Must Read Book: Illicit: How Smugglers, Traffickers, and Copycats are Hijacking the Global Economy by Moisés Naím 

https://www.amazon.com/Illicit-Smugglers-Traffickers-Copycats-Hijacking/dp/1400078849/ref=sr_1_1?crid=FDDGDHY4D5V&keywords=illicit&qid=1580684786&s=books&sprefix=illicit%2Caps%2C174&sr=1-1

I was given this book for Christmas. It is several years old, but I suspect that the situation is an order of magnitude worse today. This is not a political book. If anything. I suspect the author, who was editor of Foreign Policy Magazine for 14 years, is slightly left of center.

I knew the situation was bad, but it is much worse that I thought. Even at that time, illegal trafficking in slaves, arms, drugs, fake goods, stolen intellectual property, endangered plant and animal species, fake medications (many deadly), dirty money and other items contributed as much as 10% of the global economy. The criminals have moved beyond hierarchical organizations like the mob and the cartels to be loose networks on international criminals that move between country, failed states, and criminal black holes to deal in any number of the illicit goods I mentioned. Governments are fighting a losing battle, hamstrung by regulations, differing laws in different sovereignties, and borders. Call this crime without borders, highly profitable crime that touches not only all corporations, but all people. Read this book.