Insights from 'Illicit Trade' Summer School

Summer School on Illicit Trade

Scholarship Report - Angel Torres-Guevara

Introduction

My name is Angel Torres-Guevara and I am a PhD student in the Department of Government at the University of Essex where my research focuses on the provision of public goods and services by criminal organizations in Latin America. Before my PhD studies, I earned a MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago and a BA in Political Science and International Relations from the Centre for Research and Teaching in Economics in Mexico City. I previously worked as a Political Affairs Analyst at the Consulate General of Mexico in San Antonio Texas and as a Data Liaison at the University of Chicago Crime and Education Labs.

I chose to attend the Summer School in Illicit Trade to better understand the trends and dynamics of illicit economies around the world. Although my research focuses on Latin America, it was crucial for me to study illicit trade, illegal financial flows and corruption at a global scale to understand the interconnectedness of criminal activities between Latin America and other regions of the world. Additionally, it was important for me to gain knowledge on the dynamics of illicit markets and their connections with state apparatuses and security policy since my work deals with the impact of organized crime on governance, institutions and democracy.

Before the summer school I had taken graduate level courses on transnational organized crime and international trade. However, I had not found a program that addressed the trade and transnational crime together and that was exactly what I was looking for. The summer school was the ideal opportunity for me to expand my knowledge on these topics and acquire better skills and resources to deepen my studies in the field.

Experience and field trip

The course curriculum included lectures, panel discussions, practical assignments and skill development sessions. In 5 days, the course covered a wide range of topics from the general concepts of illicit trade to human trafficking, armed group financing and open-source intelligence. The schedule was designed so each day included a conceptual session and a skills session with a few panels and special lectures from experts and practitioners. Towards the end of the week, the schedule also included a field trip where we visited three different organizations in different sectors and each dealing with different transnational criminal activities.

The format of the course (lectures in the mornings and practical sessions in the afternoons) made the experience manageable and interactive which is greatly appreciated in such an intensive program. In between sessions there were a couple coffee breaks that allowed me to bond with my classmates, network with lecturers and panellists, and relax over coffee and refreshments. This arrangement made the course a better experience for me despite having such an intensive curriculum.

All sessions in the program were interesting and informative but I found Lucia Bird’s presentation on illicit economies and conflict in West Africa particularly exciting and comprehensive. Lucia presented an analytical framework and methodology to observe, map and study the relationships between illicit economies and conflict. To me, learning from Lucia’s work and methodological approach to study this complicated and sensitive issues was helpful to think of my own work and how I could think in similar terms about the connections between crime, illicit economies, conflict and governance in Latin America. I also appreciated that the work that Lucia presented looked at legitimacy as a lens to analyse the links between conflict and illicit economies. Often, research tends to focus on the violent and financial consequences of crime, but non-state armed groups that engage in criminal activities also challenge states for support and legitimacy of the communities where they operate. It was motivating to learn that the work of GI-TOC looks at the legitimacy arena as a phenomenon worth studying and understanding.

The main takeaway from Lucia’s presentation was the importance of considering different areas of analysis and how they interconnect to understand the relationship between conflict and illicit economies. Without a clear understanding of the financial scheme of armed groups, it is impossible to fully understand their operations and how they permeate communities, local economies and legitimate institutions. Lucia provided a very clear and thorough explanation of these dynamics in West Africa, but her analytical framework can be adapted to study other regions and that was incredibly valuable to me.

The field trip day was helpful to understand how did all the concepts that we learned in the lectures and sessions translate into policy, practice and professional environments. Each organization prepared thorough presentations and even activities to introduce their work and show us how their agencies operate. The visit to ING bank was especially interesting for me since it was the agency that was furthest away from my previous experiences and research interests. Visiting ING really helped to understand the role of banks in the illicit financial flows prevention processes and the tools and resources that the financial sector has to observe, prevent and combat this issue.

