Environmental Crime and Organized Crime: The Criminal Convergence Between Pollution, Trafficking, and Illegal Profits

• In Event: Causes and Consequences of Environmental Crime and Injustice: Developments in Green Criminology

Abstract

Environmental crime is one of the fastest-growing criminal sectors worldwide, generating between $110 and $281 billion annually. While in Italy, organized crime groups (ecomafie) have long dominated illegal waste trafficking, illicit logging, and toxic dumping, in the United States, environmental crime is often linked to corporate fraud, wildlife trafficking, and transnational criminal networks. This paper examines the convergence between environmental crime and organized crime, focusing on the multiple layers of criminal involvement, from illegal pollution to money laundering and corruption.

Using case studies from Italy and the United States, this research highlights how criminal networks exploit loopholes in environmental regulations and use the same routes and infrastructures for multiple illicit markets, including wildlife trafficking, drug trade, and forced labor. The study further investigates judicial challenges in prosecuting environmental crimes, emphasizing how the perception of these offenses as “low-priority” crimes contributes to limited enforcement and weak international cooperation.

This paper argues for a reassessment of environmental crime as a serious transnational offense, advocating for stronger regulatory frameworks, enhanced investigative collaboration, and stricter sanctions against corporate and criminal actors profiting from environmental harm.

Author

• Maria Di Maggio, University of Bari