The illicit trade of cigarettes has become a multi-billion dollar business today and has taken centre stage in the global debate in the last few years. There are various ways in describing the illicit cigarette trade: contraband, counterfeit, illicit whites, and diverted cigarettes. This organized crime enables corruption, undermines good governance, deprives governments of tax revenue, threatens national security, and facilitates other transnational organized crimes such as money laundering and/or human trafficking. International efforts and cooperation between organizations such as INTERPOL, the World Customs Organization, the European Anti-Fraud Office, governments, businesses, and non-governmental organizations have seen tangible results.
How does the tobacco industry address this crime, and where does the illicit cigarette trade intersect with human trafficking? This discussion will examine supply chain management and promising practices to identify risk, as well as current multi-stakeholder approaches and partnerships at the global, transnational, and national levels.
Do you know of any initiatives and/or organisations working with the private sector on human trafficking issues?
The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime (GI-TOC) and the Global Business Coalition Against Human Trafficking (GBC...Read More
The RESPECT founding organizations, Babson College’s Initiative on Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery, the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, and the International Organization for Migration, proudly announce that we have been chosen as the Research Lead to guide the...
Watch Kyle Ballard's presentation "Zero, Some, or Zero-Sum: Exploring Trade-Offs in Identifying Human Trafficking Among Migration Flows" below. Kyle is the Senior Coordinator for Reports and Political Affairs in the U.S. Department of State’s Offi...Read More
Considered among the best cities to work and live in the US, San Diego also ranks in the FBI’s 13 highest-intensity trafficking areas in the country.
Sex trafficking generates $810m in annual revenue for local pimps and gangs, making it the county...Read More