ORGANIZED CRIME AND THE TRAFFICKING OF RADIOLOGICAL MATERIALS

Abstract

Based on unique empirical data, including interviews with smugglers of radiological materials and the investigators who track them, this article discusses nuclear smuggling trends in the former Soviet republic of Georgia. Smuggling in Georgia mainly involves opportunist smugglers and amateurs, as opposed to professional criminals and terrorists; however, this does not mean that radiological smuggling is devoid of professionalism or organization. The article demonstrates that professional criminals are rarely involved in smuggling due to the unreliable nature of the market for radiological materials and the threat radiological smuggling could pose to professional criminals' ability to wield political power and operate legal commercial enterprises.

Keywords:

• Radiological trafficking
• Georgia
• fissile materials
• organized crime
• former Soviet Union

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I am grateful to two anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions. I also wish to acknowledge with thanks the help of Shota Utiashvili of the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs for arranging interviews, of Grigol Giorgadze for assistance retrieving materials from various courts, of Sarah Forbey for editorial assistance, and of all my interview subjects in Georgia.

Notes

1. See for instance Rob Edwards, “Top Police Officer Warns that Nuclear Attack Is Inevitable,” Herald (Scotland), November 24, 2007; “Dirty Bomb Inevitable, Experts Believe,” Homeland Security NTARC News, June 25, 2006; Chad Brown, “Transcendental Terrorism And Dirty Bombs: Radiological Weapons Threat Revisited,” Center for Strategy and Technology, Air War College, Maxwell Air Force Base, Occasional Paper No. 54, February 2006.

2. Radiological trafficking involves smuggling of both nuclear and radioactive materials. Nuclear materials include “any special fissile material or source material that may be used for the development of a nuclear weapon (for example plutonium-239; uranium-233; uranium enriched in the isotopes 235 or 233).” Radioactive materials include “a much broader class of substances and includes nuclear material, but also other substances that, although emitting ionizing radiation, are not suitable for producing nuclear explosions (cesium, strontium, iridium).” See “Combating Illicit Trafficking in Nuclear and other Radioactive Material, Technical Guidance Reference Manual,” International Atomic Energy Agency, Nuclear Security Series No. 6, 2007, pp. 6–7.

3. International Panel on Fissile Materials, “Global Fissile Material Report 2009: A Path to Nuclear Disarmament,” 2009, <www.fissilematerials.org/ipfm/site_down/gfmr09.pdf>.

4. International Panel on Fissile Materials, “Consolidating Fissile Materials in Russia's Nuclear Complex,” Research Report No. 7, 2009, <www.fissilematerials.org/ipfm/site_down/rr07.pdf>.

5. Barack Obama, “Remarks by President Barack Obama,” Hradcany Square, Prague, Czech Republic, Release of the White House, Office of the Press Secretary, April 5, 2009.

6. Lyudmila Zaitseva, “Nuclear Trafficking,” in Rob McCusker, ed., Transnational Crime: A Global Perspective (London: Henry Stewart Talks, Ltd.).

7. Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley, “Back to Normal, an Unrealized Nexus? WMD-Related Trafficking, Terrorism, and Organized Crime in the Former Soviet Union,” Arms Control Today, July/August 2007, <www.armscontrol.org/act/2007_07-08/CoverStory>.

8. Michael D. Maltz, “Defining Organized Crime,” in Ko-lin Chin, Robert J. Kelly, Rufus Schatzberg, eds., Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1994), p. 34.

9. Peter Reuter and Jonathan Rubinstein, “Fact, Fancy, and Organized Crime,” Public Interest 53 (Fall 1978), pp. 45–67.

10. Robin Thomas Naylor, Wages of Crime: Black Markets, Illegal Finance, and the Underworld Economy (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 2002), p. 16.

11. Vincenco Ruggiero, “Global Markets and Crime,” in Margaret E. Beare, ed., Critical Reflections on Transnational Organized Crime, Money Laundering, and Corruption (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003), p. 180.

12. Joseph Albini, quoted in R.J. Kelly, ed., The Upperworld and the Underworld: Case Studies of Racketeering and Business Infiltrations in the United States (New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum Publishers, 1999), p. 18.

13. Mark H. Haller, “Illegal Enterprise: A Theoretical and Historical Interpretation,” Criminology 28 (1990), pp. 207–36.

