The traffic in human cargo may not at first appear to be a threat to security. The link, as in drug trafficking, is the money. Profits are so high that some drug traffickers are reported to be switching cargos from heroin to humans. This degree of money in the hand of criminal groups can undermine legitimate authority. In today's global economy, economic crime has taken on enormous importance.
Criminals take advantage of electronic banking.
A leading company specializing in secure messaging for financial institutions reports that it handled one hundred ninety-five million messages in the first two months of this year. On one day in February the traffic was five and a half million messages. A single illegal transaction is difficult to trace in this mass of legal transactions. Last year's money laundering case between banks in Moscow and New York is now legendary, involving an estimated 7 billion dollars in criminal proceeds. These enormous sums can be the proceeds from corruption, fraud, trafficking or other crime.