An Introduction to Terrorist Criminal Enterprises 7 Pakistan after first being sent to Dubai to acquire new identities and false passports. 20 Although the bombings caused the gang to fracture along reli- gious lines, they pushed Ibrahim firmly into terrorism, which he continues to fund through criminal enterprise from an unknown location in Karachi. 21 These incidents illustrate the genesis of a trend that gathered momen- tum over the next several decades with factions of groups like the FARC all but setting aside ideological honesty and turning their operational skills to organized crime. Meanwhile, the PKK and Hezbollah went so far as to alter their organizational structures to form specialized units that focus exclusively on organized crime rather than terrorist operations. Thus, the engagement in organized crime often altered the complexion of many ter- rorist groups. In some instances, over time and as immense profits were realized, many extremists’ ideological goals became markedly subordi- nate to criminal enterprise. CONCLUSION The steady descent of terrorist groups into terrorist criminal enterprises may have produced more confusion than clarity for policy makers. Bu- reaucracies continue to compete with one another by supporting separate and functionally invalid definitions of terrorist and criminal organiza- tions. Adding further complexity is the fact that despite morphing into terrorist criminal enterprises, most groups did not necessarily lose their ideological fervor. Rather, the money from illicit trade has complemented their terrorist goals. As the chapters that follow demonstrate, some groups clearly are di- verted from their ideals and take advantage of the opportunities afforded them by criminal enterprise for the profit of themselves and their cronies. Yet even these groups continue to use their ideological or religious values as a cover for their criminality rather than openly abandon them. Terror- ist criminal enterprises differ from conventional organized crime only in their motivations for making and spending illicit funds. Otherwise, the criminal modus operandi is the same. NOTES 1 . The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) defi nes organized crime as any group having some manner of a formalized structure and whose primary ob- jective is to obtain money through illegal activities. Such groups disrupt fi nan- cial markets, suborn public offi cials, and employ ruthless violence to guarantee themselves impunity and unimpeded criminal operations, many of which extend internationally. 2. For some notable exceptions, see, for example, Thomas M. Sanderson, “Transnational Terror and Organized Crime: Blurring the Lines,” SAIS Review 24, no. 1 (2004), 49–61 Rollie Lal, “South Asian Organized Crime and Terrorist Net- works,” Orbis 49, no. 2 (Spring 2005), 293–302 Justine A. Rosenthal, “For-Profi t
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