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Countering Transnational Organized Crime Is a New Mission for the Department of Defense

• Success in counternarcotics has been traditionally measured by the amount of illicit drugs interdicted.
• However, even if drug flow reduction goals are met, the drug trafficking infrastructure would still be in place.
• Countering transnational criminal networks requires identifying the critical nodes in the criminal organizations and determining where operations can achieve the greatest effect.
• Gaps in authorities may create difficulties in military abilities to participate in this effort.

Destabilizing Effects of Transnational Criminal Networks

• These criminal organizations take root in supply areas and transportation nodes while usurping the host nations' basic functioning capacity.
• Over time, the illicit economy grows and nonstate actors provide an increasing range of social goods and fill the security and political vacuum that emerges from the gradual erosion of state power, legitimacy, and capacity.

The U.S. Army Could Play a Role in Combating Transnational Criminal Networks

• Combating transnational criminal organizations is an endeavor in which the Army could help develop interagency and multinational strategies to more effectively counter these organizations and then assist with planning to implement those strategies.
• Such initiatives would constitute a valuable expansion from the Army's current efforts to build partner capacity, perform network analysis, and support detection and monitoring.