Transnational Organised Crime 1.16. Transnational organised crime networks are expanding and diversifying their activities, resulting in the convergence of risks and threats that are increasingly complex and destabilising. The trafficking of illicit drugs and illegal guns are still the primary activities of transnational organised crime in the Region, but these criminal syndicates are diversifying their activities into areas such as increasingly sophisticated fraud, the smuggling of contraband cigarettes, petroleum, steel and other goods, and cyber-crimes such as the Lotto scam (now a thriving business in Jamaica). Smuggling contraband goods can be as lucrative as trafficking in drugs, but the penalties tend to be much lower. The emergence of new illicit commodities, including counterfeit engine parts and medicines (the World Health Organization estimates that more than 60% of pharmaceuticals in some developing countries are fakes) is of grave concern. Transnational Organised Crime Transnational organised crime encompasses virtually all profitmotivated criminal activities with regional and international implications. Illicit drugs, illegal guns, human trafficking and migrant smuggling, cyber-crime, financial crimes, identity fraud and the illicit trade of counterfeit products are some of the ways in which transnational organized crime manifests itself in the Region. 1.17. Transnational organised crime is primarily motivated by profit, power and prestige. The criminals are supported by the facilitators who help them to secure and conceal their assets. The increasing prevalence of the methods employed by transnational organized crime groups in the Region is intensifying corruption and penetrating the CARICOM business environment. 1.18. Transnational organised crime groups are increasingly operating through fluid networks rather than more formal hierarchies; these provide criminals with diversity, flexibility, low visibility and longevity. 1.19. Although national efforts are critical, they can also inadvertently displace the flow of transnational organized crime activities from one Member State to another, as traffickers rapidly adapt and find new sources, routes and transit zones. Once established, other criminal operations tend to follow to that new route and transit zone. So States must continue to strengthen their own capacity, but, given the trans-border nature of the risks and threats, national efforts must form part of a coordinated regional and international response. ILLICIT DRUGS COUNTERFEIT PRODUCTS IDENTITY FRAUD ILLEGAL GUNS TRANSNATIONAL ORGANISED CRIME ACTIVITIES FINANCIAL HUMAN TRAFFICKING / MIGRANT SMUGGLING CYBER-CRIME CRIMES 1.20. As an example of this effect, counter-narcotics strategies elsewhere are already having unintended consequences in the Region. An unintended consequence of initiatives in Colombia and Mexico (Plan Colombia and the Merida Initiative) is that there is already evidence that some traffickers are now using CARICOM Member States as a major transit route for the illicit flow of drugs to North America and Europe. 16