Debate:Organized crime

What are the reasons behind prevalence of organized crime (consists of drug trafficking, arm trafficking, contract killing, extortion etc.) in free market liberal democracies? Countries like Cuba or North Korea do not have organized crime despite having poverty. In Cuba, organized crime is virtually unheard of and petty crime is very low. Poverty is certainly not the main factor behind organized crime as most people in North Korea are starved. So a question arises what are the factors behind the growth of organized crime in liberal democracies. Thoughts? --Hoogut 04:55, 2 March 2009 (EST)
 * Organised crime virtually unheard of in Cuba? Have you never seen Godfather II?  According to this article organised crime in Cuba is largely run by the government, which is a fairly atypical example.  North Korea is a closed state totalitaritarian regime, & as such whatever information is leaked out is patchy at best.  Perhaps organised crime there has been almost entirely suppressed, or perhaps we're just not hearing about it.  Other countries with widespread poverty certainly have organised crime problems (e.g. Russia, India, China, Brazil, Mexico), fairly irrespective of the government style.  Things like drug trafficking are obviously affected by geography, since drugs are grown or produced in certain parts of the world, with a market elsewhere.  Otherwise, organised crime tends to thrive wherever it can, including liberal democracies, though I don't believe it's more common in them than elsewhere.  It's greatest in areas of poverty (e.g. slums & ghettos) where crime is often a means of survival, but it's certainly not confined to them.   08:31, 2 March 2009 (EST)
 * The North Korean government is also involved heavily with organised crime, including diplomats smuggling drugs in from other countries.  08:41, 2 March 2009 (EST)