Impact of SARS-CoV-2 on organized crime activities

Decembra leta 2019 se je v Vuhanu na Kitajskem pojavil prvi primer dotlej še neznanega virusa hudega akutnega respiratornega sindroma 2 [SARS-CoV-2]. Zaradi njegove hitre širitve je bila Svetovna zdravstvena organizacija v začetku leta 2020 primorana razglasiti pandemijo, kar je pripomoglo k nastanku novih družbenih razmer, ki so se jim morali prilagoditi vsi posamezniki, hkrati pa so spremembe vplivale tudi na modifikacijo delovanja skupin organizirane kriminalitete. Ta se je po krajšem omejevanju delovanja večine svojih aktivnosti kmalu tako prilagodila, da je lahko skoraj nemoteno delovala. Da bi odkrili različne modifikacije in hkrati nove načine delovanja skupin organizirane kriminalitete med pandemijo virusa SARS-CoV-2, je bilo izvedeno strukturirano in obsežno iskanje ter pregled literature in drugih virov. Ustvarjena je bila podatkovna baza, na podlagi katere so bile opravljene osnovne analize, ki so omogočile vpogled v delovanje skupin organizirane kriminalitete v času pandemije virusa SARS-CoV-2. Ugotavljamo, da se je organizirana kriminaliteta v času pandemije osredotočila predvsem na zagotavljanje pomoči prebivalcem v obliki brezplačne dostave hrane ter higienskih paketov, s čimer je pridobila dolgoročno podporo lokalne skupnosti. Povečal se je tudi obseg kibernetske kriminalitete, ki je usmerjena zlasti v otroke in starejšo populacijo. V ozadju pa še vedno potekajo nezakonite dejavnosti (npr. trgovina z ljudmi), pri katerih je mogoče zaznati spremembe v poteh in metodah delovanja. Prav tako so se povišale cene storitev in produktov, ki jih zagotavljajo skupine organizirane kriminalitete, saj sta bila njihovo dobavljanje in proizvodnja veliko bolj rizična. Zaslediti je bilo tudi nove aktivnosti, npr. prodajo ponarejenih testov in cepiva proti virusu SARS-CoV-2. Opozarjamo pa, da bo dejanski vpliv skupin organizirane kriminalitete v času virusa SARS-CoV-2 viden šele po koncu pandemije.In December 2019, the first case of the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 [SARS-CoV-2] virus appeared in Wuhan, China. Due to its rapid expansion, the World Health Organization was forced to declare a global pandemic in early 2020. As a result, a new social situation emerged which affected not only the lives of people everywhere, but also modified the operational mode of organized crime groups. After briefly limiting the scope of most of their activities, they soon adapted to such an extent that they were able to continue their operations almost uninterruptedly and on an undiminished scale. In order to shed light on various adaptations and also new working methods of organized crime groups during the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic, a structured and extensive search, as well as a review of the literature and other sources was carried out. A database was created, which enabled basic analyzes and insights into operations of organized crime groups during the SARS-CoV-2 virus pandemic. We find that during the pandemic, organized crime has focused primarily on providing assistance to the population with deliveries of free food and hygiene packages, thus securing long-term support of the local community. Cybercrime has also increased, focusing in particular on children and the elderly population. In the background, however, illegal activities (e.g. human trafficking) are still taking place, in which changes in routes and methods of operation can be detected. The prices of services and products provided by organized crime groups have also increased, as their supply and production became much riskier. New activities have also been detected, e.g. sales of counterfeit tests and vaccines against the SARS-CoV-2 virus. However, it should be noted that the actual impact of organized crime groups during the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be measured only after the end of the pandemic