Impact of COVID-19 in Spanish Organised Crime

Abstract

Impacto del COVID-19 en el crimen organizado en España

COVID-19 pandemic has imposed significant changes regarding our freedom of movement and economic activities that have provided huge changes in legal and illegal activities. Some activities have suffered a drastic decrease in their implementation, but at the same time, other opportunities have emerged to be used for legal and illegal purposes. Regarding organized crime, lockdown and extreme limitations imposed at the beginning of the pandemic have decreased several illegal activities traditionally developed in the country. Nevertheless, at the same time, the unbalance situation between supply and demand of certain products, and the massive use of technology forced by the situation, have provided other opportunities for new illegal trades and new methods to implement traditional illegal activities. This communication aims two main objectives: a) to provide a review of the changes in the most significant organized crime activities conducted in Spain: drug trafficking, human trafficking for purpose of sexual exploitation and trafficking of illicit sanitary products. And second, b) to analyze the challenges that this situation will derive for future prevention strategies.