14. Maltz, “Defining Organized Crime,” p. 30.

15. James O. Finckenauer, “Problems of Definition: What is Organized Crime?” Trends in Organized Crime 8 (Spring 2005), p. 76.

16. Frank A. Hagan, “Organized Crime and Organized Crime: Indeterminate Problems of Definition,” Trends in Organized Crime 9 (Summer 2006), pp. 127–37.

17. Louise Shelley, “The Unholy Trinity: Transnational Crime, Corruption and Terrorism,” Brown Journal of International Affairs 11 (Winter/Spring 2005), pp. 101–11.

18. Michael Levi, “Organized Crime and Terrorism,” in Mike Maguire, Rod Morgan, and Robert Reiner, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007), fourth ed., pp. 771–809.

19. See for instance Alexander Kupatadze, “Radiological Smuggling and Uncontrolled Territories: The Case of Georgia,” Global Crime 8 (February 2007), pp. 40–57.

20. Data provided to the author by the Supreme Court of Georgia, Letter No 2-k, dated February 2, 2009, as part of a formal response to the author's official query of January 8, 2009, Tbilisi, Georgia.

21. Data provided to the author by the Supreme Court of Georgia, Letter No 2-k, dated February 2, 2009, as part of a formal response to the author's official query of January 8, 2009, Tbilisi, Georgia.

22. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, yellowcake is “a natural uranium concentrate that takes its name from its color and texture. Yellowcake typically contains 70 to 90 percent triuranium octoxide (U3O8) by weight. It is used as feedstock for uranium fuel enrichment and fuel pellet fabrication.” See Energy Information Administration, “Glossary: Yellowcake,” <www.eia.doe.gov/cneaf/nuclear/page/umtra/glossary.html>.

23. Georgian MIA, “Radioaqtiuli Masalebis Tsinaagmdeg Mimartuli Gonisdziebebis Shesakheb, 2002–2008” [Department Fighting Smuggling in Radiological Materials, 2002–2008], data provided by Archil Pavlenishvili, head of department, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

24. Archil Pavlenishvili, head, Department Fighting Smuggling in Radiological Materials, Georgian MIA, interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 19, 2009, hereafter cited as “Pavlenishvili, interview with author.”

25. Archil Pavlenishvili, head, Department Fighting Smuggling in Radiological Materials, Georgian MIA, interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 19, 2009, hereafter cited as “Pavlenishvili, interview with author.”.

26. Batumi City Court files, Case No 1-1122, court transcript dated October 13, 2006, provided by Batumi City Court on March 4, 2009.

27. CIA, “Middle East: Georgia,” CIA World Factbook, 201,0 <https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gg.html>.

28. Zugdidi City Court files, Case No 1/-819-08, court transcript dated January 31, 2008, provided by Zugdidi City Court on March 11, 2009 in response to author's official request.

29. In her testimony, Jiqia mentions that she was once arrested for smuggling cigarettes; it is likely that she owed debts to Abkhaz wholesalers who gave her the cigarettes to sell in order to repay what she owed. This is the normal way of doing contraband business in the region.

30. Zugdidi City Court files, Case No 1/-819-08.

31. Police officers working on cases of radiological smuggling (names withheld by request), interviews with the author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

32. Batumi City Court files, Case No 1-102, court transcript dated January 24, 2007, provided by Batumi City Court on March 4, 2009.

33. Batumi City Court files, Case No 1-102, court transcript dated January 24, 2007, provided by Batumi City Court on March 4, 2009.

34. Tbilisi City Court files, Case No 1/8391, court transcript dated April 5, 2006, provided by the Tbilisi City Court in response to the author's request, on March 22, 2009.

35. Georgian MIA, Department of Analysis, data provided July 2005, Tbilisi, Georgia.

36. Pavlenishvili, interview with author; police investigator K. (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

37. Pavlenishvili, interview with author; police investigator K. (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

38. For more details, see Lawrence Scott Sheets, “A Smuggler's Story,” The Atlantic, April 2008, <www.theatlantic.com/doc/200804/uranium-smuggling>; and M. Bronner, “100 Grams (and Counting … ): Notes from the Nuclear Underworld,” Managing the Atom Project, Harvard University, June 2008.

39. Pavlenishvili, interview with author.

40. Pavlenishvili, interview with author.

41. Georgian MIA, Department Fighting Smuggling in Radiological Materials.

42. Tbilisi Appellate Court files, Case No 1/b-2380-06, court transcript dated March 30, 2007, provided by Tbilisi Appellate Court in response to author's request, April 3, 2009.

