Cape Verdean organized crime
| Founding location | Cape Verde |
|---|---|
| Territory | France, Netherlands, Portugal, Switzerland, United States: New England |
| Ethnicity | Cape Verdean |
| Criminal activities | Drug trafficking, Weapon trafficking, Prostitution, Contract killing, Extortion, Racketeering, Money laundering, Illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, Piracy, Blood diamond smuggling |
Cape Verdean organized crime refers to the various criminal organizations that are active in Cape Verde & Cape Verdean diaspora communities. Cape Verde is important as a transshipment point in the cocaine trade, and the existence of sizeable Cape Verdean communities in New England, the Dutch port city of Rotterdam as well as in several cities in Portugal, France and Switzerland, led to the formation of criminal gangs in the community active in the international drug trade supplemented with other criminal activities. Cape Verdean organized crime primarily comes in the form of street gangs, with varying levels of organization and sophistication.