Top 5 Lucrative Crimes

5. Illicit Oil



The illegal oil trade is worth $10.8 billion each year.  Illegal oil sales originate from oil-producing countries including Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Venezuela, Mexico and Bulgaria. Who buys the illegal oil is hard to determine, but it is believed to be shipped to nearby countries.  Around 183 million barrels of oil or 500,000 barrels a day are produced and sold illegally.
4. Illegal Fishing


The illegal fishing trade is worth up to $11.3 billion per year – primarily based in Southeast Asia and Africa, with customer countries including Japan, Europe, the US, South Korea and China. Indonesia alone is responsible for 1.6 million tons of illicit fish sold on the international markets. The trade deprives the developing countries whose fish stocks are raided of tax revenues in the billions, further hampering their efforts to develop economically for the benefit of their people.
3. Human Trafficking

The world trade in our fellow man is worth $31.6 billion.  Most slaves are brought from undeveloped or corrupt countries such as the former Soviet Union, Brazil, Colombia, certain North African countries and India, Pakistan and China. Around 2.5 million people are victims – that’s about the population of the state of Utah.
2. Counterfeiting

This practice is worth a whopping $250 billion per year – primary the counterfeiting countries include China, Russia, Taiwan, India, Malaysia and the Philippines and most of the goods produced are sold back to China itself as well as the US and Europe. The US Dollar holds the status of international currency and this makes it a prime target for counterfeit operations and the US dollar is the most forged currency on earth.
1. Drugs

Worth over $300 billion per year, this amount includes only drugs shipped across international borders and is primarily made up of cocaine and opiates, such as heroine. The majority of marijuana and amphetamines are domestic produced and sold locally. Afghanistan is responsible for 75% of opiate production with the remainder produced in Myanmar and Mexico. Since the invasion of Afghanistan by American-led coalition forces, production has doubled to 7,000 tons. Almost all cocaine is produced in Colombia, Bolivia and Peru and is worth $88 billion per year.
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