There are 5 ways which Americans may be giving money to organized crime, and unbeknownst to them.

1. Smartphones

Many may not have heard of tantalum or tungsten, but we use these "conflict minerals" daily and they fuel criminality across the globe. This is through mining the composition of our phones and laptops, and these are tin, tantalum, tungsten and gold. The mining of these is a booming enterprise for armed groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Colombia, Peru and Venezuela, and it is exceedingly difficult to trace them to their source.

Though hard to trace, watchdog groups have succeeded in convincing companies into sourcing their minerals more responsibly.

2. Avocados

Mexico grows roughly half of the avocados that Americans eat, and this consumption for Avocados may be financing an armed struggle between vigilantes and organized crime in Michoacán state.

Sources estimate that a major cartel extorts around $150 million a year from the Michoacán's avocado industry. They do this by extracting their payments from producers or by taking over plantations and growing avocados themselves.

American consumers are now paying over 20% more for avocados than they did a year ago. According to a major Mexican grower, half of that price spike is the result of extortion by organized crime.

 

3. Furniture & floors

Federal agents have just raided the corporate headquarters of the largest flooring retailer in the United States, Lumber Liquidators. Apparently, just last fall, they have been importing illegally harvested Russian oak. In 2006, the Environmental Investigation Agency indicted home improvement giants Lowe's and Home Depot for selling smuggled Indonesian timber. Interpol reveals that the market for illegal logging may now be as large as $100 billion and accounts for 50% to 90% of wood exports in some countries in South America, Central Africa and Southeast Asia.

 

4. Knockoff Super Bowl jerseys

Prior to this year's Superbowl game, almost $22 million worth of fake Super Bowl apparel was seized. This is $5 million more than last year. You may think buying counterfeit goods isn't a big deal, but think again - the UN Office on Crime and Drugs estimates that the global market for counterfeit goods is now $250 billion, and this involves a wide variety of criminal groups including the Mafia, Camorra, Yakuza, Triads, and Mexican cartels.

 

5. Caviar

Many American travellers and consumers may not be aware that organized crime is heavily involved in the markets for caviar, certain wools, and traditional Asian medicines. And this animal smuggling is very worrying, since the industry has now grown into a $20 billion empire. Just last year, the UN Security Council was briefed on the dangers of poaching and its role in financing militant groups like the Lord's Resistance Army.