The Encyclopedia Of International Organized Crime

In the U.S., organized crime has largely been associated with the Mafia. What this encyclopedia attempts to do is provide a definitive reference source that reveals the depth and breadth of all organized criminal activity around the world. In 450 entries, it covers all of the major criminal groups, detailing their origins and operations and showing their interconnectedness.

According to the book's introduction, the definition of organized crime by Interpol, the organization set up to enhance international police cooperation, is "any enterprise or group of persons engaged in a continuing illegal activity which has as its primary purpose the generation of profits irrespective of national boundaries." With this definition in mind, the encyclopedia includes entries on crime bosses as well as gangs, nationalities, drug cartels, activities, and crime-fighting laws and groups. Examples include Bonanno crime family, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Human trafficking, Jamaican Posse, Motorcycle gangs, Tongs, and Triads. Why do motorcycle gangs rate an entry? Because "they pose a general threat to society and law enforcement through their possession of sophisticated weapons and intricate intelligence network." One also reads about the POBOB, or Pissed Off Bastards of Bloomington, a group of bikers who attended a rally held in Hollister, California, the weekend of July 4, 1946, which legend holds to be the genesis of the outlaw gangs. POBOB later became known as the Hell's Angels. This is just one of the interesting its of information that make the encyclopedia so readable.