GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany —
Transnational criminal organizations have benefitted from globalization, said the deputy assistant secretary of defense for Counternarcotics and Global Threats in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict.
Thomas Alexander spoke to 88 participants from 54 countries as the keynote speaker for the Program on Countering Transnational Organized Crime at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies Aug. 24. The Marshall Center is a German-American international security and defense studies institute based here.
National Security Concerns
“Overlapping networks enable transnational criminal organizations to move illicit shipments quickly throughout the world,” Alexander said. “They also face little risk of detection, due to the sheer volume of global trade coming into container ports or the emerging trend of trafficking drug precursor chemicals directly to customers via the internet and global mail.”
Held twice a year, the CTOC course emphasizes how transnational organized crime threatens nations' national security. Lectures and case studies examine the major methods by which transnational criminal organizations engage in illegal activities. Seminar activities focus on methods to combat this threat through the development of…
