2.3 Nature and Characteristics of Organized Crime

1. The structure — the hierarchy-or-network (the boss-and-soldier pyramids vs the modern flat cells).2. The continuity — the enterprise outlives the members (the succession's institutional face).3. The violence-or-corruption's duality — the market discipline by force; the state's protection purchased (the official's cut).4. The illegal market's specialisation — the product lines (the U3 catalogue).5. The profit's laundering need — the dirty money's cleaning (the U3.5 route).6. The transnational reach — the routes-and-jurisdictions' spread.7. The ethnic-and-kinship myths-and-realities — the bonding's sociology (the trust structures) against the stereotype's critique.