Knowledge, skills and professional growth

The summer school helped me expand and develop my analytical skills for the study of illicit economies introducing me to new concepts and tools at the edge of the field. The open-source intelligence sessions presented valuable new resources that I was not familiar with and that I can now feel confident to explore further. The program also allowed me to understand the value of my own research on criminal activities for other sectors different to the academic one. By having lecturers from different industries and visiting diverse agencies, I could see how my own work could fit in different professional spaces.

In terms of my academic work, I consider that I now have a clearer understanding of the possible analytical frameworks to study the relationships between conflict, illicit economies and governance and where does my research fall within the field. My next goal is to use some of the acquired knowledge to produce a second paper for my PhD in which I explore organized criminal groups in Mexico, the illicit economies they participate in and the ways in which they compete for community legitimacy and support.

Besides the academic development, the summer school was a great chance to develop interpersonal skills. The course provided multiple opportunities to network and learn from all the participants, including fellow students, presenters and panellists. I also got to work more closely with a team which really allowed me to exchange ideas and learn from others’ expertise more deeply. I am certain that all these experiences will allow me to grow academically and professionally in the next steps of my career.

Conclusion

Attending the Summer School in Illicit Trade was an enriching experience that significantly exceeded my expectations. The program’s mix of lectures, panel discussions, and practical sessions provided a thorough understanding of illicit economies and their global impacts. The field trips were particularly insightful, demonstrating how theoretical concepts translate into real-world applications and deepening my understanding of combating illicit trade.

The experience was more comprehensive and interactive than I had anticipated. While I expected a rigorous academic environment, I was pleasantly surprised by the practical learning opportunities and the chance to network with professionals from various sectors. This interactive format facilitated meaningful exchanges and fostered a collaborative learning atmosphere.

Receiving the scholarship was crucial in making this opportunity possible, allowing me to fully engage with the program without financial worries. The skills and knowledge I gained have already influenced my research approach, especially in understanding the connections between crime, conflict, and governance. Moving forward, I plan to apply these insights to my PhD work, focusing on the legitimacy and financial mechanisms of organized crime in Mexico, and to explore career opportunities that bridge academic research and practical policymaking.

Summer School on Illicit Trade

Scholarship Report - Lieth Daelyn Carrillo Sánchez

My name is Lieth Daelyn Carrillo Sánchez. I am an anthropologist by training, with a specialization in law and state from the Universidad de los Andes in Colombia. During my fourth semester of undergraduate studies I took a criminology class that led me down the path of investigating organized crime, conflict and corruption. I began my professional career at a law firm in the United States that works on behalf of asylum seekers who were victims of human trafficking, persecution and violence, and I entered the world of research in this field through internships at InSight Crime and the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project. I have recently collaborated as an ad hoc researcher for the design of the Global Organized Crime Index 2023 and 2025 developed by the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime. During my internships I was able to collaborate in several research projects on wildlife trafficking, drug trafficking, corruption in high levels of government, among other topics in Europe and Latin America. I started acquiring knowledge in OSINT research mainly, and that has been my path ever since. Also, I recently participated in DFRLab's Digital Sherlocks program of the Atlantic Council to improve my OSINT skills.

Thanks to all these experiences I confirmed that I want to work as a researcher and I have built my career around that goal, which is why I decided to participate in this version of the Summer School, with the aim of acquiring new and better research skills, meeting other people who are working in this field - which can be a bit lonely and dangerous in countries like mine - and learning about new topics and projects that are currently being carried out.  

My experience during this Summer School was enjoyable and very meaningful both personally and professionally. In terms of time intensity and class methodology, this course format was quite new to me. The schedule was adequate for a week, with enough break times between presentations and proper lunch time. I personally found it challenging because there was a lot of content to cover and I ended each day quite exhausted, but very motivated to continue learning and particularly interested in topics and ideas that had not even occurred to me. The construction of the course revolved around student participation, and I recognize that my classmates provided a wealth of relevant information that contributed significantly to my learning process. Plus, when the conversation started to blur and comments lost relevance to the discussion, the course hosts were able to successfully redirect the conversation and bring back the main topics without any issues.

The sessions were quite rich in both academic and hands-on content. The guests offered several useful tools for each of the course participants' research, as well as unique tips and contact information for future questions. I found this openness, in a field that is sometimes quite individualistic and information-jealous, to be outstanding. 

