"Crimes Of Past Times?

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In this article about the crime , my intention is not to glorify
crime , or to encourage in any sense of the word , crime . Some people
over the years may have been forced into a life of crime while many
others choose themselves to commit an offence . Unfortunately crime is
a part of life , and life has been
the cost at times for both criminal and victim . In the end criminals
end up with no where to run and no place to hide , usually locked up
behind bars , doing time .
Between good and bad a borderline is drawn . During the twentieth
century a lot of people have crossed over that
line and committed crime .
In this article I'd like to mention some of the crimes that occured
throug time and leave the question open , what was the biggest crime
?

During a brief study of police reports made during the century from
various sources including files at Scotland Yard , the F.B.I.
and Interpol , I noticed one crime kept occurring every decade of this
century . The nature of this crime was counterfeiting . So it appears
this century was full of fakes .
At the beginning of the twentieth century the international criminal
had everything going for him with light restrictions
placed on borders and the police really had no authority outside their
own national frontiers . This gave rise to an international smuggling
and counterfeiting operation .

At the turn of the century another nature of crime that seemed popular
was committed by pick pockets . Some poor people had
turned to crime as a means of survival but paid the price for their
crime . Its worth mentioning here that in Germany in the early twenties
victims of severe crime where the poor , hungry , and gullible . A
spiralling inflation saw a box of matches cost one thousand million
marks at one stage . As the ruthless militants waged on with their
international crime in Germany , the working class , middle class and
the professional sides of society suffered as their investments ,
insurances , and pensions had been wiped out .

During the troubled twenties Ireland had its fair share of crime with
hold ups , arson , and smuggling . Because of the unrest in Ireland ,
law enforcement was difficult and many crimes that had been committed
often went without an arrest being made .

As fake British bank notes began to appear in all parts of Europe a
Geneva conference commission had been set up to
determine ways in which police could track down and capture the
counterfeit rings . New methods of capturing criminals began to emerge
as names on international wanted lists accompanied by posters began to
appear in newspapers , magazines , and where also seen plastered up on
walls all around Europe .

During the second world war theft of bicycles in Norway was growing . A
list of records show that 1156 reports had been made .
Many of the art treasures hat where stolen during the second world war
have never been recovered .
In 1943 fake paintings of the great English masters had appeared for
sale in Olso . They where forged by an out of work actor .

A plan was put together during the war to bring the British economy to
its knees . "Operation Bernhart " was to flood
the world with counterfeit British currency to bring about a collapse
in the British economy . The German government manufactured 330 million
pounds of fake British bank notes ,
and put their plan to action , but the scheme fizzed out without a bang
. However the Germans did use some of the fake bank notes to pay off
their spies in a smart double cross move .

In another report Interpol states that in 1944
a Postman and swindler from Belgium stole 100,000 Belgian Francs from
several people .
The black market was a playground for crooks during the war .
Some shopkeepers were guilty of stealing ration books from their
customers and the trade of bartering for certain items like soap ,
spuds , tea , and razor blades was criminal .

During the sixties the great train robbery occurred .
A new style " sky-jacking" was a popular device used .

A report shows between 1967 and 1970 an assistant bank manager from
Japan defrauded his employees of 1,900 million Yen . His accomplice was
a company director who would submit forged bills of exchange to the
bank which where accepted by the bank who knew they were forged . The
two crooks where arrested in 1970 in Hong Kong and Paris .

Drug trafficking had grown to be the major crime during the eighties
and nineties . The business is very sophisticated and usually comes
with a money back guarantee , whereas if anything goes wrong and a
seizure is made,
the customer is not charged . To get drugs into countries was becoming
more difficult with customs aware of the many items used to transport
the deadly trade into other countries . Drug runners using small
plastic bags would swallow their allotment and eventually pass it from
their body after walking through airport customs . At times the risk of
a bag bursting was high and some of these desperate men died of an
overdose . Bags of heroin had also been found inside frozen fish that
where being exported by container loads . The motor car export business
was also used to get drugs into other countries packing cars with bags
of illegal contraband .

A report through Scotland Yard states that in 1978 over two tons of
Cannabis was seized in a sea going motor vessel in British waters
.

Another report lists two Dutchmen on a KLM flight from Bankok to Vienna
had been discovered to have had 17.9 kilos of heroin in their luggage .
A major cocaine seizure was
made in February 1990 when 2,552 kilos of the drug where taken from a
warehouse in the Dutch town of Ijmuiden .
The cocaine was concealed in 115 barrels of deep-frozen passion juice
imported in two sea going containers from Colombia .
This was the largest cocaine seizure to date made in Europe worth an
estimated street value of the eighty million pounds .

Heroin represents the "old money' in the world trade against the "new
money" of the cocaine barons .
In the United States in September 1989 the biggest seizure of cocaine
in history was made when 20,000 kilos of the drug worth an estimated 7
Billion dollars was discovered in a warehouse outside Los Angeles the
police also discovered 10 million dollars in cash from earlier sales
.
The nineties have more and more younger addicts who are buying doses of
hard narcotics . The escalation in the manufacture of man- made
synthetic drugs in the nineties is frightening . For example seizures
of Amphetamines in Britain in 1991 increased to a new height with
incredible money being made by dealers . In the begining of the 21st
century the number of drug busta rose . In Bali and parts of ther
golden triangle where trafficing drugs brings the death penalty more
and more drug smugglers are being brouygh to justice . partsNow three
and a half thousand per cent.
There can be no mistake that another crime that exists in the world is
police corruption .
On the other hand there are many good honest police officers who are
working hard at keeping the force on the straight and narrow .

Its common knowledge today with criminals in the drug trade , you can
never say never.
Its also said once in the only way out is in a coffin .

Other crimes that stem from the drug trade today are money laundering ,
white collar and computer crime .
Organised crime has riddled itself throughout the world .
Modern white slave trade is also rampant in the nineties .
Art thefts have also rekindled the passion of the criminal mind .
With prganized crime on the increase the question must be asked what
can we expect in the years to come ?
I believe that the answer lies with the technology that exists today
.
More crime scene investigations rely on computers and with new
intellegence programs allowing a greater ability to capture a criminal
, and monitornderworl actiity .
Today it is possible to stop a crime before it happens . The aspects of
fighting crime has never been as wide and diverse as it is today
.

Criminals are also using modern technology and that is always a concern
.
Computer crime in the and it is a major concern to the authorities
world wide .
For in a world without borders criminals can trespass and go wereever
they choose unhindered and some of these areas are on websites and in
chat rooms on the world wide web .

international criminals have all the chips stacked in their favour
.
These days more and more violent crimes have started to appear , these
included bashings , and domestic violence . Some of the people who are
making in roads to stamp out violent crime use the name it and shame it
policy . When a crime can be exposed it can be cut out from society
.

The problem is when crime can't be seen or detected it lies festering
away . The wound tends to hurt the very essence of life .

With crime one thing is common in most cases . Crime is not an easy way
of life for those on the run , and all those who are caught do pay
.

THE END

By Paul Mc Cann