Transnational organised crime destroys lives and communities and is a crucial human security issue.

The activities of organised gangs can also weaken and corrupt a state to the extent that it risks collapse. Yet, peace and security NGOs often tend to overlook it as a key security issue.

To address this, Open Briefing has launched a new series of monthly intelligence briefings on transnational organised crime. Researched and written by Dr Mary Young, each month’s briefing will focus on a different region covered by our regional intelligence desks. The first in the series, published today, focusses on the Americas, and includes details of a drug smuggling trial of four French citizens that highlights corruption and human rights abuses in Dominican Republic’s judiciary.

Dr Young is a contributing analyst at Open Briefing. She is a lecturer in law and a researcher of transnational organised crime and financial crime at the Bristol Law School at UWE. After completing her PhD, she was made a research fellow at Aberystwyth University, and carried out research into organised crime in Jamaica. She subsequently taught international finance in Aberystwyth’s School of Management and Business. Mary also has a fellowship at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at Cambridge University.