Common menu bar links
Criminal Markets
As is the case in most markets, criminal markets trade in goods and services, for the most part according to the principles of supply and demand. Criminal markets are thus dynamic and evolving over time as they react to market forces that also include competition from other organized crime groups, technological innovation, and law enforcement action.
“Organized crime is an issue that affects ordinary Canadians. While many of its activities seem to have no direct bearing on the lives of law-abiding citizens, the consequences of organized crime are farreaching and insidious...and touch each and every one of us.” RCMP Commissioner |
The core characteristic of a criminal market is its illegality, be it in the good or service being traded, or the actors (organized crime groups and individuals) involved.Although the actor(s), good(s) or service(s) may not be criminal in nature, the transaction(s) are. Criminal markets often emerge whenever organized crime identifies and exploits loopholes (i.e. regulatory) in legal markets that then become profitable market niches for it. Fraud of any type exemplifies the criminal exploitation of a legitimate process.There are also purely criminal markets, such as illicit drugs, with no equivalents in the legitimate economy; thus it is not a case of finding market loopholes, but of providing illegal good(s) and service(s). Legal and criminal markets often run parallel and operate simultaneously. It is these current dynamics of the criminal activities’ scope within Canada and the degree to which they impact society that is of concern to law enforcement, and expressed within this report.
