CIRCLING THE WAGONS With globalisation and the porousness of borders, criminals are banding together to increase profits. There needs to be greater cross-jurisdictional collaboration for us to even stand a chance of thwarting their plans. Today, criminals operate in sophisticated ways that may be beyond government agencies. A regular law enforcement officer may not possess expertise on something like cryptocurrency. Governments must get used to relying on financial institutions and private sector experts who have the relevant technical knowhow. For instance, the success of Operation DisrupTor, a 2020 international investigation targeting drug traffickers on the dark web, was a result of such cross-agency collaboration. Its joint task force – consisting of law enforcement agencies from multiple countries and private sector partners – was able to infiltrate supposedly anonymous corners of the internet to arrest 179 criminals worldwide, and seize US$6.5 million dollars and 500kg of drugs. These criminal activities cross borders, and that is what is required of our law enforcement if we are to successfully combat them. Collaboration between agencies, governments and even private sectors is vital in staying one step ahead of scam groups. Otherwise, they can easily set up, scam thousands, launder the proceeds and disappear in the time that one agency takes to mobilise a response alone. The common mindset that governments have is that once criminals cross the borders, it is someone else’s problem. This is an irresponsible way to think – we can’t simply take the benefits of globalisation and then turn our backs on international crime. Shane Britten is the CEO of Crime Stoppers International, a global non-profit organisation that educates communities about transnational crime and works closely with law enforcement agencies around the world to fight it.
Commentary: To shut down scam operations, follow the money trail to the mastermind
