How much money - approximately - does crime pay?
- Thread starter CdnWriter
- Start date
Money orders were huge too. Cartels would send the cash back home directly, one order at a time. The limit was relatively low IIRC so it was tedious, but it worked.
Lottery ticket scams were huge too in RI when I was growing up. Corrupt lotto commissions and loose regulation let businesses who didn't even sell lottery tickets report massive amounts of income.
this is an interesting if somewhat dated report from 2011 Illicit money: how much is out there?
and the full report https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Illicit_financial_flows_2011_web.pdf
"The UNODC report estimates that the total amount of criminal proceeds generated in 2009, excluding those derived from tax evasion, may have been approximately $2.1 trillion"
"Less than 1 per cent of global illicit financial flows is currently being seized and frozen"
and the full report https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Illicit_financial_flows_2011_web.pdf
"The UNODC report estimates that the total amount of criminal proceeds generated in 2009, excluding those derived from tax evasion, may have been approximately $2.1 trillion"
"Less than 1 per cent of global illicit financial flows is currently being seized and frozen"
There seems to be a sweet spot for criminals.
For example, you have to be powerful enough that nobody will turn you in or turn on you, plus you have to be low-profile enough that the bigger crime lords won't mess with you nor will law enforcement. To an extent, anonymity can play a role - I seriously doubt the corner boy hustling drugs on a street corner knows who the supplier is, so if they're arrested, they can't really turn in the big boss for a reduced sentence.
I was playing with the idea that my MC could have an older property that had pre-existing tunnel system, perhaps used for rum-running in the roaring 1920's or escaping slaves as part of the underground railroad and they (or their company) could own the place and the buildings, rent them out to drug smugglers, human traffickers (snakeheads/coyotes) and thus be valuable to those criminals so they'd kept their mouths shut about the "secret" route. My big challenge is...if this area is such a valuable route, what keeps the drug smugglers from seizing it?
Law enforcement....sad as it is to say, is probably not going to work too hard on stopping the flow of drugs or cheap labour into a region especially if various street gangs are battling it out for drug dealing turf - visible dead bodies, public shoot-outs will drain police resources and upset the voters. If the property is set in a region that has a huge geographical area and is sparsely populated (low tax revenue = low public services like police) plus has a large transit network of semi-trucks driving through on the highways and roads......it's easy to stay under the radar.
I think the real problem for "successful" criminal is when they flaunt their wealth or power. There are probably tons of criminals that have $1 million, $5 million and just carry on under the radar. They probably have more to fear from their own henchmen and criminal allies than they do from law enforcement. It's when they get up to the $10, $20, higher millions of wealth and they want to enjoy their life that it becomes a struggle.
And, some crimes get more attention than others. Crimes against children or the elderly or law enforcement or other "worthy" victims get more attention than crimes committed against the homeless or addicts or transient populations like travelling salesmen or hitchhikers.
Most criminals at the low end are normal folk with illegal jobs ( often with legal jobs as well) , not so much at the high end although it does depend on the type of crime
Also if you’re writing a novel it needs to be a bit Hollywood, too much realism can be boring to the reader
Also if you’re writing a novel it needs to be a bit Hollywood, too much realism can be boring to the reader
To answer the question posed, two things might stop the drug smugglers just seizing the route
1) maybe they fear him and his organisation, if he’s well known for being a psycho and there’s ugly rumours about what happens to guys who cross him then they may prefer to pay rather than start a war ( careful not to make him over powered or you have no story)
2) and/or maybe he has cover from another organisation which they fear/ respect… like if he’s connected to say the Russians or one of the cartels or whatever then the consequences of crossing him could be too severe and would get in the way of making money
1) maybe they fear him and his organisation, if he’s well known for being a psycho and there’s ugly rumours about what happens to guys who cross him then they may prefer to pay rather than start a war ( careful not to make him over powered or you have no story)
2) and/or maybe he has cover from another organisation which they fear/ respect… like if he’s connected to say the Russians or one of the cartels or whatever then the consequences of crossing him could be too severe and would get in the way of making money
I am leaning towards #2. I'm thinking the MC is related to someone who is legendary within crime circles for doing something and nobody will mess with the family. Anyone know if Al Capone had kids? What about Charles "Lucky" Luciano? (I googled - I'm amazed someone who had that many affairs never had kids....BUT I guess I could hint at some connection.)
My first attempt, the MC was way too overpowered (you're right, no story) so I had to dumb it down a bit.
I think I've settled on a military like structure with a lot of privates, then a few corporals, a sergeant, and then the leadership which is basically an accountant and a kingpin figure.
BTW, Big Soft Moose, you're writing with the British spellings (I do the same, Canadian) and the spellcheck in this forum keeps redlining them as mispellings. They are NOT - they're the original spelling!!!
O think spell check is a browser thing not a forum thing per se
Nomad416
New Member
In one I wrote, the MC operates through LA's main docks via a cargo shipping company and pulls in around $3.5 million a month minus bribes and accounting for both national and international customers, and owns a cargo shipping company and a couple of nightclubs that pull in their own legitimate amounts as well
