with the more ‘hard edged’ criminal organizations that are characterized by solidity and longevity, but that offer less restructuring and expansive powers when targeted."

Replace drugs with websites, and the drug dealers with the people involved in operating those sites (and the related media organizations), and you'll see what I'm getting at.

Posted on 27 October 2009 @ 13:14