Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods
Efficient and interconnected logistics networks, like postal services, provide powerful tools for criminal groups to organize cross-border drug trafficking by exploiting legitimate infrastructure. Despite postal services becoming inadvertent facilitators in smuggling, focused research on this logist...
Saved in:
| Main Authors: | , , , , , |
|---|---|
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Elsevier
2025-03-01
|
| Series: | Journal of Economic Criminology |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791425000168 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1850236196811177984 |
|---|---|
| author | Agnese Raimondi Julien Chopin Stefano Caneppele Toni Männistö Ari-Pekka Hameri Juha Hintsa |
| author_facet | Agnese Raimondi Julien Chopin Stefano Caneppele Toni Männistö Ari-Pekka Hameri Juha Hintsa |
| author_sort | Agnese Raimondi |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Efficient and interconnected logistics networks, like postal services, provide powerful tools for criminal groups to organize cross-border drug trafficking by exploiting legitimate infrastructure. Despite postal services becoming inadvertent facilitators in smuggling, focused research on this logistical channel is scarce and scattered due to its multidisciplinary, cross-country nature. This paper conducts a systematic scoping review to explore three primary questions: (1) how drug trafficking through postal services is conceptualized, (2) the estimated volume of these illicit flows, and (3) the methodologies employed to determine these estimates. Our scoping review, which covers studies from 2006 to 2024, identified 49 relevant articles. The findings indicate that the inherent characteristics of the postal system limit its detection capacity, thereby increasing its appeal for smuggling activities. With criminals thus increasingly shifting to online operations and postal remote shipments, cross-border enforcement agencies need to enhance their awareness of the cross-border illicit trade dimension and their responsiveness to the phenomenon, as well as deepen their digital readiness and ensure digital-based coordinated intelligence. This study emphasizes that the fragmentation of knowledge, combined with the multitude of players involved in monitoring and enforcement activities, demands tight transnational cooperation to ensure enforcement effectiveness and prevent digital asymmetries. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ebe06366777849a2a55bd66b9df49331 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2949-7914 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Journal of Economic Criminology |
| spelling | doaj-art-ebe06366777849a2a55bd66b9df493312025-08-20T02:02:01ZengElsevierJournal of Economic Criminology2949-79142025-03-01710014010.1016/j.jeconc.2025.100140Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methodsAgnese Raimondi0Julien Chopin1Stefano Caneppele2Toni Männistö3Ari-Pekka Hameri4Juha Hintsa5Department of Operations, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandSchool of Criminal Justice, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland; School of Criminology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, Canada; School of Social Work and Criminology, Laval University, Quebec, Canada; Correspondence to: School of Criminal Justice, University of Lausanne, Lausanne 1008, Switzerland.School of Criminal Justice, Faculty of Law, Criminal Justice and Public Administration, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandCross-Border Research Association, Epalinges, SwitzerlandDepartment of Operations, Faculty of Business and Economics, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, SwitzerlandCross-Border Research Association, Epalinges, SwitzerlandEfficient and interconnected logistics networks, like postal services, provide powerful tools for criminal groups to organize cross-border drug trafficking by exploiting legitimate infrastructure. Despite postal services becoming inadvertent facilitators in smuggling, focused research on this logistical channel is scarce and scattered due to its multidisciplinary, cross-country nature. This paper conducts a systematic scoping review to explore three primary questions: (1) how drug trafficking through postal services is conceptualized, (2) the estimated volume of these illicit flows, and (3) the methodologies employed to determine these estimates. Our scoping review, which covers studies from 2006 to 2024, identified 49 relevant articles. The findings indicate that the inherent characteristics of the postal system limit its detection capacity, thereby increasing its appeal for smuggling activities. With criminals thus increasingly shifting to online operations and postal remote shipments, cross-border enforcement agencies need to enhance their awareness of the cross-border illicit trade dimension and their responsiveness to the phenomenon, as well as deepen their digital readiness and ensure digital-based coordinated intelligence. This study emphasizes that the fragmentation of knowledge, combined with the multitude of players involved in monitoring and enforcement activities, demands tight transnational cooperation to ensure enforcement effectiveness and prevent digital asymmetries.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791425000168Illicit drug trade estimationPostal logisticsGlobal supply chain securityCross-border drug smugglingE-commerce and illicit drug tradeOnline drug trafficking |
| spellingShingle | Agnese Raimondi Julien Chopin Stefano Caneppele Toni Männistö Ari-Pekka Hameri Juha Hintsa Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods Journal of Economic Criminology Illicit drug trade estimation Postal logistics Global supply chain security Cross-border drug smuggling E-commerce and illicit drug trade Online drug trafficking |
| title | Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods |
| title_full | Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods |
| title_fullStr | Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods |
| title_full_unstemmed | Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods |
| title_short | Illicit drug trafficking via postal services: A scoping review of economic-criminological context and estimation methods |
| title_sort | illicit drug trafficking via postal services a scoping review of economic criminological context and estimation methods |
| topic | Illicit drug trade estimation Postal logistics Global supply chain security Cross-border drug smuggling E-commerce and illicit drug trade Online drug trafficking |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2949791425000168 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT agneseraimondi illicitdrugtraffickingviapostalservicesascopingreviewofeconomiccriminologicalcontextandestimationmethods AT julienchopin illicitdrugtraffickingviapostalservicesascopingreviewofeconomiccriminologicalcontextandestimationmethods AT stefanocaneppele illicitdrugtraffickingviapostalservicesascopingreviewofeconomiccriminologicalcontextandestimationmethods AT tonimannisto illicitdrugtraffickingviapostalservicesascopingreviewofeconomiccriminologicalcontextandestimationmethods AT aripekkahameri illicitdrugtraffickingviapostalservicesascopingreviewofeconomiccriminologicalcontextandestimationmethods AT juhahintsa illicitdrugtraffickingviapostalservicesascopingreviewofeconomiccriminologicalcontextandestimationmethods |