Algeria Ranks First In Arab World In Combating Organized Crime

Algeria was able to rank first in the Arab world in confronting organized crime, as indicated in a recent report of the “Global Organized Crime” Index 2021, issued by the Global Initiative to Combat Transnational Organized Crime.

This report was prepared with funding from the US State Department and with the support of the International Police organization “Interpol” and the Institute for Security Studies, and with the help of 350 experts of different nationalities.

Algeria, Jordan and Tunisia topped the Arab ranks among the countries with the least prevalence of organized crime, while the same report ranked Syria and Iraq Lebanon, Libya and Sudan as among the countries with the highest prevalence of organized crime.

The report relied on several indicators, including the crime market and its spread, the actors in it and ways to combat and deter it, and pointed out that the measures to close the borders imposed by the Corona virus pandemic contributed to the spread of illegal trade and the spread of the trade in fake medicines and vaccines, and that drug dealers were able to find ways to funnel their goods in essential supply shipments.

The report also indicated that the Corona virus pandemic caused the spread of the unemployment rate, which contributed to the spread of crime of all kinds, and human trafficking and this was classified as the most dangerous and most widespread crime in the world, followed by the illegal cannabis trade and arms trafficking.

In this context, the researcher in security and strategic studies, Nabil Kahlouche, revealed the reasons and indicators that made Algeria rank first in the Arab world in combating the spread of organized crime, stressing that it is necessary to define at the outset the main concepts for defining organized crime related to terrorism, illegal immigration, human trafficking and weapons, drug smuggling, black trade, and other new security and economic challenges that are troubling countries and causing regional and continental conflicts to combat them.

In a statement to “Echorouk” daily, Nabil Kahlouche explained that Algeria’s geographical location, which made it adjacent to the most dangerous country in drug trafficking, which is Morocco, made it gain great experience in confronting these toxins, especially cannabis, notably since Algeria has with this neighboring country a land border that exceeds 1,000 Km, which ranked it as one of the world’s leading countries in combating drug trafficking, “and this is what is revealed daily by the value of the large seizures of these narcotic substances, especially in the western borders”.

Our interlocutor added that the second indicator that enabled Algeria to take the lead in the Arab world in the face of organized crime is its Mediterranean view and as being Africa’s gateway to Europe with on focus large number of “harraga” or illegal migrants hailing from various African countries and thus confronting gangs of human and arms trafficking.

The third indicator, according to Nabil Kahlouche, is related to Algeria’s possession of a vast desert linking North Africa with the Sahel countries, which are experiencing serious security disturbances, which made Algeria have experience in confronting extremist groups, especially in recent years, as many African countries are witnessing an unprecedented insecurity, which contributed to the increase in smuggling activities, terrorist attacks, theft, arms and human trafficking.

Among the reasons that enabled Algeria to have the leading experience in confronting organized crime, “is the black decade that made our country have a long experience in combating the terrorism scourge, and this experience was exported to many countries, through conferences that made Algeria’s experience a global address for fighting terrorism with its various crimes and the criminalization of ransom payment.

All these indicators have made Algeria possess the experience and expertise of its endeavor in combating organized crime, which has enabled it to occupy prominent positions at the continental and regional levels,” according to the expert’s analysis.