Govt warned about organized crime

Govt warned about organized crime

SEMARANG (JP): Leading criminologist Mulyana W. Kusumah warned
that Indonesia must thoroughly prepare itself to deal with
international organized crime which is now expanding operations
worldwide.

International crime organizations like the Mafia, the Triads
and the Yakuza, as well as Columbia-based narcotics cartels, are
spreading their activities throughout the world, including East
Asia, Mulyana, of the Jakarta-based University of Indonesia.

He said there is also another crime syndicate, whose name is
less familiar in Indonesia, that is based in the former Soviet
republics.

These organizations deal with various kinds of crimes from car
thefts, selling nuclear materials, smuggling migrants, computer
crimes, trafficking drugs, selling firearms, to environmental
crimes and money laundering, Mulyana told The Jakarta Post.

"The operation of these organizations has become a social,
economic and political threat to many countries, both the
developed and developing ones," he said.

Mulyana, an executive of the Indonesian Legal Aid Foundation,
said the organizations exploit loopholes in banking regulations
in certain countries to legally deposit their money. They also
invest some of their funds in legal businesses, he said.

Even though many countries have ratified the UN convention
against money laundering, this does not affect the organizations,
which have "political support" from certain governments, Mulyana
said.

He praised the domestics police for their idea of cooperating
with the international police to develop a national central
bureau as an effort to cope with international crime activities.

A developing country with high economic growth like Indonesia
could become a target for international crime operations,
especially because of the intensified business interactions and
the weak regulations, he said.

"Clearly, the door is open for them to run both legal and
illegal businesses," he said.

Mulyana also underlined the need for a good governance to
prevent international crimes.

Good governance can only be established if there is proper
accountability by the government, enough room for social control,
and strong law enforcement, which could stop the practice of
corruption and collusion between business people and government
officials, Mulyana said.

He supported the statement of the Minister of Justice Oetojo
Oesman, who recently said that because the national criminal code
had universal principles, the government should fully support
international cooperation pattern to fight transnational
organized crimes. Cooperation is needed not only in the
investigation process, but also in prosecution and trials,
Mulyana quoted the minister as saying.

Mulyana said the effort to combat international crimes should
include not only the reformation and improvement of the national
legal system, but also the drafting of new international
agreements. (har/sim)