Crime in Moldova, as everywhere in the Post-Soviet states, has risen in the 1990s, after the fall of the Soviet Union, although in recent years there has been an improvement. Corruption in Moldova, economic and drug-related crimes are the most visible and predictable results of the deteriorating economic situation. Racketeering and the mafia have also risen up during the 1990s and 2000s. Petty crimes, such as pickpocketing and street thefts, are also common. [1] [2]
Corruption in Moldova is one of the country's most serious problems. In 2014, $1bn has vanished from three of Moldova's leading banks. [3]
In 2023, Moldova had a murder rate of 2,270 per 100,000 population. [4] There were a total of 78 murders in Moldova in 2023. [5]
Akin to other former Soviet states, Moldova has experienced high crime rates in the 1990s after its independence, with the murder rate reaching a high of 11.4 per 100,000 people in 1992, as well as a value of 10.18 per 100,000 people in 2000, being typically in the range of 8-9 per 100,000 people during the first decade after independence. [6]
Illicit cultivation of opium poppies and cannabis is carried out in Moldova, mainly for consumption in CIS countries. According to NATO, drug trafficking in Moldova is valued between $200 million to $250 million per year. [7]
Moldova is a transshipment point for illegal drugs to Western Europe.
The CIA names human trafficking, widespread crime and underground economic activity among major crime issues of Moldova. [8] Moldova is a source and transit nation in the trafficking in human beings, in particular women and girls into forced prostitution. The annual country human rights report from the United States Department of State pinpoints some involvement by government officials and Moldovan law enforcement in human trafficking.
According to the United States Department of State Trafficking in Persons Report of 2018: [9]
"The Government of Moldova does not fully meet the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking; however, it is making significant efforts to do so. The government demonstrated increasing efforts compared to the previous reporting period; therefore Moldova was upgraded to Tier 2. The government demonstrated increasing efforts by investigating and prosecuting more suspected traffickers, including complicit officials, and increasing budgets for victim protection. However, the government did not meet the minimum standards in several key areas. Identifying victims and conferring official victim status continued to be a challenge. Corruption, particularly in law enforcement and the judiciary, impeded prosecutions and influenced the outcomes of cases, including cases against complicit officials. Victims continued to suffer from intimidation from traffickers, and authorities provided uneven levels of protection during court proceedings."
E. Benjamin Skinner in his book "A Crime So Monstrous", on page 156, speculates that between 1991 and 2008, up to 400,000 women were trafficked from Moldova. [10]
According to Amnesty International, the most common human rights abuses in Moldova are restrictions on freedom of association, unfair trials, torture and other ill-treatment in places of detention, and discrimination against LGBT and Roma minority. [11]
Estonia is a relatively safe country, and the risk of being a victim of crime in Estonia is small by international standards. As in other post-Soviet states, crime has increased in the 1990s, but then it has gradually decreased in the 21st century.
Crime is one of the most urgent concerns facing Mexico, as Mexican drug trafficking rings play a major role in the flow of cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and marijuana transiting between Latin America and the United States. Drug trafficking has led to corruption, which has had a deleterious effect on Mexico's Federal Representative Republic. Drug trafficking and organized crime have been a major source of violent crime. Drug cartels and gangs have also branched out to conduct alternative illegal activities for profit, including sex trafficking in Mexico. Some of the most increasingly violent states in Mexico in 2020 included Guanajuato, Zacatecas, Michoacán, Jalisco, and Querétaro. Some of the world's most violent cities are reportedly within the state of Guanajuato with extortion from criminal groups now being commonplace. The state of Zacatecas is said to be valuable to multiple organized crime groups for drug trafficking, specifically methamphetamine to the United States. As of 2021, Michoacán is experiencing increased instances of extortion and kidnapping due to a growing presence and escalation in the armed conflicts between CJNG and Cárteles Unidos on regions bordering the neighboring state of Jalisco. CJNG is also currently battling the Los Chapitos faction of the Sinaloa Cartel in the North Mexican region of Sonora.
Crime has been recorded in the United States since its founding and has fluctuated significantly over time. Most available data underestimate crime before the 1930s, giving the false impression that crime was low in the early 1900s and had a sharp rise after. Instead, violent crime during the colonial period was likely three times higher than the highest modern rates in the data we have, and crime had been on the decline since colonial times. Within the better data for crime reporting and recording available starting in the 1930s, crime reached its broad, bulging modern peak between the 1970s and early 1990s. After 1992, crime rates have generally trended downwards each year, with the exceptions of a slight increase in property crimes in 2001 and increases in violent crimes in 2005–2006, 2014–2016 and 2020–2021.
Crime in Brazil involves an elevated incidence of violent and non-violent crimes. Brazil's homicide rate was 21.26 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). Brazil has one of the highest number of intentional homicides in the world with 57,358 in 2018. In recent years, the homicide rate in Brazil has begun to decline. The homicide rate was 20.89 per 100,000 in 2019 with 43,073 killings, down from 30.59 per 100,000 with 63,788 killings in 2017.
