Covid-19 is reshaping and challenging governments, societies and economies in previously unimaginable ways--but gangsters and profiteers have adapted. They have found new routes for illegal commodities, from narcotics to people. Shortages, lockdowns and public attitudes have brought the underworld and upperworld closer together, as criminals strive to meet needs, maximise opportunities and fill governance vacuums. Unscrupulous fraudsters are touting fake remedies to desperate people: counterfeit drugs, and trafficked wildlife used in traditional medicine. Social distancing and restrictions have seen online transactions and cyber-ops replacing or supplementing physical shipments, opening opportunities for scammers and hackers. Heavy-handed state responses have created new illicit markets by prohibiting the sale of particular goods and services, while some elites have capitalised on the pandemic for personal or political gain. Covid has cast a long shadow over the rule of law. Criminal Contagion uncovers its extraordinary impacts on the global illicit economy, and their long-term implications.

About the Author
Tuesday Reitano is the Deputy Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. She previously worked in UN System on development and organised crime. Mark Shaw is the Director of the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime. He was previously a professor of justice and security at the University of Cape Town, and a senior official in the UN Office on Drugs and Crime.

Reviews

'[Criminal Contagion] provides a chilling revelation as to the ways in which the coronavirus pandemic has enabled the international underworld to thrive.'

-- Geographical Magazine



Book Information
ISBN 9781787384460
Author Tuesday Reitano
Format Hardback
Page Count 304
Imprint C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd
Publisher C Hurst & Co Publishers Ltd