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In the recent past organised criminal activities, of which money laundering and the financing of terrorism form part, have been on the increase in Tanzania. The incidence of smuggling, poaching, trading in illicit drugs, corruption, fraud, embezzlement, misappropriation and theft of public funds, racketeering, illegal arms dealing and, most recently, terrorism, have been on the rise. 1 Criminals generate substantial revenues and apply different mechanisms to disguise the origins or ownership of the proceeds of their illicit activities. The increase in organised criminal activities has been facilitated by several factors including globalisation, liberalisation of the economy and advances in communications, including information technology.

Globalisation has had several impacts on criminal activities. First, organised criminal activities have become transnational and de-territorised. Criminals take advantage of the global marketplace to trade in illicit drugs, traffic in persons, commit fraud and carry out other transnational crimes. Second, criminals exploit the revolution in global finance. Changes in information technology, in particular, have made it easier for criminal assets to move across national borders through financial markets that are out of the reach of the law. The internationalisation of crime has thus occurred in response to the increased movement of persons, the free flow of capital and the globalisation of financial services and the revolution in communications. These have provided opportunities for laundering the proceeds of criminal acts through investment in various sectors of the local and global economy.