For years, the dominant narrative has been that human trafficking is controlled by powerful transnational criminal organizations—cartels, mafias, and sophisticated crime syndicates operating across borders.

That assumption has shaped international law, public policy, media coverage, and law enforcement priorities. But what if the evidence tells a more complicated story?

A new peer-reviewed article published in the Journal of Human Trafficking challenges this long-standing belief. Authored by Dr. Vanessa Bouché, Sarah Sowell Van Dyk, and Eva Garrido, the study analyzes more than 2,390 federally prosecuted human trafficking cases in the United States to examine who is actually responsible for trafficking—and how these organizations operate.

The findings reveal a far more diverse landscape than conventional wisdom suggests.

The Organized Crime Assumption

Since the adoption of the Palermo Protocol in 2000, human trafficking has largely been framed as a form of transnational organized crime. As a result, trafficking is often portrayed as being orchestrated by highly structured criminal organizations with extensive international networks.

While these organizations certainly exist, surprisingly little empirical research has tested whether they are actually responsible for the majority of trafficking cases.

This study set out to answer that question by developing a new framework for measuring organized crime and applying it to one of the largest datasets of federally prosecuted trafficking cases ever assembled.

A New Way to Measure Organized Crime

One of the article's biggest contributions is the introduction of the 5-S Typology, a framework for classifying organized crime according to five characteristics:

• Size – How many people are involved?

• Scope – Does the group operate locally, nationally, or internationally?

• Sophistication – How complex are its criminal operations?

• Structure – Is it hierarchical or decentralized?

• Self-identification – Does the group have a shared identity, name, or organizational cohesion?

Using these five dimensions, trafficking organizations are classified into five categories:

• Mom & Pop operations

• Crime Rings

• Gangs

• Illegal Enterprises

• Cartels, Mafias, and Syndicates

Rather than treating organized crime as a single category, the framework recognizes that criminal organizations exist along a spectrum of organizational complexity.

What the Data Actually Shows

The researchers applied the 5-S Typology to 2,390 federally prosecuted human trafficking cases between 2000 and 2022.

Perhaps the most surprising finding is that 67% of prosecuted trafficking cases did not involve organized crime at all.

Among the cases that did involve organized criminal activity, most were small-scale Crime Rings or Mom & Pop operations. Cartels, Mafias, and Syndicates accounted for only a very small share of cases.

These findings do not suggest that sophisticated criminal organizations are absent from trafficking. Rather, they indicate that the trafficking organizations appearing in federal prosecutions are far more likely to be decentralized, localized, and relatively small than commonly assumed.

The study also notes an important caveat: prosecution data reflects the cases that law enforcement identifies and successfully prosecutes—not necessarily every trafficking operation occurring in the United States. Larger and more sophisticated organizations may be more difficult to detect.

Different Types of Trafficking Look Different

The research also found important differences depending on the type of trafficking.

Minor sex trafficking cases were most commonly associated with smaller, less sophisticated organizations operating locally.

Labor trafficking, however, looked very different.

Labor trafficking cases were significantly more likely to involve organizations with broader geographic reach, stronger internal organization, and higher levels of sophistication. Many of these were classified as Illegal Enterprises—business-like organizations that use legitimate or semi-legitimate commercial structures to facilitate exploitation.

Perhaps most strikingly, although Illegal Enterprises represented a relatively small percentage of prosecuted organized crime cases, they accounted for more than half of all identified victims in organized trafficking prosecutions.

This suggests that while these organizations may be prosecuted less frequently, they often cause disproportionately greater harm.

Why This Matters for Policy

The findings suggest that a one-size-fits-all approach to combating trafficking is unlikely to be effective.

If trafficking organizations differ substantially in how they operate, then prevention, investigation, and prosecution strategies should reflect those differences.

Smaller, decentralized trafficking operations may require community-based prevention, local investigations, and earlier intervention.

More sophisticated labor trafficking enterprises may demand financial investigations, cross-jurisdictional coordination, specialized investigative units, and greater collaboration between labor inspectors, law enforcement, and regulatory agencies.

The study also raises broader questions about how resources are allocated. If enforcement efforts focus primarily on the most visible or easiest-to-prosecute cases, they may miss the organizations responsible for the greatest concentration of victimization.

A Framework for Future Research

Beyond its findings, the article provides researchers with a practical framework for studying organized crime more consistently.

The 5-S Typology moves the conversation beyond broad labels like "organized crime" by offering measurable characteristics that can be applied across trafficking cases, jurisdictions, and even other forms of criminal enterprise.

The authors suggest that future research should test the framework internationally, compare trafficking organizations across countries, and explore whether the same typology can be applied to other illicit markets.

As the anti-trafficking field continues to emphasize evidence-based policy, having a common language for describing organizational structure becomes increasingly important.

Looking Ahead

Human trafficking is often discussed as though every case follows the same model.

This research demonstrates that it does not.

Instead, trafficking occurs across a wide spectrum of organizational forms—from individuals acting alone to family-based operations, decentralized criminal networks, business enterprises, and, in some cases, large organized crime groups.

Understanding these differences is more than an academic exercise. It has direct implications for how governments investigate trafficking, how prosecutors build cases, how policymakers allocate resources, and ultimately, how victims are identified and protected.

By grounding discussions of organized crime in empirical evidence rather than assumption, this research provides a stronger foundation for developing targeted, effective, and evidence-based responses to human trafficking.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the 5-S Typology?

The 5-S Typology is a framework developed by the authors to classify organized crime groups based on five characteristics: size, scope, sophistication, structure, and self-identification. It provides a standardized way to compare different trafficking organizations and better understand how they operate.

What did the study analyze?

The researchers examined 2,390 federally prosecuted human trafficking cases in the United States from 2000 through 2022, representing one of the largest empirical studies of trafficking organization conducted to date.

Did the study find that cartels are responsible for most trafficking?

No. Within the federal prosecution data analyzed, Cartels, Mafias, and Syndicates represented only a small share of organized trafficking cases. Most organized cases involved smaller Crime Rings or Mom & Pop operations. The authors note, however, that prosecution data may underrepresent more sophisticated organizations that are harder to detect.

Why were Illegal Enterprises important?

Although Illegal Enterprises accounted for a relatively small proportion of prosecuted organized crime cases, they were responsible for the majority of identified victims in organized trafficking prosecutions. This suggests they often operate at a larger scale and produce greater harm per case.

Where can I read the full article?

The full peer-reviewed article, "Organized Crime and Human Trafficking in the United States," was published in the Journal of Human Trafficking in May 2026 and is available through Taylor & Francis.