43. Georgian MIA, Department Fighting Smuggling in Radiological Materials, January 2009.

44. Pavlenishvili, interview with author.

45. Oleg Khintsagov, uranium smuggler arrested in 2006, interview with author, Prison No. 2, Rustavi, Georgia, January 20, 2009.

46. Oleg Khintsagov, uranium smuggler arrested in 2006, interview with author, Prison No. 2, Rustavi, Georgia, January 20, 2009.

47. Tbilisi Appellate Court files, Case No 1/b-2380-06.

48. Georgian police officers investigating cases of radiological smuggling (names withheld by request), interviews with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

49. Former police investigator V. (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 12, 2009.

50. Graham Allison, “Nuclear Terrorism: How Serious a Threat to Russia?” Russia in Global Affairs, September/October 2004, <www.globalaffairs.ru/articles/0/3069.html >; Charles D. Ferguson and William C. Potter, The Four Faces of Nuclear Terrorism (Monterey, CA: Monterey Institute for International Studies, 2004), p. 29.

51. Georgian Police officers investigating cases of radiological smuggling (names withheld by request), personal correspondence with author, January 2009.

52. Pavlenishvili, interview with author.

53. Smuggler T., released from prison in 2004 (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 16, 2009.

54. Smuggler T., released from prison in 2004 (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 16, 2009.

55. Marneuli District Court files, Case No 1/186-08, court transcript dated July 4, 2008, provided to the author by Marneuli District Court on March 2, 2009.

56. Pavlenishvili, interview with author. “Orphan” sources are unsecured or abandoned radioactive materials. A complete definition is available from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, <www.nrc.gov/materials/miau/miau-reg-initiatives/orphan.html>.

57. For detailed analysis on the reform process in the Georgian MIA, see Alexander Kupatadze et al., “Policing and Police Reform in Georgia,” in Louise Shelley et al., eds., Organized Crime and Corruption in Georgia (London: Routledge, 2007), pp. 50–68.

58. Georgian police officers investigating cases of radiological smuggling (names withheld by request), interviews with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

59. Radiation experts at the Georgian Ministry of the Environment (names withheld by request), interviews with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

60. Police investigator K. (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 20, 2009.

61. Former police investigator V., interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 12, 2009.

62. Former police investigator V., interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 12, 2009.

63. Pavlenishvili, interview with author.

64. Former police investigator V., interview with author.

65. Police officers working on cases of radiological smuggling (names withheld by request), interviews with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

66. Pavlenishvili, interview with the author.

67. Mark Galeotti, “The Mafiya and the New Russia,” Australian Journal of Politics and History 44 (1998), p. 429.

68. Federico Varese, The Russian Mafia Private Protection in a New Market Economy (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2001), pp. 145–46.

69. Stephen Handelman, Comrade Criminal (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1997), p. 28.

70. Varese, The Russian Mafia, p. 167; and Handelman, Comrade Criminal, p. 28.

71. Joseph Serio and Viacheslav Razinkin, “Thieves Professing the Code: the Traditional Role of Vory-v-zakone in Russia's Criminal World and Adaptations to a New Social Reality,” Low Intensity Conflict and Law Enforcement 4 (1995), p. 77.

72. Alexander Kupatadze, “Political-Criminal-Business Nexus and State Capture in Georgia, Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan: Comparative Analysis,” in J. Shapland, and P. Ponsaers, eds., The Informal Economy and Connections with Organised Crime: The Impact of National, Social and Economic Policies (Amsterdam: Boom Publishers, 2009).

73. Police officers working on cases of radiological smuggling (names withheld by request), interviews with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, January 2009.

74. Louise Shelley, “Georgian Organized Crime,” in Shelley et al., eds., Organized Crime and Corruption in Georgia, p. 56.

75. Becker, like many other economists, viewed criminality through the prism of economic behavior and argued that crime is a rational choice in which the benefits outweigh the risks. Gary Becker, “Crime and Punishment: An Economic Approach,” Journal of Political Economy 76 (1968), pp. 169–217.

76. Mark Galeotti, “Empire of the Sun—Russian Organized Crime's Global Network,” Jane's Intelligence Review, April 28, 2008.

77. Pavlenishvili, interview with author.

78. Former employee of a cigarette importing company (name withheld by request), interview with author, Tbilisi, Georgia, June 12, 2005.