21.    TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

21.1   The dark side of globalisation is transnational crime. There are currently two main 'products' traded illegally across borders - drugs, and people (firearms may be a third). Money laundering across international borders also attracts attention, although the amounts are not as large as the money transferred that is the proceeds of regulatory evasion or avoidance (not of crime as such). In the case of drugs and people there is a mismatch between official regimes in the destination countries (drugs and illegal migrants are proscribed) and actual demand (drug consumption is highest in the developed world; ageing, well educated populations have a demand for low-skilled labour).

21.2   The trade is also fuelled by the situation in source countries. This often reflects the natural dynamic between poorer more populous countries and richer neighbours - Turkey and Europe, or Mexico and the United States. The collapse of communist control systems has fuelled these trades. In such a climate illegal or semi-legal 'enterprises' flourish.

21.3   But there are a number of ways in which they impinge on us, apart from our generic interest as a citizen of the world.

• Distance is no longer protection. Sizeable drug hauls in Australia and New Zealand suggest that we are already a way station, if not a destination, for international drug dealers.

• As regimes are tightened elsewhere, New Zealand may be seen as a soft target, especially given our open border with Australia.

• South Pacific countries are vulnerable to drugs and money laundering, with, as already indicated, obvious repercussions for New Zealand.

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