Twitter Podcast on Disrupting Organized Crime: Enforcement Strategies for a Borderless Threat with Mr. Ajai Sahni, Executive Director, Institute for Conflict Management, Delhi
26th November 2025
“Organized crime and illicit trade are deeply interconnected, forming a mutually reinforcing ecosystem that causes severe economic damage,” asserted Mr. Ajai Sahni, Executive Director, Institute for Conflict Management, Delhi, during an insightful FICCI CASCADE Twitter Space session. Speaking on the theme “Disrupting Organized Crime: Enforcement Strategies for a Borderless Threat,” Mr. Sahni highlighted that illicit trade ranging from counterfeit goods and smuggling to trafficking in narcotics, wildlife, and substandard products, provides organized crime networks with enormous, low-risk and high-profit revenue streams. These proceeds are often laundered and reinvested into other criminal activities, strengthening syndicates and enabling them to corrupt institutions and evade law enforcement. The economic consequences are far-reaching: legitimate industries suffer revenue losses, governments are deprived of critical tax income, innovation is stifled, and job losses mount. Sectors such as pharmaceuticals, FMCG, tobacco, electronics, textiles, and e-commerce are particularly vulnerable due to complex supply chains, high consumer demand, price sensitivity, and regulatory gaps that criminals exploit with ease.
In recent years, organized crime has evolved rapidly in response to globalization, digital trade, and expanding online marketplaces. Criminal networks now operate across borders with remarkable agility, leveraging anonymized online platforms, social media, dark web marketplaces, and sophisticated logistics to distribute illicit goods at scale. The rise of small-parcel shipping, digital payments, and cryptocurrencies has further complicated detection and enforcement. At the same time, gaps persist in tackling illicit trade, particularly in uneven policy frameworks, limited awareness among consumers and businesses, and enforcement challenges such as capacity constraints, jurisdictional overlaps, and inadequate use of intelligence-driven tools. These weaknesses allow criminal networks to stay ahead of traditional enforcement mechanisms, underscoring the need for coordinated and adaptive responses.
To effectively disrupt illicit trade and organized crime, policymakers must prioritise three key enforcement strategies: strengthening regulatory and legal frameworks with deterrent penalties; leveraging technology such as artificial intelligence, data analytics, and supply-chain tracking to detect and prevent illicit flows; and fostering robust public-private partnerships. Collaboration between governments, industry, and civil society, through initiatives such as those led by FICCI CASCADE plays a pivotal role in intelligence sharing, capacity building, and awareness generation. By combining enforcement with preventive measures, technological innovation, and collective action, stakeholders can build greater resilience against the economic and social impact of organized crime and illicit trade, ensuring that markets remain transparent, competitive, and secure.
The session concluded with a strong message: combating organized crime and illicit trade demands sustained vigilance, mutual responsibility, and coordinated action across borders and sectors. Only through robust enforcement, intelligent use of technology, informed consumer choices, and effective public-private collaboration can the economic and social harms of illicit trade be meaningfully reduced and the integrity of legitimate markets safeguarded.
The strong interest in the session was reflected in the overwhelming participation of over 25,000 attendees.