My favorite session was the one taught by Piotr Stryszowski, which addressed the OECD's work to respond to the trafficking of different types of goods and the challenges this institution has in a very globalized system, especially regarding the illicit market for counterfeit goods. This class gave me an in-depth understanding of how illegal markets, such as tobacco and sand, really work and the main challenges faced by the various authorities and investigative entities when approaching these fields of work. 

The field day experience was fascinating. I learned from practitioners about their backgrounds and about the strengths and limitations of the institutions fighting illicit trafficking and different types of organized crime. The visit to ING Poland was my favorite because it allowed me to problematize the role of the banking sector and analyze the effectiveness of its policies. However, I had hoped that the field day would be a visit that allowed us to observe and analyze the operations taking place in real time, not just through lectures.

As I mentioned earlier, the world of OSINT research is my preferred line of work. The course content allowed me to discover new techniques and new programs both free and paid that will help me progress in this field. In addition, the course covered various research methodologies that broadened my understanding of the area beyond OSINT. The exercises sought to challenge and discomfort us, and that strategy allowed me to learn how the world of illicit operates in a deeper way. The practicality of the dynamics of the course made me understand how illicit operations and the responses that authorities and entities generate to combat them work realistically and not only through academic postulates that sometimes do not exactly match what happens on a day-to-day basis.  

The tools and tips provided by the presentation of the NATO lecturer on security were very relevant. For example, the suggestion to partition the computers we use to work on sensitive research using software such as Virtual Machine and the caution to be careful when checking the profiles of a person several times during an investigation, as in some countries it may be considered as harassment/stalking.

On a personal level I was able to learn from my colleagues, from their experiences in different fields of study and I received numerous feedbacks and advice from several of them. I connected with most of the participants and hosts of the course and with a significant part of them I was even able to forge a professional closeness that we will – I hope - continue to develop and that may lead to future joint research. With some of my fellow course participants we decided to maintain a contact group to collaborate with our own research, made up especially of those working on illicit dynamics related to Latin America. We agreed to apply what we learned in class and form the group through a secure and confidential platform that allows us to dialogue and share various types of files. So far, we are in the process of creating the group, so I cannot provide more details about the development of it. We will see the outcomes in the future, but I am excited to be able to share and create knowledge with my peers.

This experience was not only my first time in a classroom with professionals in my field, but also my first international trip. It was the first time I traveled outside of Colombia, faced my fear of flying and lived - albeit briefly - in the midst of cultures quite different from my own. I must confess that my biggest shock was to observe the clear sky even when it was 9 or 10 o'clock at night. In Poland I had the opportunity to learn to organize myself and be more productive, since I had to work while the Summer School developed. Also, I had to test my level of English, since I needed to use it all day long, even outside the course.

Now I am developing a research idea on illicit trafficking of wildlife related goods in Brazil, and the Summer School provided me with a platform and access to a group of professionals who certainly helped me develop my idea and gave me tips on how to apply for grants and other forms of funding. These insights radically changed the way I approached this research idea and, in fact, some of the professors are actively helping me today to move my project forward. I could not be more grateful for this. In fact, thanks to the groups of people I met during the Summer School I have gained privileged and free access to some expensive OSINT research software that I would not have been able to afford on my own, and they have put me in contact with other partners who have helped me to strengthen my idea.

In short, I am deeply grateful to the hosts, the guest professors, the Global Initiative, both the University of Groningen and the University of Warsaw, the logistic support team of the program, those who made it possible for me to get an scholarship - which really made the difference, since the trip from Colombia and the expenses in Europe were beyond my budget and would have prevented me from attending without going into debt - and to my classmates, who came from all over the world to live a new and wonderful experience for me. I still remember the day I decided to apply, unconvinced that I could participate in something like this. I know that many others will be able to, and I recommend that they venture to join so that they can recognize themselves as valuable and knowledgeable in this wonderful field of study and work. After this experience, I am more than convinced that a network is needed to fight against illicit networks, and we can build it from and thanks to these spaces