UN report warns of Asia crime syndicate expansion

Asia-based criminal gangs with a heavy involvement in illegal gambling are rapidly expanding across the globe, the United Nations has warned, with the organisation likening this growth to ‘cancer cells’.

According to the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Asia has become a playground for a sophisticated spiderweb of crime syndicates that exploit state vulnerabilities to sink their roots deeper. This activity is especially prevalent in East Asia, and organised crime groups are using this solid foundation to stretch out towards other global regions.

In the organisation’s latest report reviewing the underground world of Asia, Benedikt Hofmann, Acting Regional Representative for SE Asia and the Pacific, commented: “We are seeing a global expansion of East and Southeast Asian organised crime groups.

“It spreads like cancer. Authorities treat it in one area, but the roots never disappear; they simply migrate.

“This has resulted in a situation in which the region has essentially become an interconnected ecosystem, driven by sophisticated syndicates freely exploiting vulnerabilities, jeopardising state sovereignty, and distorting and corrupting policy-making processes and other government systems and institutions.”

“This reflects both a natural expansion as the industry grows and seeks new ways and places to do business, but also a hedging strategy against future risks should disruption continue and intensify in the region.”

The report further highlights that the organised crime groups in the region specialise in money laundering, fine-tuning their scope of operations to include the most modern financial tools to cover their tracks, such as cryptocurrencies.

It is a public secret that offshore Asian casinos – many of them affiliated with Asian crime kingpins – are very keen to offer crypto payments to their customers as a way to circumvent regulations.

The UNODC explored this in detail in its previous report, noting that drug trafficking as a means to move underground money has been replaced with not only controlling casinos and junkets, but also operating crypto marketplaces.