America leads a posse of governments in disrupting illicit trade in nuclear, chemical and biological materials.
Illicit trade is age-old, a continuous facet and side effect of market economies or of commerce in general.
The customs themselves estimate that they detect only about 5% of the illicit trade in tobacco and alcohol.
But thinking about international illicit trade as just another manifestation of criminal behavior misses a larger, more consequential point.
The third illusion is the idea that illicit trade is an "underground" phenomenon.
Significantly, Philip Morris, the world's largest tobacco company, has said the provisions regarding illicit trade ought to be strengthened.
Illicit trade's ancestor, smuggling, traces back to ancient times, and many a "thieves' market" survives in the world's commercial hubs.
For years the Khmer Rouge could be blamed for much of the illicit trade, which they used to bankroll their guerrilla operations.
Reducing the illicit trade will not bring peace, but it may help.
The language we use to describe illicit trade and to frame our efforts to contain it betrays the enduring power of this illusion.
The trail marks the days when "Hawkhurst ruled the Weald" as the gang controlled much of the illicit trade from Deal to Poole in Dorset.
The second illusion is that illicit trade is just about crime.
These might be referred to as "hard" contributions to the proliferation portfolio as they implicate the components, materials and actual equipment that make up such illicit trade.
Illicit trade, often involving organised crime, is a huge problem.
Yet until now, with the exception of narcotics, illicit trade has simply not been a priority in international law and treaty making, or in international police work and cooperative law enforcement.
The U.N. has worked for more than a decade on an Arms Trade Treaty designed to limit the illicit trade of such weapons, but a final draft of the treaty is stalled.
Although cigarette companies would try to neutralise the impact of lower volumes by higher prices, we expect revenues to be negatively impacted as well, largely due to increase in illicit trade of cigarettes as a consequence of higher excise taxes.
With regard to the problem of poaching of and illicit trade in endangered and protected wildlife and living marine resources, ASEAN welcomed U.S. support in combating illicit trade in wildlife, and both sides agreed to explore future cooperation in this area.
WHITEHOUSE: Joint Statement of the 4th ASEAN-U.S. Leaders' Meeting
One MP said the UK has a good record in recent years in tackling the illicit tobacco trade.
In other cases, we relied on expert opinion, like in linking New Orleans' leading murder rate to its illicit drug trade.
Unfortunately, I received an expensive education about the destruction and looting of historically significant artifacts and the illicit international trade in antiquities.
FORBES: There's Big Money And The Need For Reform In The Antiquities Trade
Interpol estimates that the illicit antiquities trade is worth billions of dollars.
The ministry is also working with the American group behind WikiLoot, a not-yet-launched effort to use crowd-sourcing to combat the illicit antiquities trade.
It is to the shame of the whole world that a lack of transparency allowed the illicit diamond trade to fuel appalling conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia.
"These groups foster violence and instability...in an attempt to advance their political agendas, and largely finance their operations through the illicit drug trade, " Rodney Benson, chief of intelligence for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, said in congressional testimony last year.
But compared with the total annual trade in illicit goods, the heist was small change.
Also critical to the success of this choking of supplies would be stricter controls of the illicit financing that supports such trade.
And Interpol has joined efforts to investigate those involved in the trade of ivory and other illicit wildlife products.
Two other accords, on customs co-operation and on trade in chemicals used for illicit drugs, were signed in The Hague.
The report suggests that the illicit sale of animals and plants is the world's fourth largest illegal trade after narcotics, counterfeiting of products and currency and the trafficking of people.
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