Crime in Russia refers to the multivalent issues of organized crime, extensive political and police corruption, and all aspects of criminality at play in Russia. Violent crime in Siberia is much more apparent than in Western Russia.
Crime and violence affect the lives of millions of people in Latin America. Some consider social inequality to be a major contributing factor to levels of violence in Latin America, where the state fails to prevent crime and organized crime takes over State control in areas where the State is unable to assist the society such as in impoverished communities. In the years following the transitions from authoritarianism to democracy, crime and violence have become major problems in Latin America. The region experienced more than 2.5 million murders between 2000 and 2017. Several studies indicated the existence of an epidemic in the region; the Pan American Health Organization called violence in Latin America "the social pandemic of the 20th century." Apart from the direct human cost, the rise in crime and violence has imposed significant social costs and has made much more difficult the processes of economic and social development, democratic consolidation and regional integration in the Americas.
The crime rate in the United Arab Emirates is relatively low compared to more highly industrialized nations. Incidents of petty crime such as pickpocketing are low. The United States Department of State states: "Crime generally is not a problem for travelers in the UAE. However, the U.S. Embassy advises U.S. citizens to take normal precautions against theft, such as not leaving a wallet, purse, or credit card unattended. Although vehicle break-ins in the UAE are rare, U.S. citizens are encouraged to ensure that unattended vehicles are locked and that valuables are not left out in plain sight".
Rates of crime in Guatemala are very high. An average of 101 murders per week were reported in 2018. The countries with the highest crime and violence rates in Central America are El Salvador and Honduras. In the 1990s Guatemala had four cities feature in Latin America's top ten cities by murder rate: Escuintla, Izabal (127), Santa Rosa Cuilapa (111) and Guatemala City (101). According to New Yorker magazine, in 2009, "fewer civilians were reported killed in the war zone of Iraq than were shot, stabbed, or beaten to death in Guatemala," and 97% of homicides "remain unsolved." Much of the violent nature of Guatemalan society stems back to a 36-year-long civil war However, not only has violence maintained its presence in the post-war context of the country following the Guatemalan Civil War, but it has extended to broader social and economic forms of violence.
Slovakia is a Central European country with a history of relatively low crime. While crime became more widespread after the Revolutions of 1989, it remains low when compared to many other post-communist countries.
Crime in Montenegro is combated by the Montenegro Police and other agencies.
Colombia has a high crime rate due to being a center for the cultivation and trafficking of cocaine. The Colombian conflict began in the mid-1960s and is a low-intensity conflict between Colombian governments, paramilitary groups, crime syndicates, and left-wing guerrillas such as the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), and the National Liberation Army (ELN), fighting each other to increase their influence in Colombian territory. Two of the most important international actors that have contributed to the Colombian conflict are multinational companies and the United States.
Crime in Hong Kong is present in various forms. The most common crimes are thefts, assaults, vandalism, burglaries, drug offenses, sex trafficking, and triad-related crimes.
Crime in Peru has steadily decreased since the 2010s and into the 2020s. Peru's main indicators of crime are the homicide rate and the victimization rate; the victimization rate dropped from forty percent in 2011 to under twenty five percent in 2020.
Crime in Ecuador is investigated by the Ecuadorian police.
According to the data given by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, worldwide, 79% of homicide victims are men, and in 193 of the 202 listed countries or regions, men were more likely to be killed than women. In two, the ratio was 50:50, and in the remaining seven – Tonga, Iceland, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Latvia, and Hong Kong – women were slightly more likely to be victims of homicides compared to males. A 2000 global study on homicide by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime found that men account "for an average of 95 per cent of all persons convicted of homicide in 53 countries" and 79% of the victims. The highest female homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants was in Honduras and highest male homicide rate per 100,000 inhabitants was in Lesotho.
Sex trafficking in Myanmar is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Myanmar is primarily a source and transit country for sexually trafficked persons.
Sex trafficking in El Salvador is human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation and slavery that occurs in the Republic of El Salvador. It is a country of origin, transit, and destination for sexually trafficked persons.
Crime in Latvia is relatively low, by global standards, especially compared to previous years, when it was named the "crime capital of Europe" by Forbes in 2008. The homicide rate in Latvia was 4.9 per 100,000 people in 2020, a sharp drop from 10 cases per 100,000 people in 2000, and has been steadily decreasing, but has seen recent increases. The United States Department of State has assessed Latvia's security rating as "medium", with a moderate crime rate. In recent times, crime has been increasing, particularly due to many Latvians stranded because of the COVID-19 pandemic returning to Latvia and choosing to commit crime. According to Interpol, Latvia is considered an attractive place for regional and organized criminals involved in drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking, or smuggling. According to the Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia, a third of all women in Latvia have suffered some form of sexual violence or rape while men are subjected to violence outside the family.
Over time, there has been an increase in sex trafficking in Central America. Because of the lack of financials, work opportunities and studies, women and men see sex work as the solution to their problems. In addition, the living conditions, poverty, and gang violence are the reason as to why a lot of people have been coerced into sex trafficking. These countries are working with their government and other countries in order to create laws to fight against sex trafficking.
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